The Truth About Abdominal Muscles – Why You Have Trouble Getting Those Six Pack Abs

Much fuss is made about abdominal muscles these days, in general for their aesthetic value. Everybody wants to have “six-pack abs.” What is not talked about is the health value in having strong abdominals just for might’s sake and not just for aesthetics. Having strong abdominals as well as strong back muscles is indemnity against back pain. Together these are often referred to as core muscle groups. Let’s take a look at the abdominals.

There are four sets of muscles in the abdominal group. The rectus abdominus is what most people reckon of when they talk about “six-pack abs.” This muscle provides might for bending over at the waist and bringing the knees up toward your chin. It also works as an antagonist to the erector spinae group of muscles around your vertebrae. Together, these muscle groups act as stabilizers to keep your torso from leaning too far fore (forward) or latter (backward). Maintenance them in weigh is one of the secrets to reducing lower back pain.

The transverse abdominus is the muscle that really keeps everything held in, like a girdle, if you want to look at it that way. This muscle aids in twisting to some extent but its fundamental gathering is to keep your belly from hanging out.

Two other sets of muscles belong to the abdominal group. The inner obliques and the outer obliques combine to exact the twisting motion. Each muscle has an antagonist (or opposite) muscle in the back as I mentioned about the rectus abdominus. And the abdominals are some of the strongest muscles in the human body.

So why, if they are so strong, can’t everybody have “six-pack abs?” The main reason, to be blunt, is that most of us are just too stout. Therefore the first thing we have to do to accomplish the look we desire is to get rid of all belly stout. For guys, this is an especially tall order, because the belly is where most of us store our stout. For women it is predominantly the hips.

The next thing we need to do is to train the whole abdominal group, not just the rectus abdominus. The obliques need to be trained and the transverse abdominus as well. Then we need to also train the corresponding back muscles: the erector spinae, the quadrates lumborum, the latissimus dorsi and so forth. Without schooling the dorsal (back) muscles as well as the abdominals we will make extra pressure on our back muscles and make more and further pain. The entire core needs to be in weigh for the body to be healthy, which is what we should truly be single-minded for.

The transverse abdominus is both the simplest and toughest of the group to train. Simplest because it is a touch we can do all the time, somewhere. Toughest because it is the muscle we always forget to train. It is trained by simply pulling our belly in. To concentrate on it, we exhale all the air we can, then inhale, pulling our stomach in as far as we can. Hold that spot for several seconds and then repeat.

The obliques are trained very simply as well. Take a broom and hold it across your shoulders resting your hands on top of it. Standing with excellent posture, twist your torso as far as you can in one direction. Don’t rush the motion. Hold the twist for a moment, then come back to center, slowly. Now repeat the motion in the other direction. Now lean as far toward one side as you can, again slowly. Come back up and lean the other direction. You build might by doing the exercises slowly rather than quickly.

Finally the rectus abdominus is trained through two basic exercises. Everybody knows how to do crunches, or at least they reckon they do. You will get more out of them, again, if you deal with them slowly, concentrating right through the exercise on maintenance your back straight. This can be done on the ground, but for better weigh and results try it on an exercise ball. The other exercise is to suspend your body, either from a chin-up bar or by fortifying on your elbows with your feet off the ground, then raise your knees slowly toward your chest. Again, this can be done lying on the ground, but you will get better results if you are suspended. For best results on all these exercises, hold momentarily before relaxing the body. If you keep your belly pulled in while schooling the obliques and rectus abdominus, you will be schooling the transverse abdominus as well.

There are many exercises for schooling the back muscles. Today we have concentrated on the abdominals because they are so misunderstood. Another day I will tackle the back muscles as well.

So schooling the abs is only one part of being paid that “six-pack.” You also have to lose the stout that you have stored up, and if you have been storing it up for years, don’t expect it to go away overnight. But be persistent, change your eating habits, and work those abs, you will get there ultimately, you will look better, and, as an added bonus, you will reduce the occurrence of lower back pain. Don’t place it off. Get ongoing today and excellent luck!

Walt Haworth is a former rub psychotherapist and fitness trainer and owner of Lose Weight, Get Fit! His major actions are now spent pursuing his first like, music, and agency, but he still likes to take time to help others with their health and fitness goals. Check out our website at http://www.loseweightgetfit.net for more health information and http://www.loseweightgetfit.net/productreviews.html

Author: Walt Haworth
Condition Source: EzineArticles.com
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