Mario Lopez is a well-known actor and TV presenter who has maintained a high profile in recent years after appearing as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and presenting the entertainment shows Extra and The X Factor.
However people of a certain age, including myself, will most associate Mario Lopez with the role of AC Slater in the cult TV show Saved By The Bell back in the early 1990s.
You may recall that even back then he had a big muscular physique for someone so young, and it’s impressive to see that he has clearly kept himself in great shape since then because even at the age of 42, he still has a muscular body with some impressive abs muscles.
So how has me managed to develop such a lean and ripped body? Well here is a video that he recorded a few years back that talks you through the exact abs workout that he uses 2-3 times per week:
You will see that this is a circuit-style workout because there are 4 exercises in total that should be done one after the other, and you should aim to do 3 sets, which should take you about 20-30 minutes. The exercises are as follows:
Hanging Leg Raises (until failure)
This first exercise targets the lower abs in particular and requires you to grab on to an overhead bar, such as a pull-up bar, for instance, and raise your entire legs so that they are parallel to the floor (or higher). This should be a controlled movement where you legs are doing all of the work, and you should keep going until you cannot do any more with correct form.
Decline Weighted Crunch (15-20 reps)
In this exercise Mario uses a 45 lb plate to add a little resistance, and recommends doing 15-20 crunches on an incline bench to really target those upper abdominal muscles. The decline position and the extra weight makes this a lot more effective than a standard crunch that you might do on the floor, for example. Plus if you really want to push yourself, you can do weighed crunches until failure, and then drop the weight and do ordinary decline crunches until failure.
Double Crunch (until failure)
With this next exercise you will be starting with your feet 6 inches off the floor and your hands extended behind your head. Then you will bringing your arms and your legs together at the same time to really target your upper and lower abdominals, as well as your obliques. The important point here is to keep your feet off the floor to get more out of this particular exercise, and keep going until you cannot do any more.
Cable Wood Chops (15-20 reps)
The final exercise also targets your upper and lower abs and your obliques, and as the name suggests, replicates the action of chopping wood with an ax. The difference here is that you will be using a cable machine instead of an ax, and will be pulling down across your body in a controlled manner with a wide stance for extra balance, making sure to do the same number of reps on both sides.
These 4 exercises make up one set, and as I mentioned above, you should aim to do 3 sets in total, resting for 3-5 minutes between each one.
Leave a Reply