The abdomen, and in general the whole human body, are composed of many muscles that always work in synergy with each other, contracting on one side and relaxing from another.
A few decades ago when the world of fitness and bodybuilding did not exist, in the few gyms that there were not said, ” train the abs ” but used a less technical but very appropriate expression: ” train the muscles of the belt “, that is all those that surround us in the central part of the body.
The human body is composed of many muscles that always work in synergy with each other, contracting on one side and relaxing from another. If, for example, we bend the arm to flex the biceps, this is possible because, at the same time as the biceps shortening, the opposite muscle, the triceps, is extended. Ditto on the whole body. Now if we focus all our efforts and our training only on the right abdominals, we will get the opposite action.
The body to balance the excessive contraction of the rectus abdominals that would risk making us walk curved, activating the mechanisms of decontraction in such a way that the torso remains straight. So in a sense, the more we develop the abdominal rectum, the more the abdomen will protrude! You will say good-bye. Exactly good rip off and provoked with our hands.
A few decades ago when the world of fitness and bodybuilding did not exist, in the few gyms that there were not said, ” train the abs ” but used a less technical but very appropriate expression: ” train the muscles of the belt “.
The muscles of the belt are nothing but all the muscles that surround you, just like a belt, from front to back. They include a lot to mention the names, the rectus abdominals, the obliques, the transverse, the lumber.
If we train all these muscles together we will finally get a flat abdomen, and if we want to see the famous cubes, it will be enough to do a proper diet and some aerobics.
Let’s see now in the practical what to do.
Forget the dozens of crunches, inverse crunches, cross-leg crunches, Swiss ball crunches, leg lifts. These exercises always work only the abdominis. You have to do other exercises, the training will have to be varied and include an exercise for each of the muscles of the belt.
Abdominal / Oblique Rocks: perform sit ups with torsion with legs bent. As soon as you start the ascent of the bust, through the arms that will be placed behind the head, begin to rotate the torso to get to touch alternately with an elbow between the legs. Perform two sets of 20 repetitions each. When you are able to do more, keep a 2 kg or more disc behind the back of the head.
Oblique : perform side bends or lateral bends with handlebars. Stand up with a handlebar and flex your torso on the same side of the handlebars without bending either back or forward. Take care of breathing: inhale when you lower and exhale hard when you go up. During the ascent, if the expiration is done correctly you will distinctly contract and flatten the abdominal wall. The weight of the handlebar will allow you to perform 15 repetitions. As soon as you are able to overcome them, go to a heavy weight handlebar.
Transverse : this broad, flat muscle contains all the internal organs. Reinforcing it not only confers flatness to the abdomen but improves digestion and intestinal functions as well as cardiac activity. After knowing of its importance, do you want to forget it? Train it with the vacuum, an exercise derived from yoga.
While standing or sitting, exhale the air from the lungs completely and then, with your mouth closed, give a deep inhalation. You will notice a vacuum effect (vacum means just under vacuum) that will bring your abdomen back to your stomach and your throat to the height of the jugular dimple. Hold this position for 5 seconds, inhale deeply with your mouth open and repeat the procedure ten times. With practice, you get to keep the vacuum state up to ten seconds.
Lumbar : lifting of the bust or hyperextension to be performed at the bench. Also here as in the side bend during the ascent, exhale strongly, and you will feel the flattening of the abdomen. When you are able to easily do twenty repetitions, hug a 2 kg or more disc to your chest.
