Let’s face it, a great majority of this society is overweight and out of shape, and many are seeking to improve their first impressions with others by taking the bull by the horns, losing weight and setting up an ab workout that will trim their midriffs and give them a set of firm abs that will be the envy of all onlookers. Well, maybe not that strong; but there are a lot of folks looking for a solution to their flabby midriffs, and a good workout routine targeting the abs is a good start.
Before you plunge headfirst into a strenuous ab workout, you can avoid serious injury and embarrassment by knowing first off what the abdominal muscles are, why they are placed as they are, and what their unique functions are. That way, you can streamline your ab workout to target the areas in the midriff that you want to work on, and get the maximum out of your workouts. First there is the prominent rectus abdominis muscle (commonly known as the 6 pack); the transverse abdominal muscle; and the internal and external obliques.
Okay, now we need to know where these muscle groups lie in the structure of the body, and not only what their functions are, but also why do they do what they do. First of all, the “6 pack” set of muscles, or the rectus abdominis, is the most centrally located of the muscle groups and lies between the ribs and the pelvis where it controls the motion of the middle body. The next is the internal obliques, and they are located inside the area of the hip bones and serve as the rotators of the torso. After them, come the external obliques; and as you would guess by the name, they are found more on the sides of the body and are the muscles that twist the torso side to side. Finally, we have the transverse muscle, which is designed to act as and looks very much like a belt, where its action is to hold your organs in place where they belong in the center of your body. Their workings are orchestrated so that they all move in tandem with one another, and yet one or more sets of muscles can be targeted for strengthening by a good ab workout.
As mentioned, a good ab workout can target various groups of muscles over another, and can also work with all of them together to increase the all over strength of the middle area of the body. Here’s where working with the core muscles is important because they are the solid base that the other muscle groups work on top of, and without a strong set of core muscles, your all over body strength will not happen. There are targeted exercises for the core muscles as well as the abs, and doing leg lifts and static holds will do the job here. As far as the abs themselves, crunches are preferred over situps usually because the back is spared the stress created by situps, and crunches are much safer for your back. To build up the obliques, twisting exercises are touted as the best for that particular group.
You can set up plans over and over again for a good ab workout and hope each time to make it work, but if you don’t eat an adequate diet and stop with the fast food and over processed food, then there’s no use in even planning anything because without a solid dietary base and well running body, you have no hope of developing strong detailed abs. All the old sawhorses apply: never skip breakfast, eat smaller meals but eat more often, lower your fat intake and drink a lot of water. Incorporate weight lifting and cardio into your routines, and monitor your protein and carb intake according to the type of exercises you are doing. The results will please you no end.
Just remember a few of these little thoughts that will serve you well as you begin your diet plan and your ab workout routine. Make sure you have the right set of exercises for the areas you want to work on, and make sure they are exercises you like and will stick with—-it’s great to start out gung ho but if the plan doesn’t fit you or your lifestyle and you give up, what good is that. With the foods you are now eating, your metabolism should be running at a faster pace and burning fat more steadily; and as a last little tidbit—to lose one pound of fat per week, you must have a deficit of 500 calories a day.
There is nothing that you can’t do if you put your mind to it, and as all the old sages say “Where there is a will, there’s a way.” That applies to developing an ab workout that you like, you will stay with, and will produce results for you—-because, once you get started and start to see the results, you will be hooked and reaching your goal will be a certainty.
Gerald Holt informs readers with topics such as Strong Abs. For more information on Tight Abs visit our site.
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