Programs
Abdominal exercises may seem like fairly simple movements. Of course, if it were really that easy, then everyone would have perfect abs. Many people make serious mistakes during these approaches. Most of the incorrectly performed actions during these exercises do not contribute to the destruction of belly fat and can even be harmful.
We've identified nine mistakes you should never make when rocking your abs. You can make such mistakes if you do such exercises daily, twice a week, or whenever the occasion arises. Of course, skipping your workout altogether would be the biggest mistake you could make!
1. DON’T THINK ABOUT YOUR ABS AS JUST A MUSCLE
Even if your main dream is perfect abs, then this is not just one muscle, but several muscles that you should become familiar with. First is the rectus abdominis muscle, which runs between the sternum and pelvis. It performs two targeted tasks: forward flexion of the torso and elevation of the pelvis.
The internal and external obliques run on both sides of the torso. The external oblique is an external abdominal muscle whose fibers run diagonally from the lower ribs to the front of the pelvic bone. It assists in flexion of the body. It is also activated during trunk rotation and lateral flexion.
There are also transverse muscles, which are the deepest of the abdominal muscles. They move under the rectus abdominis muscle. These muscles are directly involved in abdominal contraction movements. Because these muscles are not visible, many programs do not include exercises that target them, which is a huge mistake.
Knowing about all the muscles of your abdomen and the exact pattern of their work, you will be able to better design your workouts, focusing on your strongest and weakest sides. Since the abdominal muscle is presented in a single copy, you can emphasize it with press exercises with varying movements in its upper and lower parts. (Note we don't say "isolate").
To focus your primary attention on your upper abs, first create a state of rest in your lower body by folding your upper body down, decreasing the distance between your ribcage and pelvis. A good example of an upper abdominal exercise would be the row press, in which the lower body does not move at all. To focus on the lower area, everything is done just the opposite: the upper part remains motionless, you raise your legs up, which bends the pelvis upward. A good example of this is raising your legs while hanging from a pull-up bar.
Some abdominal exercises allow you to focus on both ends of the muscle, for example, when the chest and pelvis are directed towards each other, which actually engages the abs, both lower and upper. Also during oblique movements, when you twist, rotate or work in the lateral plane, such as when performing side bends.
2. DON'T BE AFRAID OF ADDITIONAL EXERCISE
There are a huge number of bodyweight abdominal exercises to choose from. A huge plus: You can do many of them at home without having to go to the gym and they don't require any special equipment.
What's the downside? When you feel more strength capable, you can do more reps or reduce the rest period between your sets, but with bodyweight exercises you really won't have the opportunity to increase the load. This is why you should prefer exercises with additional weight. This way, you will be able to handle more weight and improve your performance.
Although abdominal exercises recruit more slow-twitch muscle fibers than other muscle groups in your skeleton, fast-twitch fibers make up almost half of your abdominal muscles. Many bodyweight exercises that you can perform with high repetitions do not effectively recruit these fast-twitch fibers. Moreover, slow twitch fibers are more resilient and do not respond to stimulation of greater growth. Instead, they become more efficient under aerobic conditions.
Sets of heavy weights with short to moderate reps are great for building those fast-twitch fibers that tend to grow. Using additional resistance for 8-12 repetitions will help create noticeable six-pack abs.
Do abs or other exercise machines, and finish your workout with bodyweight exercises to really stimulate muscle growth.
3. DON'T BE AFRAID TO LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Getting into your comfort zone is your worst enemy of doing abdominal exercises or using another part of your body. Additionally, adding additional weight to increase the load on the target muscles can also increase the number of repetitions or decrease the rest periods between sets.
Promoting your progress in abdominal exercises is as important as with any other part of the body. Your body quickly adapts to the training stimulation and you must continue to increase the tension for continued success. Such progress is built with the help of progressive load.
If your ab workout routine consists of three sets of twenty reps in a row and you feel like you're doing the same work every workout, then it's time to test the load and deliberately make your training significantly more difficult. As you become stronger and are able to perform more repetitions of these exercises, increase the amount of weight load. Always strive to improve and make better what has been done before.
4. DO NOT LEVEL YOUR BACK
Too many people mistakenly try to keep their back flat while doing abs and other movements. Maintaining a flat back involves proper routine of deadlifts, squats, bending and side raises.
But think about it, when you tighten your lower back isometrically to keep it flat, you can't allow your abdominal muscles to actively contract, which is the enemy of your lower back muscles. Accordingly, a flat back prevents contraction of the abdominal muscles.
When performing abdominal exercises, you need to wean yourself from this bad habit. Maintaining a flat or slightly arched back at the lower back prevents the development of six-pack abdominals. Those who keep their back straight end up arching at their hips rather than at their waist. Only when your waist bends correctly will you be able to twist the rectus abdominis muscle, causing it to contract; at the same time, the lower part of the posterior musculature is stretched as it bends with the back.
Your spine flexes and extends in a controlled manner, allowing your core exercises to better target the target muscles.
5. DON'T REST BETWEEN EACH REPS
If you're doing machine presses, don't let the extra weight drop completely to the ground between reps. When all your strength is running out, you can use the so-called “stretch reflex.” The weight is significantly transferred to the machine, taking the load off the muscles, which allows your muscles to rest a little, but not relax.
This method is easy to use on a machine, but it is not entirely convenient for exercises with your own weight. When performing such exercises, in most cases, you lie on your back; Typically, you need to lift yourself up and lift your shoulder blades off the mat, and then move all the way back. This forces you to perform the next repetition from a relaxed position.
Maintaining tension in the target muscles throughout the entire set requires expanding your range of motion, which will provide multiple rest points. In a completely elongated state of the body, you will still feel muscle tension and you will not have to start from any relaxed position.
6. DO NOT HURRY TO DO REPS
An inexperienced person often strives to perform as many repetitions as he can and tries to do them as quickly as possible. But quantity should not be your main goal. Instead, your goal should be the quality of these repetitions, in which you fully utilize your capabilities. Haste in doing press exercises leads to the fact that they completely stop working.
A well-executed repetition entails performing each subsequent repetition with a feeling of tension in the muscles. It engages the target muscle through a full range of motion. To ensure minimal dynamics, stay in the top position and consciously tense your abs.
Shift your focus from the quantity of your repetitions to their quality. It is acceptable, in the end result, to do fewer repetitions, but in such a way that they will force your muscles to work. After all, in fact, this is what you need.
7. DO NOT INTENTIONALLY FLEX YOUR HIP FLEXORS
You've probably heard this before, but let's look at what it means. The thighs have a group of upper muscles that attach to the lower part of the pelvis, while the rectus abdominis muscle attaches to the upper part of the pelvis. Many people mistakenly start flexing their hips, thinking that they are causing their lower abs to move. But, there is a definite difference in how exactly you use your flexor muscles.
For example, hang from a horizontal bar while keeping your body straight. Now start raising your legs 60 degrees. Then you will be able to notice that the lower dorsal part is still flat, it has not become rounded. This is a clear reason to believe that the lower part of your abs is not involved. This proves that the hip flexors are not responsible for your abs, they are responsible for lifting your legs.
Now begin to lift your legs up until your thighs are parallel to the floor. It is then that you will see that your lower back is noticeably rounded and your pelvis is flexed. This is the important difference.
Raising your legs normally does not guarantee activation of your lower abs until you reach the desired point where your lower back begins to flex. And when the lower part of your spine starts to round, it's a clear sign that your abs are starting to contract.
8. DON'T PULL YOUR NECK
Bodyweight training has its important place in building six-pack abs, especially at the end of a workout or when training at home. Many people perform abdominal exercises by placing their hands behind their heads, using them as support. And too often, they begin to pull their head to make it easier for them to move.
If you pull your head during abdominal exercises, it can throw your back out of alignment. During exercises, it is necessary to maintain the correct position of the back from the lumbar region to the cervical spine. Stretching your head makes your neck quite a vulnerable point.
Of course, when performing such exercises with your own weight, the risk of injury will not be as high. The main thing is to be aware of the consequences of an incorrect spinal position and position your body correctly. Now imagine what the consequences can be when you position your body incorrectly, while carrying loads of several kilograms of additional weight.
9. DON'T EAT JUNK FOOD
Some people believe that neglecting their diet, say, eating chocolate cake, can be easily overcome by simply doing a little more exercise. If only it were really that simple.
Let's assume for a second that the cake amounted to 500 calories, which increased your daily tasks. This means that you are now required to exercise to burn off those extra 500 calories. Abdominal exercises will not bring much effect, since contractions of the abdominal muscles do not play a huge role compared to the work of large parts of the body, which involve more muscles. Hence, cardio exercises such as walking are more ideal options.
How long do you now have to walk or run to burn off that piece of cake you ate? If you weigh 77 kg, you should walk on the treadmill for 125 minutes, calculating that you will burn four calories per minute. It turns out that it takes two hours just to burn one dessert! What if the food you eat requires more cleaning?
It is unlikely that you will ever meet an athlete who would agree that you can get six-pack abs by allowing yourself junk food. Your abs will never show if they are covered with a layer of fat. If you are not quite ready to work hard for several hours on cardio equipment, then watch your diet. What you eat is the main factor in the formation of beautiful abs.
Correct the mistakes and very soon you will see the desired cubes.
If you spend time and effort on your abs, but don't see results, then you are using ineffective exercises. Modern people tend to weaken the lower part of the body, the reason for this is a sedentary lifestyle and lack of regular physical activity. Over time, the stomach becomes softer and less beautiful.
If you are not a bodybuilder, then many exercises will be not only ineffective for you, but also dangerous.
For a person with weak lower abdominal muscles, the wrong exercises place too much stress on the hip flexors and upper abdominal muscles. At the same time, those muscles that should work do not receive the proper load. The result is weakening of the pelvic floor muscles, poor posture, and problems with bowel function. If the loads are distributed in such a way that the muscles in the upper abdomen develop better than in the lower, then not only the posture, but also the figure as a whole will change, the head will constantly fall forward, and the shoulders will unnaturally move back. Deformed posture is not only an aesthetic nuisance; over time, it leads to severe pain in the neck and lower back. Choosing the right abdominal exercises is very important.
Crunches
This is one of the most common exercises for lifting the upper body up using crunches. If your job involves sitting for a long time, then crunches will be harmful for you. When performing the exercise, the upper abs, neck, shoulders, back, even the muscles of the front of the thigh are included in the work, but at the same time the pelvic muscles and lower abs are practically inactive. And if you perform twists using the wrong technique, as all beginners most often do, then the preponderance of loads will be even stronger.
Raising the body with fixed legs
The so-called sit-ups or body lifts on a special bench with an incline are the same crunches, only a more complex variation. There are such benches in every gym; there are also a lot of people who want to work out their abs on them. The same situation occurs as with crunches, it is aggravated by sharp jerking movements in the last repetitions, when a person is already tired and wants to finish quickly. Particularly stupid are those who strive to turn sit-ups into competition and begin to perform several dozen crunches in a short time.
Lying leg raises
An exercise that can turn a healthy back into a sick one, this also includes leg raises on the bar. You can expose yourself to such loads only if you have very strong muscles in the lower abdomen; with weak muscles, the load is transferred to where it is absolutely not needed. Signs that a person’s muscles are not ready to lift their legs from a lying position are discomfort and pain in the lower back. The pain is caused by the psoas muscle, it takes work away from the abs and constantly pulls the spine towards itself; the consequences can be displacement of the lower vertebrae.
Reason 1. Fat
The most obvious and popular reason for belly fat is below the waist. In general, fat is a strange thing from a physiological point of view. We can locally pump up and tighten certain muscles, which is what strength exercises are aimed at, but it is impossible to burn fat in one part of the body - if you lose weight, you lose weight as a whole, and the body itself decides in which part of the body it wants to lose less, and in which – more. The lower abdomen is one of the most stubborn - the fat here is very persistent, especially if you also have a genetic predisposition to the so-called tummy.
Do you want not only a flat stomach, but also a toned butt? Read the article “How to remove a crease under your butt”!
So, if you have fat, abdominal exercises alone will be useless: you can increase your muscles, but under the fat deposits they simply will not be visible. Moreover, the volume of the abdomen may increase even more. Measures aimed at fat burning are needed. These are cardio workouts: running, swimming, cycling, jumping, and so on, as well as diet correction. Proper nutrition, which is based on healthy foods and categorically does not allow overeating, is what you need to remove fat from the lower abdomen and other parts of the body.
Plank
This is a good static exercise, it is used to strengthen the core muscles, however, performing the plank with the wrong technique makes the exercise dangerous. The same thing happens if a person has poorly developed abs - the load moves from the abdominal muscles to the spine and becomes the cause of injury. The plank should not be done by those who have back problems, in particular spinal curvature.
Do you “curl up” on your mat every morning, don’t remember when you ate something other than vegetables and chicken breast, but still didn’t have abs? Fitness bikini Kristina Kukushkina talks about the pitfalls of pumping up the relief.
You come home from work and do regular crunches on the mat. If you think that technology is needed only in complex complexes, you are mistaken. Think about it: does your lower back feel a lot of tension? If yes, then you do not press her to the floor. Without this factor, twisting does not work.
Remember how you breathe during training. Each abdominal exercise should be done with a strong exhalation. After a set of crunches, you should feel a burning sensation. Don't you feel it? This means that you are shown one more approach, or better yet, two! Remember that you are working for results.
Program
I never tire of telling my clients that Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima’s abs don’t “pump up” in a month. Beautiful relief requires work, patience and regularity. Have you worked your abs a couple of times and are in a hurry to get into the jacuzzi? You make this choice yourself. Are you eating three rounds at the nearest bakery? You made this choice too. Make an agreement with yourself and don’t let your body down.
Interlayer
Good news - your abs may already be toned, but they're not visible. He disappeared behind a layer of fat, like behind a pillow. I often hear this myth - if I do more abdominal exercises, then my stomach will become flat. This is wrong! Nutrition is the most important thing for relief forms. If you already know how to do exercises correctly, think about eating for your abs - reduce the amount of fast carbohydrates (baked goods, sweets, instant cereals, sweet muesli) and add more protein to your diet (chicken breast, egg whites, fish).
No luck with dice
Do you train and eat right, but your abs still haven’t come out by summer? Perhaps the matter is in your natural “cubes” - those same relief forms of the longitudinal abdominal muscle. They can be small or large - depending on your luck from birth. These are features of the body, do not try to correct them - switch your attention to “pumping” another part of the body.
You're just not an "ectomorph" (and this is not from a Transformers movie)
A possible reason is the structure of your abs. People are divided into three types - ectomorphs, mesamorphs and endamorphs. It sounds disappointing, but only representatives of the first group achieve sculpted abs through physical activity and proper nutrition. The other two types are not predisposed to the so-called “cubes”. Think about it - do you really need them? You can look athletic without them. Working on the ideal shape of the “bottom part” is no less exciting. Do squats and your butt will be the best on the summer beaches.
Answered by Anna Kiryukhina, certified fitness and bodybuilding trainer
.
1 error.
Thinking that everything depends on exercise.
Abs, as they say, are prepared in the kitchen: 80% of the result is nutrition, and only 20% is regular exercise.
2 error.
Forget about breathing.
During exercises, control your breathing correctly: rise - exhale, relax - inhale.
3 error.
Don't control your chin.
The chin should not be pressed to the chest, the neck should be kept straight during any exercise.
4 error.
Don't watch your back.
When doing exercises for the abdominal muscles, you should not lift your lower back off the floor and round your back. Otherwise, the lumbar region is overloaded and, as a result, back pain, hernias and other troubles occur.
5 error.
Raising straight legs with the body fixed on the floor.
This exercise, popular since Soviet times, is actually insidious: it puts a significant load on the intervertebral discs of the lumbar spine.
6 error.
Simultaneous lifting of the torso and legs from the floor.
Another popular exercise for home fitness. For some reason, it is believed that it is precisely this that contributes to the development of the lateral press. But alas: it is precisely from this exercise that people begin to experience lower back pain.
Harmful abdominal exercises
Recommending methods for pumping up the abs, numerous fitness websites and YouTube channels seem to forget that they are giving advice to ordinary people, and not to professional bodybuilders on a course of steroids. Most often, their abdominal programs turn into a set of sophisticated exercises.
However, office work in a sitting position affects the specifics of the workout - it is the absence of static loads in the muscular wall of the abs that leads to the formation of that very soft tummy. For ordinary people, they need not just strength exercises, but constant control over the abdominal muscles.
Why are crunches harmful?
Ab crunches are not only the most popular abdominal exercise, but also the most harmful for those who spend most of their time in a sitting position. Most people are unable to perform this exercise using their abdominal muscles, shifting the load to the secondary muscles.
Incorrect twisting technique involves the muscles of the neck, shoulders, back, upper abs and even the front of the thighs - leaving the oblique abdominal muscles, internal abdominal and pelvic muscles unloaded. Moreover, the more repetitions a person performs, the more harm he causes himself.
Weakening of the lower abs
Against the backdrop of weak abdominal muscles, performing body lifts with leg locks and other strength exercises shifts the load to the muscles of the anterior hip flexors and lower back - leaving virtually no load on the abdominal muscles, which the person intends to train.
Such training leads to a progressive weakening of the pelvic floor muscles. This causes a complex violation of posture called forward tilt of the pelvis, pain in the lower back and also problems with the functions of the rectum and sphincter (advanced cases may well provoke hemorrhoids).
The importance of static loads for the press
It is important to understand that strong abs are different from strong biceps. The daily function of the abdominal muscles is to fix the internal organs and maintain posture (static function), and not to perform short but extremely hard work (lifting and moving loads).
In real life, strong abs means one thing - the ability to keep your abdominal muscles tense. The abs should be slightly tense all day: when getting out of bed, when brushing your teeth, when walking and sitting in a chair. However, in the office we don't think about the press at all - that's where the root of the problem lies.
Plank - benefit or harm?
The plank exercise (elbow stand) is one of the best static exercises for strengthening the internal muscles of the core - however, weak abs and incorrect execution technique can make this exercise dangerous, shifting the load from the abdominal muscles to the spine.
A fanatical increase in the time spent performing an exercise without real development of the abs is also dangerous. The goal of the plank is not to spend 20, 30, 60, 90 seconds in the rack, but to consciously engage the entire abdominal muscles and develop strong neuromuscular connections between the muscles and the brain.
How to pump up your abs correctly?
A pumped-up abs is built on three elements - the genetic characteristics of the muscles (from the structure of the abdominal muscles to the location of the abs and even posture), a diet to reduce subcutaneous fat, and training to develop and strengthen muscles.
At the same time, strength exercises do not dry out the abs and do not make the stomach toned - for relief, you need a diet that allows you to both burn fat and prevent its reappearance; and for a toned stomach, you need the ability to keep your abdominal muscles tense both during training and in life.
Why can’t you “pump up” your abdominal muscles quickly?
What's the catch? Why does the passion of beginners go away very quickly, and in their defense they can insist that cubes are only available to those who are heavily “sitting” on chemical drugs, and all these sculpted muscles are a temporary phenomenon. In fact, the whole problem with beautiful and sculpted abdominal muscles is that they require a special approach. What do most newcomers do? They come to the gym and first begin to pump the large muscles of the chest, back and legs. It's hard to resist competing with other gym goers to see who can do the most chest presses or deadlifts. This is especially noticeable among those who have natural strength and who in the past had good achievements in bodybuilding, kettlebell lifting or weightlifting. They are content with the exercises that they were best at.
Having finished working with large muscles, the “athletes” move on to pumping up the arm muscles - biceps and triceps, deltoids. How can you not pump up these muscles? Prominent biceps, large triceps and wide deltoids are an attribute of every self-respecting “jock”. And they look very impressive. Each of these muscles requires that it be worked in 2-3 exercises of 3-4 approaches. And in each approach you need to perform 6-12 repetitions. And for the effect to be better, the training program and effects on these muscles must be changed once every 1-1.5 months. This is also true for large muscle groups. But some give these muscle groups an even greater load, performing 5-6 exercises in 4-6 approaches with 6-10 repetitions in each of them.
And that is not all. Training can take place daily. This is done in order to pay attention to 2-3 muscles every day. For example, in one workout, exercises are performed on the chest, triceps femoris and biceps, and in another workout, on the back, biceps femoris. In the third workout, all attention is paid to the deltoids and triceps with forearms. And then repeat again from the first training session. Why is everyone doing this? In order to most effectively influence these muscles and develop them as well as possible. And when do they work on the press?
Why don't you need to pump up your abs?
So, are you into fitness and want to have a flat or toned stomach? Let's figure out why for these purposes you don't need to pump up your abs, as we are used to doing.
Abdominal training does not burn belly fat
In order to see the desired cubes, you need to burn the fat layer on your stomach. When you do abs, you strengthen muscles, but don't burn fat. The muscles will become toned from the exercise, but the stomach will not become flat because you are not working on eliminating the fat layer
. And if you don’t have belly fat, then even two or three abdominal workouts are usually enough for the muscles to become toned and the abs to appear accordingly.
At the same time, abdominal training burns so few calories that even doing abdominal exercises all day
, you will hardly burn at least 300 kcal. For example, you can burn the same amount of calories in half an hour of intense cardio training, but in addition you will also speed up your metabolism. Abdominal training does not affect our metabolism, unlike aerobic exercise and most other strength exercises.
Indirect exercises are usually enough to pump up your abs
The abdominal muscles are very responsive and do not require special exercises to strengthen and tone them. They come into play even if you use them indirectly when training other muscle groups
.
Any exercise in which your abdominal muscles are tensed is suitable, for example: squats, lunges, deadlifts, bent over rows, deadlifts, etc.
If you do strength training, then this is enough
to pump up your abdominal muscles. They are perfectly strengthened due to indirect load, so various crunches and bicycles are not at all necessary. Many trainers include them in their programs out of habit and because they are in demand among the audience.
There are no methods for local fat burning
If you want to find a magical way to burn belly fat locally, forget about it. It simply doesn't exist. Hoops, crunches, massages will not help you burn belly fat, which means they have no practical use. We have already written about local weight loss, but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it. The whole body loses weight evenly and entirely; it is simply impossible to remove fat from the abdomen only
.
Moreover, weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you consume. Focus on eating right and working out your entire body if you want to get toned abs. By the way, you can achieve a flat stomach even without exercise if you eat in a calorie deficit
.
Instead of abdominal exercises, it is more effective to perform other strength exercises or cardio training
When you pump up your abs, you burn virtually no calories. Various crunches, leg raises, bicycles are some of the lowest-cost exercises
, which use the body's resources to a minimum. Abdominal training does not in any way affect a person’s metabolism and the development of other muscle groups.
Therefore, you shouldn’t waste time pumping up your abs—it’s better to do other strength or cardio workouts. Thus, by training all other muscle groups or doing cardio, you will get a flat stomach faster
than if you just pump up your abs. The abdominal muscles are important as a spinal stabilizer, but in this case it will be more effective to perform isometric exercises for the core muscles.
Twisting on the floor can injure your back and lower back
Of course, any exercise can lead to injury if the correct technique is not followed. But when the question arises about the advisability of exercises in general, there is reason to think: is it necessary to take risks?
? Although twisting and its modifications seem to be the simplest and most understandable exercises, very often practitioners get injured in the neck, back and lower back precisely when pumping the abs
The fact is that when doing crunches, it is very important to follow the technique and put the load on the abs, and not on the back. With the slightest disturbance or even loss of concentration, you can get an unpleasant injury. In exercises for other muscle groups, it makes sense to hone the technique, because their benefits are not in doubt
. But whether there is a serious need for twisting is up to you to decide.
What prevents you from pumping up your abdominal muscles?
This is where the fun begins. If you understand this, then this is already a guarantee that you will approach work on the press correctly and success awaits you. So, they work on the abs at the end of the workout. After, during a 1-5 hour workout, the “athlete” has completed 12-16 exercises of 3-5 approaches in each, completely tired, he approaches the abdominal work. What “great” exercises are used to work the abdominal muscles? This is raising the body on a bench and raising the legs while hanging on the bar. There is enough energy for 2-3 approaches for each exercise. And that's the best case scenario. More often you can observe a picture when, after all the work done, the athlete only needs 1-2 rounds of 1 abdominal exercise, after which he finishes the workout. That's all the abdominal exercises.
Months, sometimes years, pass if the bodybuilder gets involved in the process and the desire to sweat in the gym does not leave him. He has excellent or good results in the barbell press and deadlift, and he does good leg presses and squats with the barbell. His biceps have long exceeded 45 cm in volume and very impressive triceps with deltoids. But in place of the press there is a neat, round ball. If you don't believe me, go to the gym. There are a lot of athletes in it who have something to show - their chest, their back with biceps, and their beautiful trapezius. But beautiful, sculpted abs are rarely shown. It’s worth noting here that not every gym will give you those coveted 6-pack abs. And this happens precisely because of this attitude towards working on these muscles.
Exercises for the abs
So, removing fat from the abs is our main task. To implement it, you need to approach training correctly, which means choosing the right set of exercises. Exercises should not only focus on the abs - all muscle groups should be included.
Exercise 1
Running helps tremendously - try to run at least three kilometers in the morning at an average pace. This will go very well with abdominal exercises.
Important! It is better to run daily or at least every other day.
It is important to remember that systematicity is the most important thing. Nothing will work without her. Many people are interested in the question of how to remove fat above the abs? This worries not only women, but also many representatives of the stronger sex, because they also have such problems.
Exercise 2
So, let's look at exercises that will help you get beautiful abs:
- Lie on the floor with your legs straight out and your arms along your body or behind your head.
- Next, we begin to raise our straight legs at an angle of 45 degrees.
- Having raised your legs, you need to hold them in this position for several seconds.
- Then raise your legs to a right angle and also hold for a few seconds.
- Slowly lower your legs.
Important! Do this 15 times, 3 approaches a day.
Exercise 3
This exercise is also very effective on the bar. For this:
- While hanging by your hands, slowly raise your legs at a right angle.
- Don't bend your legs. If this is difficult for you, then start by raising your legs with your knees bent to your stomach.
- Once this exercise becomes easy for you, you can add weight to your legs by attaching dumbbells to them.
Why are well-developed abdominal muscles needed?
Are there any other functions of the abdominal press, besides facilitating the ability to make acquaintances with the opposite sex? Let's be honest, this is what every man wants. It’s enough to “play” with your muscles a couple of times and take off your shirt, exposing your powerful torso, like all the women at the feet of this man. This, by the way, is the opinion of many “jocks”, who are then surprised that not all representatives of the fair half of humanity have such an effective approach. The fact is that when creating a person, nature thought primarily about his optimal functionality. Everything that is given to a person must be developed and used in everyday work. But today, in the vast majority of humanity, most muscles are not developed at all or are very poorly developed.
Abs were not given to man for beauty. Firstly, it has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the internal organs of the digestive and genitourinary systems. Developed abdominal muscles stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, help prevent gas formation, and improve digestion processes. Secondly, these muscles play the role of a corset, which not only allows you to highlight the waist, but allows you to protect the lower and middle sections of the spine from displacement and damage to the intervertebral discs.
And thirdly, in order to have such sculpted muscles, you need high-quality, regular training over a long period of time. This means that a man with such muscles has a superbly trained body and excellent health.
A little more about the benefits of developed abdominal muscles. The better they are developed, the better the blood flow to the internal organs of the abdominal cavity is ensured, and their health improves. As soon as more attention is paid to abdominal exercises, the internal organs located in the abdominal part of the body improve their motor and absorption functions. The development of these muscles is a good prevention against stomach ulcers, gastritis, and is also used for therapeutic purposes against these pathologies. By pumping the abdominal muscles, a man improves metabolic processes in the body, thereby stimulating rejuvenation of the entire body. As for the role of the press as a corset, it not only protects the spine from injury, but also allows you to maintain correct posture. And correct posture further prevents spinal injuries. Moreover, by acting on the abdominal cavity, the abdominal muscles prevent the stomach from stretching when eating and prevent overeating, providing a quick signal to the brain that enough food has been taken.
Abdominal muscles are an indicator of complete male health.
This is why well-developed abs attract the opposite sex. Women feel on a subconscious level that a healthy representative of the opposite sex is standing in front of them. As for the dating fiasco, men themselves are to blame for this, believing that someone owes them something for their services. The relief is relief, and women don’t really like boorish behavior. Emancipation, in a word. A handsome male torso can be a reason for dating, but women love with their ears, not their eyes.
What do you need to do to get a “6 pack”?
So, if your goal is to acquire a good sculpted stomach, then you need to start your training with an impact on the abdominal muscles. Abdominal exercises should begin an athlete's training. This will allow you to concentrate on working in these exercises and maximally load your abs, while ensuring that you get the full benefit of working on them.
How much should you work on your abs? The abdominal muscles literally demand to be “bombed”. If the chest, back, and biceps require a break from working on them in order to recover, then the abdominal muscles literally require daily work. By their nature, the abdominal muscles are very similar to the muscles of the forearms and calf muscles. To fully load these muscle fibers, you need a very long-term impact on them, which is achieved by a certain number of exercises, in this case, from 3 to 6 or more, several approaches to each exercise with 20-50 repetitions. The minimum number of total repetitions for abdominal exercises is 160 or more. This approach allows you to achieve the necessary relief in the abdominal area in the optimal time.
There is another very important factor. No matter how much you work and practice abdominal exercises, if the whole body has a very high percentage of fat, then there will be no abs. You can feel them under a layer of fat or observe how they appear a little through the fatty tissue, but you will not have the expected effect. Someone who has fat hanging on their chest, arms or chin cannot have a 6-pack. This chest and biceps can be seen when life preservers hang from the stomach. This does not work with the abdominal muscles. Therefore, only a general reduction in the amount of fat throughout the body will give the expected effect.
How to pump up your abs to get rid of your belly fat
For girls, the abdominal muscles are very popular, which cannot be said for guys whose chest and biceps are valued much more. Despite this, only a small number of representatives of both sexes manage to achieve the desired abs. Such a low percentage of owners lies in a number of mistakes, ranging from poor nutrition to illiteracy in the training process.
To solve the problem of how to remove belly fat and whether this can be done by pumping the press, it is necessary to highlight the main features in anatomy and physiology:
- loading the abdominal muscles increases their mass and strength;
- to stimulate their growth, it is necessary to consume amino acids contained in protein foods;
- despite the fact that the abs are one large rectus abdominis muscle, there are exercises that can predominantly contract the upper and lower sections;
- In order for the abs to begin to appear, you need to lose weight throughout the body as a whole;
- The abdominal region includes a large number of slow muscles; in order to make them work, it is necessary to train the abs using a multi-repetition method with the concentration of the muscles being trained.
Even following all training methods, but ignoring nutrition, the abs will remain hidden by a layer of fat and will not appear outwardly!
Where to find the right exercises?
Above it was mentioned about body raises on a bench and leg raises while hanging on a bar. Some bodybuilders will be able to name a couple more exercises that work the abdominal muscles. 3-5 exercises are clearly not enough to build up your abs to normal. Where is the exit? And now the most important secret of effective work on the abdominal muscles. Where can I find the best and most effective abdominal exercises and complexes? Men can find the best, most advanced and effective things for themselves in women's fitness training.
They did not expect? But it is so.
Women are out of luck with their cellulite. This is how nature ordered it. And if a man needs to make titanic efforts to get a six-pack on his stomach, a woman will need many times greater efforts. And if in front of you is a woman who has a flat stomach with easily visible cubes, this, men, is your mentor. Feel free to go to the fitness room, look for a female trainer and take individual training from her. The knowledge that you gain in one go is priceless and will lead to quick results. This includes correct twisting, impact on the abs from different angles, springy movements and delays at the point of maximum tension. And how much they will tell you about proper breathing! While men developed the ability to pump up their biceps and chest, women persistently improved their abdominal work (and more). And in this they surpassed many men.
The only “but” in this approach. A woman who positions herself as a fitness trainer must herself have the appropriate figure. The fact is that the diploma you receive for completing any courses may not show any experience and you will see an ordinary woman with circles around her waist and dubious recommendations.
