10 Tips for Awesome ABS

There aren't too many people out there who wouldn't love a flatter stomach.  Performing the same abdominal exercises over and over again does little to achieve the goal however.  Here is a quick list of ideas to get your stomach (core) stronger, more able to cope with dynamic movements and of course flatter!

1. Perform big muscle group exercises that link your upper and lower body. For example squats, deadlifts, woodchops. To do these exercises well you must use your core to keep you stable.

2. Stay away from weight belts when lifting at the gym – they don’t allow your core to become stronger.

3. Perform your ab exercises at the end of your workouts. If your abs get tired beforehand, you won’t be able to do your other exercises to the best of your ability.

4. If you like doing crunchies do not do them every day and limit the number of reps. Doing crunchies to excess leads to the rectus abdominis muscle (the ‘washboards’) becoming too strong for the rest of the core muscles, leading to increased chance of injury and lower back issues.

5. Don’t forget about your lower abs! They are often neglected and in many people are significantly weaker than the other abdominals.

6. To activate the specific core muscles (e.g. transversis abdominis and multifidis) suck your belly button back into your spine and then up into your chest. Try to perform this contraction on a regular basis until your core muscles know how to contract together.

7. Put variety into your ab workouts. Don’t stick to the same-old-same-old. Variety keeps your body guessing and ensures your progress doesn’t plateau too soon. Try using a stability ball, Pilates, yoga, floor-based exercises and medicine balls.

8. Try using a stability ball as your chair at work. The ball will help with stabilisation of the core muscles and helps to maintain your posture. It can also then be used to do some exercise on when you need a break from staring at your screen.

9. Try to maintain good posture – good posture means the core muscles are working to hold you in the correct position.

10. Add a specific core workout into your weekly training – if you spend 6-8 weeks focusing on your core it will improve in strength substantially and then you only need to maintain it from there.

A really good New Zealand website to look at for training ideas is www.speedpowerstability.com they have training articles that are well written and practical and some neat equipment too.