3 Tips for Training ABS!

[MsBiatch]

Everyone wants nice abs to display at the beach during the summertime or have something to show off in a half shirt other than a protruding mid-section. However, very few people actually train their abdominal muscles and of those people, even fewer know how train them correctly. To learn how to train abs properly and thus attain maximal results, it helps to clearly articulate three fundamental principles.


First and Foremost...

First and foremost, the abdominal muscles cannot fully contract with air retained in the lungs. Thus, those that hold their breath while performing crunches for instance, never attain a full muscle contraction. To correct this error, exhale upon exertion through every rep and remember that once the air in your lungs is gone, the abs are fully contracted. If you watch people perform "sit-ups," you will invariably observe them coming up to a full upright position at the end of the movement.

While the abs may have initiated the movement at the outset, at some point, the hip flexors took over to pull the torso into a full sitting position. If you exhale when you initiate the movement and stop when the air in your lungs is gone, then you are relying upon the contraction within the abdominal muscles to begin and complete the movement as opposed to relying on the hip flexors and gravity.


Second

Second, unlike other muscles in your body that may take a few minutes to fully recover after a set, abdominal muscles recover within seconds. Because the recovery time is so short, abs respond best to continuous movement. Your abdominal routine should therefore entail continuously moving from one exercise to the next until complete exhaustion.

Those people that claim to work out their abs for any more than five minutes are taking too much rest in between sets. Try continuously moving from one exercise to the next without more than a few seconds of rest in between each set to really hit the abdominals.


Third

Third, work the lower abdominal region first. I prefer to begin with something like reverse crunches or leg lifts because the moment that you tighten the lower abdominals, all of the abdominal muscles immediately tighten to stabalize the rest of your body in preparation to execute the movement. So, as you are concentrating on the lower abdominal region, you are secondarily working the upper abdominals as well as the obliques.

Do a lower abdominal exercise until you literally cannot perform one more rep then move immediately into a torso twist movement to hit the obliques; work them to exhaustion and then finish up with crunchs to target the upper abdominal region. If you worked your lower abdominal region until exhaustion, then do not be alarmed when you cannot perform too many trunk twists or crunches.

Remember that the amount of rest that you take in between sets should be just that amount of time that it takes you to change positions to begin the next exercise. Continuous movement is key to training abs.

Don't fixate on the number of crunches that you can perform. Instead, concentrate on exhaling on exertion and contracting the abdominals to initiate and complete the movement. In fact, don't even count the reps; simply execute the movements in succession until you literally cannot force another rep.


Getting The Abs To Show

Finally, to really get your abdominals to show, you must diet and include aerobic exercise in your routine. Exercise without maintaining a diet rich in protein to enhance muscle development, is like having a car without an engine; you get absolutely nowhere. You can work your abdominals every day that you are in the gym. I, however, suggest specifically working them three times per week. Because your abdominal muscles are responsible for stabilizing your torso, they are the secondary muscles involved in many different exercises.

Consequently, even though you do not specifically train your abdominals, they nevertheless work to some degree in every one of your workout sessions anyway. So to enhance your abdominal workout abide by these few principles:

(1) Exhale upon exertion
(2) Continuously move from one exercise to another
(3) Work the lower part of your abdominal region first, the obliques second and the upper abdominal region last.

Finally, adhere to a diet rich in protein and religiously perform exercise for cardio-vascular endurance and watch your midsection really shape-up!

*RIP Daddy... Forever your little girl*
*RIP KILLA* You'll be greatly missed

[Supergirl]

side note


Your back and abs are your "core" and work synergistically.. so in order to isolate and just train your abs, you need to keep a flat back and do small concentrated movements ie: tight crunches...

Also a litte hint for those that feel they strain their necks when doing crunches.. place your tongue on the roof of your mouth while crunching... this takes all strain off your neck

mod at:
www.competitivemuscle.com
www.steroidology.com
www.cuttingedgemuscle.com
www.sculptedbyiron.com

[MsBiatch]

Thanks for the extra tips SuperGirl!

*RIP Daddy... Forever your little girl*
*RIP KILLA* You'll be greatly missed

[petitet]

I have been working my abs but see no result. I know they are hard but I still have a pooch. I have cardio everytime I work out and was getting frustrated on the abs. Thanks for the tips. Question though. Do you do the crunches at a slow rate or fast? In otherwords, do you make it a cardio workout or a muscle toning workout?

[bigj]

you have no pooch! You're beautiful!
bigj

I lost my best friend and brother....STK you were loved my brother...

[petitet]

you're so sweet.

[bigj]

I think you're beautiful!
bigj

I lost my best friend and brother....STK you were loved my brother...

[MsBiatch]

quote:

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Originally posted by petitet:
Question though. Do you do the crunches at a slow rate or fast? In otherwords, do you make it a cardio workout or a muscle toning workout?[/quote]

I'll have to look this one up... Off the top of my head though, I'd think slow so it's more toning (tred mill is enough cardio)lol I wonder if it would make a difference? Dang Petitet, you've stumped me

*RIP Daddy... Forever your little girl*
*RIP KILLA* You'll be greatly missed

[bigj]

crunch up your abs like a piece of paper...and then crush your abs tighter and tighter and tighter....couldn't be extremely fast all the time. Concentrate on the burn.
bigj

I lost my best friend and brother....STK you were loved my brother...

[Supergirl]

as a female, you really do not want to train abs with weight (unless of course you are a bber) because if you use weight, they will grow like other muscles and may protrude with deep seperations rather than be flat and tight. Crunching should be done at a moderate speed, focusing as BigJ said, on the burn. As you crunch, you want to FLEX your abs; almost making a mind muscle connection. Also, make sure it is your abs doing the crunching rather than your arms pulling on your neck, or using the ab roller, or lower back. The ONLY way to isolate your abs is to have a flat back... NO arch. This way the main focus is the abs. Again i can not stress enough small concentrated movements incooperating only the abs... each cruch should be a flex.. you probably can get in 1 crunch per every 2 seconds, holding a squeeze at the top.. so that might be about 30 crunches per minute give or take...

I hope that helped answer your question

mod at:
www.competitivemuscle.com
www.steroidology.com
www.cuttingedgemuscle.com
www.sculptedbyiron.com