Everyone wants a belly they can be proud of, achieved through abdominal exercises and cardio exercise, and it makes good health sense too. Abdominal fat is most closely associated with heart disease, so it’s important to keep this part of your body fit. But before you start, there are some important things to know when performing abdominal exercises.
A brief anatomy
There are four muscles in the “abs” group. To perform abdominal exercises, you should know about them. The obliques are on the sides of your torso. The external obliques are the outermost. Under those are the internal obliques. They enable you to rotate your trunk and permit lateral flexion.
The rectus abdominis is the long, wide muscle that runs down your center, from sternum to pelvis. It enables you to move your torso forward and draw your pelvis upward. Many abdominal exercises focus on this.
The transverse abdominis is the deepest layer. It is thin and runs horizontally across your abdominal wall. It has little impact in movement and isn’t a focus for abdominal exercises.
Training techniques (abdominal exercises)
The order in which you perform abdominal exercises can affect overall efficiency. Start abdominal exercises with your lower abs. Pelvic tilts are a good abdominal exercise for the lower belly. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet on the floor and slowly tilt your pelvis upward while keeping your middle back from breaking contact with the floor. The range of motion is small — only a couple of inches. Hold a few seconds, relax, and repeat. Or lay on your back, lift your legs in the air, either straight up with your feet towards the ceiling, or knees bent. Lift your pelvis up off the floor, relax and repeat.
Next, your abdominal exercises should focus on your obliques (sides). While on your back with your legs up and knees bent, twist to the side. Twist your right knee to your left elbow. Relax, and then twist, reaching your left knee with your right elbow. Relax and repeat, alternating sides. This abdominal exercise should help trim your waistline.
Wait a minute and then do abdominal exercises for the upper part of your abs. Crunches work well. Lay on your back with your knees bent, feet either touching the floor or in the air. Place your hands behind your head. Do not intertwine your fingers; you could pull your neck during the abdominal exercises. Bend forward, reaching for your knees. Work your way up to doing this abdominal exercise on a Swiss (exercise) ball. This has been shown to be the most effective type of abdominal crunch.
High or low reps?
These are basic abdominal exercises. One good repetition is better than ten improper ones. Don’t waste your time rushing through a high number of bad reps thinking that you’ll get better results. You’re better off doing a low number of good repetitions. Go slowly, use proper form, and go until your muscles are fatigued. Beginners, expect soreness after your abdominal exercises for the first week or so. Afterwards, you might only feel a mild soreness the next day or two. If it really hurts, you overdid it, or used improper form. Do one set, or if you do more, rest 30-60 seconds between sets.
Stripping the body fat that covers these muscles
You could have hard abs as a result of your abdominal exercises, but you would never know it if you had a layer of body-fat on top. You need to do cardio-pulmonary (vascular) exercises that get your heart pumping, along with abdominal exercises. It could be walking, running or other cardio exercises. The other important component is proper nutrition; get a balance of healthy nutrients and drink lots of water.
Laura N. Hogg