🏋️‍♂️ try Frank Zane’s insane 1,000-rep ab workout

In partnership with

Here’s everything you need to know for today’s edition:

• A waist-slimming midsection exercise

• Frank Zane’s daily ab routine

• 5 PhD-approved protein shake recipes

Exercise Tips

Live Life in a Vacuum

Ab training always seems a little like a paradox: you work every other muscle in your body to make it bigger, but somehow, you’re supposed to believe cranking out sets of sit-ups will make your stomach smaller.

Two-time Ms. Figure Olympia Erin Stern has a more practical answer for training your midsection to be more lithe. Her favorite ab exercise for a slim midsection — the vacuum crunch — works your core in a manner designed to bring it in rather than pump it up.

This concept isn’t without controversy, but it has worked wonders for physique athletes like Stern and the legendary Frank Zane. If your body fat is sufficiently low but you’re still not happy with the appearance of your waist, Stern's advice on doing the vacuum crunch is definitely worth checking out.

ED treatment for under $2 per day.*

ED is a complicated issue that affects millions of men worldwide. Luckily, the solution is simple with Hims.

Hims offers access to personalized and affordable ED treatment. They’ve helped thousands of men like you and are on a mission to help the world feel great.

ED treatment has never been simpler.

The process is simple and 100% online. After completing an intake form, a licensed medical provider will review and determine if a prescription is appropriate. If prescribed, medication ships to you for free in discreet packaging.

Start your journey to better sex today.

Take their free assessment to see if a prescription is right for you

*Actual price to customer will depend on product and subscription plan purchased.
Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and safety information.

Core Training

Abs of an Icon

Speaking of Frank Zane’s abs, he employed one of the most intense training routines we’ve ever come across.

Perhaps eschewing science more than necessary for someone known as “The Chemist,” Zane opted for a 1,000-reps-a-day ab routine split up into morning and evening sessions of 500 reps each.

Zane comes from an era where anecdotal evidence trumped in-depth studies, so take some of this advice with a grain of salt. Still, with one of the most aesthetically pleasing physiques of all time, Zane is worth listening to when the subject of ab training rolls around. 

Nutrition

Get the Shakes

Protein shakes are the ideal way to keep up with your macros as tastily as possible while helping to add bulk to your frame (long gone are the days of keeping a can opener and a tin of tuna tucked into your fanny pack).

The five recipes we’ve concocted below let you open your blender and taste buds to exciting new protein-rich possibilities while giving your body everything it needs to gain more size and strength.

Classic combinations like peanut butter and banana lead the way, with vegan options also available to plug holes into what is traditionally a protein-depleted diet. There is no reason to fall back on your sad shaker bottle full of powder when you have all this deliciousness to take advantage of.

Everything Else

The Set Between the Sets

• Fully utilizing your time in the gym can mean more than working hard for just those four sets of 12. Take these tips for how to spend your time between work periods to build even more muscle.

• Morning Chalk Up follows up with Zac Thomas after his scary cardiac incident while trying to qualify for the 2024 CrossFit Games.

• Famous for his arms and chest, Arnold Schwarzenegger is just as well-known for the difficulties he had trying to grow his stubborn calves. His favorite exercise turned out to be a little strange, but ultimately, it led to the calf growth he needed.