Abdominal Training - 'Abs'
Everyone wants a
six-pack of abs right? Well, maybe not
everyone, but you get the point! Most people
think that training their abs will somehow
make them appear, as if the fat will suddenly
disappear. This myth, is referred to as
spot-reduction, which is alive and well,
however it’s completely false.
You can work your abs until hell freezes
over, but if you still have a layer of fat, or
in some cases even a beer belly, you will
never be able to see the muscle. So, from a
visual sense you must use proper diet &
nutrition to actually be able to see your abs,
and that is an entirely different article and
beyond the scope of this one.
We all have abs, the technical name is Rectus
Abdominis. It’s basically the
“core” of your body and you could
not really function without this muscle. Did I
say muscle as in a single muscle? That’s
right the Rectus Abdominis is a single muscle
(see diagram) that attaches from along the rib
cage down to the pelvis bone. However, there
are two other muscle groups that complete the
abdominals: the Transverse Abdominus, and the
External and Internal Obliques, but these two
muscles are not the visible portions of the
abs that make up the “six pack”
that we all desire. The Transverse Abdominus
acts as a natural weight belt, keeping your
insides in; and the Internal and External
Obliques work to rotate the torso, and
stabilize the abdomen essential for trunk
stability.
Diagram:
Since the Rectus Abdominis is a single muscle
it is physiologically impossible to work
different parts of the abs. You often hear
people say things like “I need to work
my lower abs cause they’re
lacking”, well they can try as hard as
they want but when you train your abs you
train the entire muscle. This does not mean
you should not incorporate a wide variety of
abdominal exercises (crunches, leg raises,
trunk rotation, etc.) into your ab training, I
just wanted to make the point that you are not
going build or develop any one part of your
“six pack” with different
exercises. Now, remember that the lower area
of the abs is a common problem in regards to
excess fat storage for most people, especially
males. So often the problem is not the abs per
se, but extra body fat in that area that is
covering the lower portion of the abs, again
this requires dietary alterations not specific
exercises.
So, you may say “how come I feel it more
in my lower abs when I do hanging leg
raises?” Well, this is another myth that
we call the “I feel it syndrome”,
which basically states that because you feel
something working in a specific area it will
make that area grow more. From a muscle
physiology standpoint this is not possible.
It’s possible that because of the angle
more stress is being applied to a certain area
of the muscle, which is often a result of that
part of the muscle being stretched more,
causing micro trauma in that specific area.
However, this means absolutely nothing in
regards to muscle growth and development. Do
not confuse this with muscle groups that
contain separate heads and tendon attachments,
in those cases it is possible to stress
individual heads to certain degrees, an
example would be the deltoids. As far as our
abs are concerned it is a single muscle and
therefore it will grow as a whole. Think about
it this way, if you could stimulate one area
of a muscle and make it grow that would imply
that you could actually change the shape of a
muscle, which we know scientifically, that is
not possible.
There are many exercises that can be used for
the abs, the easiest and most common is a
crunch, which essentially is bringing your
hips and rib cage together, no more than just
a flex of the mid-section. Do not confuse a
crunch with a traditional sit-up; in a crunch
you do not lift your lower back off the floor
or bench. If you’re a beginner and are
training abs for the first time I would
recommend that you begin with a simple crunch
on a flat surface, and some standing trunk
rotation without any weight. Until you build
up your abdominal muscles and flexibility do
not try any advanced ab exercises such as
weighted or incline crunches, or even sit-ups.
Doing a sit-up has less of an effect on your
abs, and more of an effect on your Iliopsoas
or more commonly called the hip flexors. In
fact, this is the muscle group that people
often mistake for their lower abs because
it’s a synergist muscle that helps
stabilize the mid-section when working your
abs. This is not to say that these synergist
muscles are not important and do not need
training, I am just pointing out that most
likely that is why you think that you
“feel it” in your lower abs.
Why is ab training necessary? Weak abs can
contribute to lower back problems; the
abdominal muscles help to improve the Erector
Spinae by improving the mechanical positioning
of the pelvis when it’s tilted forward.
Also, if the abs are weak the lliopsoas can
pull on spine during hip flexor activities
causing injury. Weak abs can also be the cause
of chronic low back pain, and can be
responsible for hyperlordosis. So, no matter
what your goals are, general fitness,
bodybuilding or even power lifting it’s
extremely important to have strong abdominals
not just for aesthetic purposes, but
functional and injury prevention reasons.
People often ask how often should you work your abs.
Well, remember that the abdominals are a
muscle and they require recovery just like any
other muscle, although they do recover
relatively quickly compared to other muscles
due to their inherent fiber type. If
you’re training your abs from an injury
prevention perspective then you could train
them 3-4 days per week using light loads, e.g.
non-weighted crunches, performing 3-4 sets.
However, if your goal is to develop your abs
either for bodybuilding or sport performance,
then you should only train them 2-3 days per
week using more advanced techniques, e.g.
weighted incline crunches performing 6-8 sets.
As far as when to train the abs, it really
does not matter; you could train them at the
beginning of your workout if you’re
prioritizing them. However if you plan to
fatigue them it may be a better idea to work
them last. Since the abs play a major role in
stabilization it could hinder performance in
compound lifts such as squats. An even better
idea if feasible for you would be to train
them on a day where you work smaller body
parts and no compound lifts that involve the
entire body.
Following you will find several links to
animated pictures of some beginning and
advanced abdominal training exercises from
www.exrx.net. These are only a few of many
exercises that can be used in your abdominal
training.
Abdominal Exercises:
Incline Crunch:
§
exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/WtInclineCrunchX.html
Weighted Incline Crunch:
§
>exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/WtInclineCrunch.html
Vertical Hip Raise:
§
>exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/WtVerticalHipRaise.html
Cable Hip Raise:
§
>http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/CBHipRaise.html
Cable Kneeling Crunch:
§
>exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/CBKneelingCrunch.html
Weighted Crunch:
§
>exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/WtCrunch.html
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