Strong Abs: Not Just a Flat Stomach
The four groups of muscles that make up the abdominals support the human body in many important ways such as supporting the trunk, allowing for movement, holding organs in place, and supporting the lower back. Maintaining a workout regimen for your abs can thus improve overall health in many important ways. Of course, if a shapely stomach is your goal, that can be accomplished as well; and the benefits will go well beyond appearance.
As with any muscle group, it is important to keep in mind that muscle strains are possible if ab workouts are not performed with care. Staying conscious of form while exercising and being careful to stretch properly can prevent stitches, muscle strains, and hernias.
Effective Workouts
Ab muscles react to fitness training just like any other group of muscles. According to SimpleFitnessSolutions.com, the best ab workouts will lead to fatigue in 20 repetitions or less and will produce better results. With that in mind, several exercises can strengthen your abs without even a trip to the gym or special equipment.
- A standard crunch involves lying on your back with your knees bent and your hands either at your chest, the sides of your head, or stretched above your head, depending on the level of difficulty you desire. The ab muscles are used to lift your shoulders off the floor and then lower them back down slowly.
- A reverse curl targets the lower and side ab muscles. To do a reverse curl, lie on your back and bend your knees towards your chest as far as possible, slowly lifting and lowering your hips. During this part of your workout, it may be easier to place your hands on the floor to steady yourself.
- A combination crunch simply combines a standard crunch and a reverse crunch; use your abs to lift your shoulders and your hips at the same time. It is very important to maintain balance during this workout move.
Many products designed for ab workouts are commercially available, including exercise balls, ab rollers, and many others. These can be safe and effective as long as directions and guidelines are followed carefully.
Achieving Results
If a trim waist is your goal, you should be aware of one important myth about ab workouts: strengthening your ab muscles will not reduce fat in the abdominal area, because, although the muscle fibers will be built up, fat stores will not be reduced at the same time by ab training alone. Only aerobic exercise and good nutrition along with a good ab workout regimen can change the shape of your stomach.
It is also important to keep in mind that, as with any kind of physical training, it will take time for the results to be visibly noticeable. You may feel like your ab workouts are making you stronger weeks before your stomach actually looks or feels different. Another factor that is closely tied to ab strength and appearance is posture: good posture can make anyone look healthier, and good posture will be more easily achieved with stronger abs.
By Kristin Cleveland