The One Barbell Move That Will Get You 8-pack Abs - Men's Health

Tackle this sequence and your standard deadlift will suddenly look light on difficulty

Since the functional strength trend made crawling around the gym acceptable, the Turkish get-up has become the compound move of those in the know.

(Related: The 10-minute six-pack workout)

It hits the max amount of muscle fibres for a heavyweight metabolism spike and challenges your under-developed proprioception, providing transferable skills to every other exercise. Tackle this sequence and your standard deadlift will suddenly look light on difficulty.

But this is no ordinary get-up. “With a kettlebell, the centre of gravity is in one place,” says PT Scott Laidler. “It’s much harder with a barbell.” That’s because you’re sending stabiliser muscles in your shoulders and core into overdrive, adding an extra attack on your mirror muscles to an already weighty list of more worthy benefits.

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Start with a set of 15 reps each side using a barbell minus the plates. Steady? Work up to three weighted rounds of five for sets that hit no fewer than 32 major muscles.

Get it right and you’ll be floored by the speed at which you see the results.

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How to do it:

1. Take to the floor: Listen up. This can get complicated. First, lie down with the bar in your raised left hand, maintaining stability with your right arm out to the side and right leg bent.

2. Get up in arms: Shift onto your right elbow, then drive your arm up so it’s straight and you’re balancing on your hand. Slide that arm back to where your elbow was to stay stable.

3. Push ahead: Pressing into the ground, squeeze your body up through your hips. Right hand still on the floor, thread your right leg behind your left with eyes on the bar at all times.

4. You've peaked: Leg planted, lift your hand so you’re in a lunge position, then drive through your back leg to stand. That’s half a rep. Reverse the process to complete.

What you'll gain:

• A total-body fat-burn
• Boulder shoulders
• A cobblestone core