The New Rules of Lifting for Abs: A Myth-Busting Fitness Plan for Men and Women who Want a Strong Core and a Pain-Free Back

305 Pages·2012·2.714 MB·English

by  Lou Schuler, Alwyn Cosgrove

THE NEW
RULES
LIFTING
OF

Abs
R
O
F
A Myth-Busting Fitness Plan for
Men and Women Who Want a Strong
Core and a Pain-Free Back
Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove
AVERY
A MEMBER OF PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC.

NEW YORK

9781583334133_NewRuleAbs_FM_p1-20.indd v 11/3/10 12:00 PM
9781583334133_NewRuleAbs_FM_p1-20.indd ii 11/3/10 12:00 PM
THE NEW

RULES

LIFTING
OF

Abs
R
O
F
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other books by lou schuler and alwyn cosgrove
The New Rules of Lifting:

Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle

The New Rules of Lifting for Women:

Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess

(with Cassandra Forsythe, M.S.)
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9781583334133_NewRuleAbs_FM_p1-20.indd iv 11/3/10 12:00 PM
THE NEW
RULES
LIFTING
OF

Abs
R
O
F
A Myth-Busting Fitness Plan for
Men and Women Who Want a Strong
Core and a Pain-Free Back
Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove
AVERY
A MEMBER OF PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC.

NEW YORK

9781583334133_NewRuleAbs_FM_p1-20.indd v 11/3/10 12:00 PM
Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA •

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada

(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England •

Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) •

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North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) •

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Copyright © 2010 by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form

without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’

rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada

Illustrations on pages 16 and 17 are by Ines Fripp; they are taken from Human Anatomy for Art Students (1911).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schuler, Lou.

The new rules of lifting for abs : a myth-busting fitness plan for men and women who

want a strong core and a pain-free back / Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove.

p. cm.
ISBN 1-101-49790-4
1. Weight lifting. 2. Abdominal exercises. 3. Muscle strength. I. Cosgrove, Alwyn. II. Title.

GV546.3.S38 2010 2010029290

796.41—dc22

book design by tanya maiboroda
Neither the publisher nor the authors are engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The
ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with a physician. All
matters regarding health require medical supervision. Neither the authors nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for
any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book.
While the authors have made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of
publication, neither the publisher nor the authors assume any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after
publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or
third-party websites or their content.
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Acknowledgments
Every book I write is a synthesis of ideas from more coaches, scientists, and enthu­
siasts than I could ever remember, much less acknowledge. So I’ll start by expressing
my gratitude to my coauthor, Alwyn Cosgrove, for his relentless pursuit of the best
training methods, and for his willingness to translate those methods to this format so
our readers can benefit. The workouts in The New Rules of Lifting for Abs aren’t exactly
what you’d get if you were being coached by Alwyn or the trainers at Results Fitness,
but they’re the next best thing.
Second, I want to thank the readers of The New Rules of Lifting andThe New Rules
of Lifting for Women. I’ve corresponded with thousands of you over the years, and the
questions you ask and concerns you express are always the jumping-off point for each
book I write.
I’m lucky to work with the best colleagues a fitness author could possibly have:
my editor, Megan Newman, along with Miriam Rich, and the rest of the team at
Avery; my agent, David Black; publicist Gregg Stebben; and photographer Michael
Tedesco, who deserves a special thanks for his role in this project. This is the most
ambitious book we’ve done in the NROL series so far, in terms of the number of ex­
vii
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viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ercises and the complexity involved in shooting them. Michael pulled together a true
all-star team for the project, including assistants Michael Lorenzini and Danelle Man­
they and models Kim Strother and Joe Kavitski. Many thanks also go to the manage­
ment and trainers at Velocity Sports Performance and the Human Performance
Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania: Jeff Hewlings, Mike Cerimele, Chris Leavy, and
Brian Zarbatany, along with all the coaches, athletes, and clients who tolerated our
disruptive presence with patience and good humor.
Thanks also to Rob Milani at Perform Better for providing some of the equip­
ment you see in the photos, and to Karen Hatzigeorgiou (karenswhimsy.com) for the
scans of the anatomical illustrations in Chapter 2.
Finally, I want to thank Kimberly, my wife, who took on the role of caterer for the
two-day shoot, in addition to the full-time job of wrangling our three children and
running our household.
This book is dedicated to Harrison, our firstborn, who had visible abs the day he
arrived, and still has them now.
—L.S.
A special thanks has to go to Lou Schuler. About twelve years ago he met a young
Scottish immigrant in New York who was working as a personal trainer, and he saw
something that maybe no one else saw. Thank you for believing in me, and for all the
opportunities that have since come my way because of you.
To Adam Campbell: I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunities you gave me to
communicate my ideas to more people than I ever could have reached on my own.
To all the lecturers, coaches, authors, and seminar hosts I’ve learned from over
the years: My growth has come, in part, from your willingness to teach. I’ll continue
to pay it forward.
To the Perform Better team, who gave me an opportunity to share what we do at
Results Fitness with a wider audience: Thank you.
To Derek Campbell, my original mentor: You changed the direction of my life. I
want to be just like you when I grow up!
To my family at Results Fitness: None of this is possible without you guys. I am
by far the worst trainer at my own facility, and I’m very proud of that.
To my mum: I hope you’re watching. To my dad and Derek, my brother: Thanks
for being the base from which I launched.
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