The Bruce Lee Ab Workout Method

Bruce Lee was known for his martial arts skills, acting, and physique. His famous grueling workouts, including running, biking, and weight lifting, allowed him to become a better martial artist.

One of Lee's favorite body parts to train was his core, which was so strong he believed it acted as a shield against blows to his midsection. A key element of his ab workouts was the use of high repetitions.

Linda Lee Cadwell, Bruce Lee's wife, knew how important ab training was to Bruce. She explained in an interview that Bruce “was a fanatic about ab training. He was always doing sit-ups, crunches, Roman chair movements, leg raises, and V-ups.”

To practice the same intense ab workout as Bruce Lee, perform each of these exercises for four sets each.

Waist Twists

Perform 90 repetitions:

1. Get into a V-sit position on the floor and lift your feet off of the floor at a 45-degree angle.
2. With hands clasped together, twist your upper body to the left and right, touching your hands to the floor next to your butt for one repetition. Keep your legs elevated.
3. Repeat as many times as possible, alternating touching the left and right side. Try working your way up to 90 repetitions.

Sit-Up Twists

Perform 20 repetitions:

1. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor close to your butt.
2. Put your hands behind your head with your head on the floor.
3. Perform a sit-up by rolling your chest up toward your knees. As you come up, turn to the right with your upper body, trying to touch your left elbow to your right knee to complete one repetition.
4. Lie back down. Repeat a sit-up, this time twisting to the left, touching your right elbow to your left knee for the second repetition. Alternate twisting to the left and right until you have completed 20 repetitions.

Leg Raises

Perform 20 repetitions:

1. Lie on your back with your arms by your sides and palms face down. Keep your legs straight and flat on the floor. Your head should also be on the floor.
2. Without bending your knees, raise both legs up until the bottoms of your feet face the ceiling.
3. Slowly lower your legs back down to the floor. This counts as one repetition.

Frog Kicks

Perform 50 repetitions:

1. Sit on the floor with your feet planted near your butt and your hands planted behind you, propping up your upper body.
2. Lift your feet off the floor with your knees bent so that your legs are in the air.
3. Reach your legs out straight and lean back slightly with your upper body, keeping your upper body propped up with your hands.
4. Pull your knees back toward your chest. That counts as one repetition. Keep extending your legs out and pulling them back until you reach 50 repetitions.

Flags

This is Bruce Lee's signature ab move and the most challenging in the series.

1. Lie down in front of a fixed structure, such as a squat rack or cable machine.
2. Reach behind your head and grab the fixed structure with both hands.
3. Holding the structure behind your head with both hands, pull down with your arms to create tension. Pulling with your arms will help lift your body away from the floor in this exercise.
4. Tuck your legs and roll them back toward your head while pulling with your arms. Keep rolling back until your butt and lower back also lift off of the floor. Only your upper back and head should be on the mat.
5. Create a straight line from your shoulders to your feet by kicking your legs out and raising your hips. Your body should be in the air at a 45-degree angle to the floor. Only your upper back and head are on the floor with your arms pulling on the structure behind you to hold the rest of your body in the air.
6. Slowly lower the rest of your back toward the floor but keep your legs up and straight. Do not bend your hips!
7. Right before you hit the floor, pull yourself back up with your arms and abs. Keep your body straight and stiff. Once you are back up to a 45-degree angle with the floor you have completed one repetition.

You can also perform this entire exercise with your knees bent if you are having trouble. If you choose to bend your knees, make sure that you aren't also bending at the hip.

Other 6-Pack Tips

This ab routine wasn't the only thing behind Bruce Lee's core strength. His regimen also involved regular runs — typically three miles at a pace of seven minutes per mile, according to training partner John Little. After running, he would ride an exercise bike, practice martial arts, and lift weights.

According to Lee's wife, he ate a relatively healthy diet, which consisted of rice, vegetables, some meat, and protein shakes. Even at his heaviest, Lee was only 165 pounds with very little body fat. He most likely had a fast metabolism, which, when combined with plenty of exercise and proper nutrition, kept him very lean.

The Takeaway

• Training his core helped Bruce Lee withstand blows and increase his stamina during fights. Performing his ab routine can help you develop core strength like Bruce Lee.
• The Bruce Lee ab workout method includes a variety of exercises to strengthen different parts of your core. They include twists, sit-ups, and leg exercises like frog kicks and raises.
• Eat a healthy diet and incorporate cardiovascular exercise to support your strength training.