Ulisses Jr.’s abs are More Than Simply a Visual Treat

WHEN ULISSES JR. REMINISCES ON HIS EARLY BODYBUILDING CAREER, HE REMINISCES ON THE “CRAZY STUFF.” He used to train with bodybuilders who weighed 20 or 30 pounds more than him and pushed him to lift heavier. So he’d squat over 500 pounds and deadlift over 600 pounds.

When he thinks back on that demanding program at the age of 47, he can’t help but be amazed that he’s never been seriously injured. Most gymgoers who work out hard have to endure something, right? However, the Instagram sensation, who is still more ripped than any action figure in your neighborhood Target, has an answer. “I’ve done a lot of stuff that could have messed up my shoulders, my back,” he said. “But I really firmly believe because I was always training my core, it really helped with stabilizing a lot of the other muscles and giving me that foundation where I could push the envelope a little bit.”

Ulisses, a self-described “skinny kid” in high school, pushed that barrier even farther, becoming a bodybuilding veteran with one of the Internet’s most recognizable physiques. He is now located in London and has a combined 11.7 million Instagram and TikTok followers, as well as a booming online training company.

Ulisses has always been maniacally dedicated to his core training, as seen by his still-chiseled ten-pack. It’s a habit he developed in his twenties, when he began waking up every day to a sequence of bodyweight workouts (traditional situps and planks, bicycle crunches, and reverse crunches). He’d try to do 100 of each before eating his first meal. (He feels that training on an empty stomach allowed him to “feel” his rectus abdominis, the muscle primarily responsible for noticeable abs, at work.) He’d frequently work his abs again later that day, after pushing weights with the bodybuilders, this time using weights to conduct more-targeted routines.

Ulisses says that his schedule has lightened recently, but he still doesn’t skip a morning workout. He does the same actions he performed in his youth, but in sets of 25 repetitions rather than 100. He also won’t abandon his morning routine since it has given him a rock-solid core that has never failed him. “It’s really saved me a lot,” he adds. “It has aided my training.” I can perform a variety of hard actions without feeling anything. I don’t have any back discomfort. “I don’t have anything.”

Of course, this is the miracle of real ab exercise. Training your abs may improve your other gym activities, relieve lower back discomfort, and even make you a better athlete, according to research after study. Strong core muscles aid in the passage of energy from your legs to your upper body, and they provide your spine with the necessary stability to demonstrate raw strength and power in anything from overhead presses and biceps curls to lifting a piano.

Oh, and they can keep you looking and feeling badass well into your forties. After all, they’ve done it for Ulisses. “When I was 20, 25, I was shredded,” he said. “I’m not as shredded today.” But I think I look very well for a 47-year-old man.