It’s no secret that Bruce Lee was an incredible athlete.
His athleticism allowed him to do many things that other people couldn’t, whether it was acting, fighting, or playing ping pong (yes, he played ping pong in tournaments).
One of his most famous exercises was his ab workout routine.
Follow along with the regimen outlined below, and you’ll be working your abdominal muscles just like one of the greatest athletes in history!
Bruce Lee had one of Hollywood’s greatest bodies.
He was in tremendous shape all his life, even while he trained and performed martial arts.
So what exactly did Bruce do to get such awesome abs? Here are some tips on how to get six-pack abs like Bruce.
First off, you have to understand that Bruce was an absolute physical specimen with a workout routine that few could match.
His physique combined strength with incredible speed and agility which is why it’s no surprise that Bruce loved training his abs.
What made him so fast and agile?
Well, most people know about his intense training methods for building muscle but many don’t realize that Bruce also incorporated cardiovascular exercises into his workout routines as well.
And when it came to Bruce Lee’s ab workouts there were a few exercises that he would repeat over and over again until they became second nature to him.
Bruce Lee was famous for his lean body.
In fact, he was only one inch over six feet tall but weighed 190 pounds and had a waist measurement of 32 inches at his heaviest.
While many were in awe of how cut and toned Bruce looked, they often wondered what ab exercises he did to achieve that look.
Though Bruce didn’t have an exact routine, he focused on six exercises that strengthened his core: waist twists, sit-up twists, leg raises, leaning twists, frog kicks, and dragon flags.
From these movements alone it’s clear why Bruce had such a cut stomach; each exercise targets all three abdominal muscle groups (lower abs, upper abs, and obliques).
In keeping with his philosophy of constant motion, Bruce believed that training should never be static.
His waist twists are a good example of how he combined stability and mobility drills in one.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hands at your sides.
Twist from your waist toward one side as far as you can go while maintaining a neutral spine; then, twist to that same side on your way back to the center.
Reverse direction and repeat, alternating between sides for 10 reps total.
You’ll build abdominal endurance while also working on balance and coordination.
On your back, knees bent, hands behind your head.
Twist at the neck to right (or left), bringing the right elbow towards your knee, with both shoulder blades squeezed together.
Return to center and repeat with opposite arm and knee.
For advanced trainees—when you feel comfortable—try doing twisting sit-ups by using only one arm/one leg at a time.
Do 4 sets of 15 reps on each side (30 total). If twisting is too difficult for you, just do regular crunches for 4 sets of 20 reps on each side (40 total).
Related Post: 7 Best Dynamic Core Exercises
Bruce used a simple and effective ab workout that revolved around leg raises.
Lie on your back on a flat bench with arms folded across your chest.
Then raise your legs until they’re in line with your torso, pause, then lower them to starting position.
That’s one rep.
Bruce would perform three sets of 20 reps after each session of shadow boxing or martial arts training.
These can also be perform hanging from a pull up bar as shown above.
Related Post: Pull Up Bar Exercises For Abs
The leaning twist is a variation of twisting crunches, which are performed while lying flat on your back.
First, lie on your back and lift your legs in front of you so that they form a right angle with your torso.
Bring both arms behind you, holding them close to each other, and prop yourself up onto your forearms so that only about two inches of each arm are on the floor.
Now begin performing twists by bringing your knees toward one shoulder and then toward another; alternatively, you can bring your legs from side to side (be sure to keep them as straight as possible) to work different muscle groups in different directions.
These are a great way to blast your abs and hip flexors, but they’re also one of my favorite ways to stretch my hips and legs.
To do them: Get into a press-up position with hands below shoulders, legs straight out behind you, and toes tucked under.
Bend knees in towards the chest.
Jump up as high as possible, bending your knees as you come down so that they pass over your head; lower down into press-up position with feet still tucked under.
That’s one rep.
Complete 10 reps per set, 3 sets total.
This variation of a flag is one of Bruce Lee’s favorites.
It is an advanced ab exercise that requires immense core strength and full-body control.
To start, begin by lying down on your back with your legs straight in front of you and extending your arms out above your head in a T position.
Then, lift both feet off of the ground and hold them six inches in front of you; keep your legs straight up into the air throughout the entire movement.
Next, lower both legs towards to ground using only your core muscles; maintain leg position with body rigid as possible and stop two inches above the ground—this will be your starting point for each rep.
Related Post: Calisthenic Ab Workout
Bruce Lee’s ab workout is legendary, but the diet was just as important in his routine.
For example, he’d regularly eat eggs and rice for breakfast, chicken breasts with asparagus for lunch, and steak with a side of rice for dinner—and he always added a healthy dose of green vegetables to the mix.
Bruce Lee reportedly ate about 8 ounces of meat per pound of body weight each day (that means he consumed around 24 ounces at each meal).
His carb intake was kept relatively low (between 40 and 60 grams a day), but it sounds like his diet varied pretty widely depending on what kind of training regimen he was in the middle of.
Think you’re going to get ripped abs just by working them out?
Think again. Although it’s a good idea to do some ab exercises, they won’t make much of a difference if you don’t create a calorie deficit.
Lee was lean and cut all his life, so it makes sense that he ate healthy foods at regular intervals in order to lose weight and build muscle.
The key takeaway is to burn more calories than you take in. This way, your body will have no choice but to burn fat for energy.
Here are 10 tips from Bruce Lee on how to achieve that:
Getting six-pack abs is actually pretty difficult.
Getting rid of body fat is a good first step in getting your abs to show, but there’s still more work to be done before you start rubbing them in someone’s face. And even then, they might not be perfect.
There are plenty of guys with very ripped midsections who don’t have near-perfect six-packs and many more that give up their efforts before they get close enough for everyone else to see.
Perfection takes hard work and effort—and a killer workout like The Ultimate Bruce Lee Ab Workout will help you get as close as possible.
Related Post: 10 Strength And Conditioning Exercises For Muay Thai
Bruce was well known for being an extraordinarily fit and healthy man.
In fact, he possessed incredible core strength and is said to have been able to do anywhere from 50-150 pushups every day—anywhere from 3-10 sets of 10-50 reps at a time.
While it’s impossible to know exactly how many Bruce could do in a row, there are some accounts that state he could bang out 1,000 in just a matter of minutes.
We know for sure that Bruce was always looking for ways to improve his physique and push-ups were a staple of his workout routine.
Check out this video I posted on youtube. I Did 1000 Push Ups Before Lunch!
If you’re one of those people who can only imagine their lives when they’re in prime physical condition, and you want to know what kind of exercise routine Bruce Lee followed to look so awesomely fit, then you should read further.
Most people think that Bruce didn’t care much about his physical health, but that is not true.
He did many different exercises every day.
The most basic thing Bruce did was run.
He ran every day; he had a treadmill in his home where he would run every morning. Because of all these exercises and running, he was able to keep his body strength for all of his movies without having to spend hours at a gym.
His other workouts were simple too: push-ups, chin-ups, and weightlifting.
According to Mark Twight, who worked as a trainer with Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest Studios in Hong Kong during 1973 and 1974, Lee’s normal training session consisted of two hundred push-ups done without stopping; one hundred sit-ups; one hundred squats; eight jumps onto and off a thirty-inch bench.
He could do it all without stopping for a breath.
So, that’s 200 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats every single day.
If you want to match Bruce’s level of ab strength use sets of 50 reps or less.
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