If your abs look good, your whole body appearance good. Having Big arms and chest is one factor but having rock hard outlined abs is thus another.
Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What additional needs to be said.
Contrary to common belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is very only one muscle. It stretches from the high of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it's called is simply sections of this one muscle.
Dispelling the Ab Myths:
The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract 0.5 your bicep or quad, it is sensible that you cannot contract [*fr1] your abs as well. Therefore the myths concerning "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I am not discounting those coaching methods however the simple truth is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you have got fat covering them, not that you wish to work them harder.
Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any different type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The first role of your abs is to stabilize your body. After you raise your leg for instance, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this can be the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises solely feel like they're effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle manufacturing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Look for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for a lot of information.
What Really Works:
What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any alternative muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.
Thus we return back to the great recent sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-means-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are totally contracted when your shoulders are concerning 5 to 6 inches off the ground. Therefore don't trouble attempting to impress or outperform somebody by touching your elbows to your knees. It will nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes known as are the manner to go.
Secondly, do not wedge your feet under one thing to assist you get up. You do not want to do this if you're doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at ninety degrees to every alternative and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you would like to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This approach you'll use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.
Thirdly, keep your hands gently held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them along behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull together with your hands to urge the last few reps out, that can place unnecessary strain on this fragile half of the spine.
Alternative:
Another sensible exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You may need special equipment to perform this exercise. This can be where you kneel and contract your abs thus that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope hooked up to a pulley with weights for further resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The concept is to lock your arms against your upper body thus that you pull down only along with your abs and not your arms.
Ab Coaching Devices:
In two words - Forget it.
You do not want them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is difficult and it hurts. Most of those devices are designed to require the pressure off your body creating the exercise appear simple and con you into thinking you're very targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab coaching is unquestionably arduous work however definitely worth it's reward.
The Secret:
The issue in getting nice abs is not so a lot of building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You almost certainly know by currently that spot-reduction of fat simply does not work here. So as to show those abs you need overall fat loss. Check out http://www.muscle-guide.com for more info.
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