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< TRAINING INTRODUCTION >
Does the six-pack midsection you desire resemble something closer to a keg, despite your efforts to train your abs a couple of times a week, do cardio regularly and eat a pretty good diet? Can you perform hundreds of crunches without ever feeling your abs tire? It just doesn't make sense, does it? If these are the kinds of questions you ask yourself, let me pose a few to you: When you train abs, do your low back, hip flexors or thighs feel like they get more work than your abs? Does your training usually include only the crunch, twisting crunch and hanging leg raise? When you perform your crunches, do you lock your legs or feet in place? Last, is the angle at your hips less than 90 degrees when you do crunches for your upper-abdominal region?
If you answered "yes" to even one of the above questions, your ab shortcomings are most likely the result of flaws in your ab training. Remember, just because your torso bends forward doesn't mean you've worked your abs. It's like curls and biceps training: You can more easily lift the weight simply by pulling with your shoulders, leaning backward and letting momentum complete the movement Training your abs, or any muscle, takes a certain amount of know-how. If you can correct the flaws in your training now, you'll be on your way to developing those six-pack abs.
MISTAKE:
Not crunching and twisting.
WHAT'S WRONG:
Quick kinesiology lesson: Your internal and external obliques become involved whenever you crunch your torso forward, sideways or in a twisting motion (torso rotation). Therefore, if you perform an oblique crunch and don't include both a crunching and twisting motion, you decrease the effectiveness of the exercise and muscular involvement. And by the way, simply flapping your shoulder and elbow toward your opposite knee, or twisting your neck, doesn't constitute torso rotation.
FIX IT:
When performing an oblique crunch, simultaneously crunch and twist your torso to fully work your obliques. This is also necessary when you do lower-ab movements for your obliques, in which your upper and lower body rotate in opposite directions as they're drawn closer together by the contraction of your abs. MISTAKE:
Rocking backward and forward during execution.
WHAT'S WRONG:
Let's assume that momentum isn't the only problem occurring -- three other possibilities exist. First, rocking backward allows the exercise to become much easier because your center of gravity shifts backward, toward your hips. Second, you may involve your hip flexors to a greater extent, making it more difficult for you to achieve maximal abdominal contraction. This could translate into decreased abdominal development. Finally, although abdominal contraction will cause your back to round, your abs aren't involved to any greater degree when you further round your upper back by pulling your elbows toward your knees and flexing your neck forward.
FIX IT:
Begin with your knees on the ground, bent at 90 degrees, your thighs perpendicular and torso parallel to the floor, and your arms and head in a fixed position. Try to maintain a fixed lower body as you fully contract your torso down toward your knees, causing your back to round. MISTAKE:
Not including a crunch that allows your abs to more through the greatest range of motion.
WHAT'S WRONG:
Like all muscles, your rectus abdominis is capable of stretching beyond its normal resting length. Your spine can extend beyond an erect back position (called hyperextension), which allows a greater stretch of your abs and increases the contractile range of motion. Of course, as with all exercises, you don't want to stretch too far.
Another benefit of a full-range-of-motion crunch is its therapeutic effect on your back. Because your lower body is stationary and your upper body is extended toward the floor by the weight of your body and by gravity, vi you create traction (stretching or pulling) in your vertebral column - this can be a good thing. Under everyday conditions, your bodyweight and gravity are compressing your vertebral column, which in time can cause pinched or compressed disc disorders.
FIX IT:
Sit down on an exercise ball and place both feet flat on the floor. Next, lie back on the ball until your spine is slightly hyperextended - your head should angle down toward the floor. Rest your arms across your chest and crunch your torso upward. For safety, don't allow your back or neck to arch backward excessively and don't flex your neck during the concentric phase of the movement (keep it in normal alignment). MISTAKE:
Pulling through your feet and legs.
WHAT'S WRONG:
Whenever you perform a crunch with your calves resting on a bench, it's difficult to avoid pulling through your hip flexors. Pulling, or flexing, through your hips lifts your pelvis upward, which in turn raises your torso with little or no help from your rectus abdominis (abs). But that isn't the worst of it; Marilyn Pink, PhD, PT, the director of Centinela Hospital Medical Center Biomechanics lab in Inglewood, California, warns, "If hip flexors become overly strong or tight [when compared to abdominal and low-back strength], it will tip your pelvis forward, called an anterior tilt of the pelvis, and cause your back to curve excessively . . . [and you could] end up with severe back problems."
FIX IT:
If you find it difficult to resist the urge to pull with your hips when your feet or legs are anchored, then allow them to remain unrestrained. For example, instead of resting your calves across a flat bench during a crunch, raise your legs straight up. When using a crunch machine, you'll find it helpful to avoid using the feet or thigh-restraining devices. MISTAKE:
Flexing your hips but not contracting your abs.
WHAT'S WRONG:
If you begin a hanging or seated lower-ab exercise with your hips and knees extended and accomplish the crunch by simply flexing your knees and hips, without any movement in your torso, you're doing next to nothing for your abs. In fact, all you're really working are your psoas, iliacus, pectineus and rectus femoris muscles your primary hip flexors.
FIX IT:
Remember, your rectus abdominis contracts as one unit and its primary purpose is to flex your torso either from top to bottom or bottom to top. During a lower-ab exercise, then, you must flex your torso to involve your abs. Here's how: Bring your thighs toward your chest by simultaneously pulling your hips up and in (during a hanging leg raise, your low back should round as your lower body curls upward). In addition, keep your knees either bent or straight throughout the entire exercise -- flexing and extending your knees tires your hip flexors, decreasing the time you'll be able to spend working your abs. (Note: When using a vertical ab bench, try to slightly crunch your upper torso downward during the concentric phase to fully contract your abs.)
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