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Perfect Abs?!?
By: Leigh Pozas
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Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:44:12 PDT
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“What can I do to get rid of my stomach?” a person asks me as they grip onto the excess fatty tissue stored around their midsection. The sarcastic side of me is always tempted to reply with something like, “do you really want to get rid of your stomach, how will you digest food?” or “well, I suppose a surgeon could remove it”, or better yet, “I guess a wild rollercoaster ride could cause you to lose your stomach!” Of course what they really want to know is how to trim and tone their abdominal region, their belly.
To be clear, the stomach is an organ used for digestion and cannot be toned up, worked out, or lost. Although, what we put in our stomachs has a lot to do with the belly we want to lose. The truth is, great abs are very easy to achieve, but being able to see them is not quite as simple. It is entirely possible to have a “six-pack” that is covered by a “keg.”
There are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of books, videos, infomercials and gadgets that rightfully promise great abs in 10 minutes a day. Believe it or not, they can most likely deliver. But getting rid of the belly fat is not accomplished with abdominal exercises alone. A great set of washboard abs comes from a commitment to a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of exercise, good food and water. Following are three steps to great abs.
The first step is to control what goes into your stomach, via your mouth. Excess calories are actually energy that the body didn’t use, so it stores it as fatty (adipose) tissue. You have no control over where or how the body stores this fat, and worse yet, you also have no control where your body will take off fat when it begins to need that stored energy (i.e. lose weight). Since many of us first store fat in the mid-section; that is the last place we will take it off. Now all the crunches and curls in the world cannot change that. What they can do is help the body increase its muscle mass, which in turn helps it to lose weight. Muscle tissue, whereever it is, is a fat burning machine and acts somewhat like “Pac-Man” all over the body eating up fat.
Since your stomach is for digesting food, why not feed it good and healthy choices and let it go to town. A calorie is a measure of energy. 3500 units of unused energy (calories) are stored in the body as a pound of fat. If you take in 3500 more calories than you burn you will gain a pound; and the opposite if you take in 3500 calories less than you burn. Since there are seven days in a week, a person taking in 500 calories less per day than they burn will lose a pound a week. Creating a caloric deficit can be accomplished with either diet or exercise, or both.
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This brings me to the second step to great abs. Keeping the body moving and active is vital in weight control and general health. The more the body moves, the more calories it burns. It is not at all difficult to increase your calorie burn by 500 calories per day, thus causing a pound a week of weight loss. The best combination of exercises for total health is a mix of cardiovascular exercise and strength training.
Doing a moderate amount of each will help peel off those layers covering the abdominals that you are working so hard for below. Beauty may be only skin deep, but abdominals go to the core. The abdominal exercises that will be discussed are considered “strength training.” They should be combined with some conditioning for the rest of the muscles in the body in order to increase the body’s ability to burn fat (raise the metabolism).
Cardiovascular conditioning is the other form of movement that should not be overlooked. This type of exercise elevates the heart rate and sends oxygen in the form of blood throughout the body. The heart is actually a muscle and needs to be worked just like any other muscle. Some form of cardio should be done for 20-40 minutes on most days. Elevating your heart rate will not only increase the caloric burn, but will also elevate your mood and alleviate stress. It is always best to exercise warm muscles, so including a nice walk, run, bike ride, or aerobic class before a strength training session, even abs, is recommended. At least do a 5 - 10 minute warm-up so the body can send blood to the muscles about to be worked.
The third step to great abs is of course abdominal exercises.
The most commonly known abdominal muscle is the Rectus Abdominis (aka the “six-pack” or washboard). It is one long sheath that runs from the sternum (breast bone) to the pubic bone. Its primary function is to flex the body, bend it over. We often refer to the upper and lower abs. In actuality there is only one long muscle, however we can target the upper and lower regions, even though the entire muscle is working the entire time. The most common and effective exercises for this muscle is the good ol’ crunch, reverse crunch, and double crunch. The key to an effective crunch is to actually use the abs, not the head, neck, or hips. Crunches are performed lying face up with the knees bent. To keep the head in position think of placing a baseball under your neck so that you can crane your neck forward. Contract the abs in order to lift the shoulders off the floor, while keeping the head and neck relaxed. In order to target the lower portion, squeeze the abs to lift the buttocks off the floor. These two exercises can be put together to perform a double crunch. Another effective way to crunch is to use a Physioball.
The Obliques (Internal and External) are thought of as “love handles.” They wrap around your sides and frame the rectus abdominis. You use these muscles when you twist, turn, rotate or bend at the waist. The most effective way to work these is to add a twist to the traditional crunch or curl. With the hands behind the head lift into a crunch, at the top of the lift, rotate the body to one side keeping the arms back and open. The elbow on the side of rotation should stay in contact with the floor while the other elbow should remain in line with the shoulder. Think of reaching your shoulder (not your elbow) toward the opposite knee.
Lastly, the most forgotten about ab muscle, the Transverse Abdominis (TA). It is a deep internal muscle that runs horizontally beneath the others. The TA pulls the abdominal wall inward and upward and is responsible for good posture. This is your body’s girdle, providing support and stabilization for the spine. This muscle is worked by breathing and drawing your navel into your spine. It is often worked in Yoga and Pilates. Planks and side planks are a most excellent way to work this muscle.
In all, a great abdominal workout can be completed in 5 – 10 minutes. That is the easy part. Getting plenty of cardio and other strength training as well as maintaining a healthy diet are the challenges to uncovering your great abs. It is important to know that fat stored in the abdominal region is the most detrimental to your health. And above all remember, you have your body “until death do you part”, take good care of it and it will take good care of you.