Flat ABs?

What You Really Need for Flat Abs The basics: • good genes • discipline • commitment • determination • intensity • time • and knowledge Most of the basics you can either control or manipulate, and by now you are already guessing at what you can do to get flat abs regardless of your physiology: 1. A healthy diet, on which you burn more calories than you consume. 2. Cardiovascular exercise. I recommend high intensity interval training (HIIT). 3. Full body strength training 3 times per week with a focus on abdominal training. 4. A list of the 10 most effective abdominal exercises known to man. I can’t tell you what will work best for you, because I don’t know anything about you. However, I can tell you what works best for me and my clients, and let you take the knowledge and run with it. Lets start by examining the anatomy and physiology of the abs so we know how they work. Anatomy of the Abdominals Located on the front and sides of the lower half of the torso, the rectus abdominus, transverse abdominus, and the external and internal obliques make up the abdominal muscle group. These muscles attach at the pelvis and originate along side the rib cage. When talking about the six-pack you are referring to the rectus abdominus, whose strips of connective tissue give the impression of deep cuts between the 6 most-visible heads of the muscle. The deepest core muscle is called the transverse abdominus. This muscle is underneath the rest of the core muscles; it wraps around the entire abdominal area. A strong transverse abdominus is useful for developing strong intra-abdominal pressure when lifting. Finally, the muscles that allow us to move our core in a variety of angles are called the obliques. There are both internal and external obliques, which run diagonally across the body. Functions of the Abdominals Vacuum Pose The rectus abdominus is responsible for bringing the rib cage closer to the pelvis, or flexing the spine, as when performing a crunch. By alternately stretching the spine, the rectus abdominus brings the pelvis closer to the rib cage, as when performing leg raises properly by tilting the hips towards the chest at the top of the movement. Your transverse abdominus is responsible for keeping your guts in your body. It acts like a natural weight belt and is important for trunk and core stability. By constantly keeping your abs pulled in tight throughout the day, you are training your transverse abdominus with an isometric contraction. An extreme example is a Frank Zane vacuum pose. Tip: By consciously holding a vacuum all day long each and every day, you are training your midsection to stay flat at all times. The internal and external obliques rotate the torso and stabilize your trunk during various angled movements. The Top 10 Best Abdominal Exercises We are going to put all that diet talk on the shelf for a moment to focus only on abdominal exercises. You already know you need to drop to low levels of bodyfat in order to display your abs. So lets assume you are already there or are currently dieting with a vengeance. Now you need to know which exercises you should perform to thicken, shape, and sculpt those abs. Or if that’s not your bag, you need to know which exercises will help you the most with your powerlifting, strongman training, Olympic lifting, or sports performance. Obviously exercises like squats, deadlifts, and overhead pressing will be important for developing your core. Exposing the abdominals to heavy weights while squatting is extremely beneficial for shocking the abs into new growth. For now we are going to forget about all that stuff and examine exactly which abdominal exercises will give you the most bang for your buck. This list is a compilation of exercises that meet the following classifications: • exercises that are highly praised and used often by good personal trainers • exercises used by martial artists for abdominal strength and conditioning • exercises used by bodybuilders that have thick, well defined abs • exercises that provide real results based on my 14 years of experience • exercises from a study in which participants were tested using using electromyography (EMG) equipment to monitor muscle activity