Every person in the gym, young or old, male or female would die to have an aesthetically pleasing set of abdominals. In this article we will review some simple techniques in helping you on your way to those awesome abs. The abdominal wall will only look great if you can see it in the first place. If it is covered by a thick layer of subcutaneous fat it will be of little aesthetic benefit. Whilst decreasing body fat is the topic of another article, rest assured you won’t get close to seeing that six pack until your body fat is below 10% for a male and 16% as a female. If you are at or below this level then the rest of this article will ensure you have the abs you’ve always dreamed of. In this article I will look at ways to activate the abdominal wall for maximum response.

The first necessity is to assess the muscular balance of your pelvis and spine for any abnormalities and also to check if your abdominal contraction is being inhibited due to pain, inflammation or dominance of other pelvic muscles. These problems and others such as gastro-intestinal disorders, abdominal surgery or poor posture can all stop the abdominal wall working correctly and decreasing your chance of developing the best abs you can. If you suffer from one of the above you will need to spend time with a trained professional to re-establish normal control of your abdominal wall. Simple stretching and muscle activation techniques are often all that is needed to accomplish this and results in a very quick resumption of normal function of the abdominal muscles.

Then you are ready to begin your training. There is a specific order that needs to be followed when designing an abdominal exercise programme. The most neurologically demanding exercises involving the deep abdominal wall should always be performed first. These are the type of exercises you see in Pilates classes and are usually very specific in their execution. The oblique muscles need to be worked next and these are invariably involved in any twisting or rotating exercises like woodchops or cross crunches. Finally the upper abdominals need to be worked, these are the least demanding from a technical perspective and include any conventional type of crunch exercise or flexing of the trunk.

It is vitally important that the abdominal wall is also trained through a full range of motion. This is vitally important for racquet sports players and also in many other sports and is why Swiss Ball training should be an integral part of everyone’s programme. It is also important to train the back muscles to the same degree to create balance in the trunk and prevent injury. By balancing out all the muscles in the torso not only will your posture improve but also you will look a lot better. Many people don’t realise the importance of training the back muscles to prevent muscle imbalance from the now stronger abdominals. If many of these tips are unfamiliar seek guidance from a personal trainer familiar with these techniques.

Chris Hines CSCS
Fat Loss Specialist

Author Bio: Chris Hines is a Personal Trainer and Director of Peak XV Fitness Bootcamps. He specialises in getting women twice the results in half the time. http://www.peakxvfitness.com/bootcamps

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
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