Diet for a Six Pack

Hollywood abs: get a six-pack ASAP courtesy of America's top celebrity trainers Muscle & Fitness, Oct, 2005 by Jeff O'Connell

Since 1990, Gunnar Peterson has been training celebrities, a term some might apply now to Gunnar himself. When he isn't working out Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani and other A-listers in his gym–actually, a 5,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion appointed with weights and other fitness apparatus–he can be seen on the cover of his own book, G-Force (Regan Books, 2005); on an infomercial for the workout program Core Secrets; and on guest spots for VH1, CNN and other networks.

Peterson may be today's star of star trainers, but a constellation of them has formed, and no wonder. As the prices paid to actors, musicians and other entertainers have reached outer space, so has the pressure to look the part. Trainers now exist whose nearly sole purpose is coaxing forth a high-profile six-pack, courtesy of workouts like these.

Without question, many have carved out their rep in this niche by being as proficient at marketing themselves as they are at pumping up their clients. (Most of them also charge an arm and a leg to train arms and legs, not surprisingly.) But in Hollywood, only results-producers get repeat business. Check that. Only fast-results-producers get repeat business.

Just because trainers like Peterson appear on Access Hollywood when J.Lo rolls on the red carpet doesn't mean their training differs markedly from bodybuilding science. Often, they've just modified those principles for clients with unique requirements and time constraints. “Abs need to be treated like any major bodypart,” says Gregory Joujon-Roche of Holistic Fitness–whom Demi Moore, among others, can thank at least in part for her hardbody. “You need to load them, exhaust them and restore them via resistance, supersets and adequate recovery time. In the end, ripped abs are all about controlled intensity and awareness.”

GUNNAR'S WORKOUT

GUNNAR PETERSON

CSCS, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA

Clientele has included:

Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Penelope Cruz, Matthew Perry

MEDICINE-BALL ROTATION

Setup | Choose a 25-30-pound medicine ball.

Start | Sit holding the ball between your sternum and belly button and incline your torso back slightly, engaging your abs in the process.

Execution | Rotate side to side, without changing the torso incline.

Comment | Over time, build up your rotation speed and elevate your feet, so that you're literally “seated” on top of your glutes.

REVERSE CRUNCH

Start | Lie faceup on the floor and reach back to grasp a support with your hands. Lift your legs off the floor and bend your knees to a 90-degree angle.

Execution | Keeping your knees bent, contract your abs to roll your pelvis toward your chest. Reverse it.

Alternative | Use the Ab Flexor Reverse Crunch machine. Lie faceup on the machine's back pad, feet under the rollers so that your calves rest against the pads. Grasp the handles. “Roll” backward as if doing a sommersault. Reverse it.

Comment | The stack on this machine accommodates heavy weights, so you can really load it and target the abdominal wall from its insertion.

RUSSIAN TWIST ON BALL

Setup | Place an exercise ball and medicine ball near a support.

Start | Lie faceup on the exercise ball while reaching back and grasping the support. The medicine ball should be between your ankles, with your knees bent 90 degrees.

Execution | Lower your legs to one side without using momentum. (You should be able to stop at any point on the way down.) Pull your legs back up to the center and then lower them slowly to the other side. You should remain immobile from the scapulae to the head.

EXERCISE-BALL DOUBLE CRUNCH

Setup | Find a small medicine ball that fits comfortably between your knees and an exercise ball.

Start | Lie faceup on the floor with your hands behind your head and your heels up on the ball, so that your body forms two right angles when viewed from the side. Place the medicine ball between your knees.

Execution | Roll the exercise ball inward using the lower half of your abs while crunching forward with the top half. Reverse. The pace should be slow and controlled throughout.

THE WORKOUT EXERCISE SETS REPS Medicine-Ball Rotation 3 24, 30, 40 Exercise-Ball Double Crunch 3 20, 25, 30 Reverse Crunch 3 20, 25, 30 Russian Twist on Ball 3 16, 20, 24

RAMONA'S WORKOUT

RAMONA BRAGANZA

NSCA-CPT, LOS ANGELES

Clientele has included: Jessica Alba, Hugh Jackman, Jessica Biel (7th Heaven), Ryan Reynolds (National Lampoon's Van Wilder)

FROG-LEG CRUNCH

Start | Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet touching. Place one hand behind your head and the other at your temple.

Execution | Raise your shoulder blades and upper back off the floor, looking up at the ceiling and keeping your lower back in contact with the floor. Reverse it. Do 16 reps, then switch arms and repeat. Do a final 16 with both arms extended.

V-SIT

Start | Roll your body up into a V position: torso upright, legs extended as straight as possible, held diagonally to the floor.

Execution | Hold this position, keeping your abs tight and your back straight for 16 seconds. Then flutter-kick your legs for 16 reps.