Weak abdominal muscles are often associated with problems such as lower back pain, reduced stamina and reduced strength (as they stabilise your entire musculoskeletal system). Apart from helping you look great on the beach their importance to your overall health and your body’s ability to perform any kind of physical activity cannot be understated.
So, the question here is, how do you go about getting that rock-hard look you see on male models and TV actors?
Well, before we hit the exercise matt it’s good to actually see the four different sets of muscle groups which comprise the abdominal muscle wall:
The muscles of the abdominal region include:
- Transversus abdominus. This is the deepest level of abdominal muscles, and works to stabilize the entire midsection of the body (known as the trunk) and sustain level abdominal pressure, which protects the internal organs.
- Rectus abdominus. This is the group of muscles that give us the “six-pack” appearance when they are toned. This muscle group is located between the ribs and the pubic bone.
- External obliques. These muscles are located on each side of the rectus abdominus. They give the trunk stability when it is twisting. The muscle contracts opposite of whichever side is twisting. For example, when the body turns to the right, the left external oblique contracts.
- Internal obliques. This muscle group borders the rectus abdominus, just inside the hipbones. These muscles also aid in twisting, but in the opposite way. For example, twisting the midsection to the right uses the right internal obliques.
The complexity of the abdominal muscle group is a clear indication, if any were needed, of its importance in the body’s strength. Now that we know that we also realise that there is no single exercise which will deliver the goods, as it were. When it comes to ab work you must always mix and match for best results. Apart from that there is one other principle you need to bear in mind and that is that muscles only change shape and form in response to hard work.
Your 20-second abdominizer work-out you see on the sales channel may work for the person demonstrating it on-screen but you can bet your bottom dollar they did not get to look like that by using that product.
So if you are serious about getting a six pack here’s what you need to do:
1. Crunches – these are basic ab exercises which work the abdominal muscle work by loading the upper abs. Sit on a gym ball and simply move your torso a 10-15 degree range to put pressure on your abs. If you also want to work the power abs, lie flat on the floor and do the same workout but with your legs straight, feet together and held five inches off the floor.
2. Sit-ups – underappreciated these days but hugely important still. Do them on a gym ball, allowing your abs to stretch fully as you lie back and contract as you come up and this will increase the intensity of the workout.
3. Oblique sit ups – one of the trickiest to perform right, these require you to start from a sit, up position on the floor, lying back, knees bent, feet flat and together. You grab hold of your ears (to avoid using your arms to pull yourself up) and perform a twisting sit up, turning your body so that your right elbow goes to the outside of your left knee and vice versa.
4. Vertical sit ups – hand your legs over a parallel bar and let your body drop. Then try to perform a sit-up where your body comes up at a 90 degree angle. You can vary this by hanging from a monkey bar and performing a 90 degree angle with your legs, knees straight, feet held together.
5. Ultimate sit-up – lie on your back on the floor, legs straight out and arms stretched above your head. Exhale and come up raising your arms and legs at the same time so that your fingertips touch your toes.
These are five powerful exercises for ultra-fast results. The question now is, how many do you do and how often. This will vary with your own level of fitness and experience plus your recovery time. Ideally you go for the burn exercising your abs to failure and working on a cycle so that you do, let’s say 50 reps of each, each time and then start again on a three-ring cycle.
You can alternate it so you do all one day and have a day of rest. You can ease up and maintain the pressure so you work five days a week or you can mix and match. The stronger your abs get the more you can do, the more you do the more ripped your abs look.
Simple, right?
