Genetics and hormones
Genetics plays a huge role in the formation of relief. Every body is different, so the same amount of exercise may work for one person and not help another at all. Hormones affect metabolism and how our bodies store fat, so their balance is also important to consider if you want to see noticeable changes from consistent training.
Myth No. 1: division of the press into upper and lower
This division is conditional. In reality, there are only rectus and oblique abdominal muscles. When pumping the abs, only one rectus muscle works. To get cubes, you need to achieve its hypertrophy and build up additional fibers.
When performing any abdominal exercise, the entire muscle will work. An athlete can only shift the emphasis to the upper or lower abdomen, but it is impossible to isolate them due to the fact that the abs are one solid muscle. The fact that it is much more difficult to achieve cubes in the lower abdomen speaks more about the thickness of the fat layer. And even the most effective abdominal exercises will not help fight it.
Don't forget about rest
“Exercise, diet and rest are the three main factors,” explains Jorge Herrance. Success lies in the right combination of nutrition, exercise and recovery time, because lack of sleep directly affects our hormones and hunger. “Leptin, which is responsible for satiety, is low when you don't get enough sleep,” says Metropolitan expert Julia Ribas. - Ghrelin stimulates appetite - so when it increases, you want to eat more than usual. To see results and abs, it's important to reduce your body fat, so rest and relaxation are key."
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How to pump up the press correctly and effectively?
A well-developed, sculpted abs or a flat stomach without excess fat rightfully takes first place among other muscle groups that both girls and men want to pump up. There are hundreds of different videos on the Internet about how to train your abdominal muscles correctly or incorrectly. You can often find a lot of different advertisements on this topic and not very effective inventions that allow you to lie on the couch and train at the same time. Thousands of tips on how to pump up your lower, upper and side abs. We will try to look at the most popular exercises and figure out whether they are all true and as effective as they are said to be.
In addition to visual beauty, the abdominal muscles play a huge role in the body and are the main ones for maintaining an even posture, removing the main load from the spine and stabilizing the entire body.
1) Support and stabilization.
The core muscles are responsible for supporting the spine in the correct position, taking part of the load from the lower back and intervertebral sections. Often the abs take even more load than the spine and back muscles.
2) Maximum sports performance.
Poorly developed abdominal muscles will not allow you to perform running, swimming, pull-ups and many other exercises with the correct technique. The abdominal muscles also play an important role in performing strength sports.
3) Proper functioning of digestion.
Reinforced abdominal walls help the intestines and stomach function, maintaining proper posture and protecting against injury.
What do you need to know before starting the exercises?
Absolutely every person has inner abs, no matter how strange it may be, regardless of whether he trains them or not. The most important rule for effective sculpted abs is to reduce the thickness of subcutaneous fat as much as possible. It must be remembered that local burning of belly fat cannot be achieved for a number of reasons, and the exercises are designed specifically to pump muscles, but not burn the inner layer of fat. Therefore, the first thing you should focus on is a sports diet combined with effective training and the correct selection of exercise equipment. If you follow two basic rules, the process can take from 1 to 6 months.
First, let's look at some of the most effective and accessible exercises.
1. The first exercise on our list is the “bicycle”.
It is based on simulating the rotation of bicycle pedals and has a number of advantages. To perform the exercise you will need any comfortable yoga or fitness mat. Take a lying position on your back, place your hands behind your head and begin alternately moving your legs while simultaneously slightly twisting your abs. The main rule is to try not to lift your lower back from the support. In this position, you can effectively work out the oblique abdominal muscles and strengthen your lower back.
2. Hanging on a horizontal bar with leg lifts.
To perform the exercise at home, you will need a sliding, wall-mounted or hanging horizontal bar. In this complex, bend your knees and lift them to 90 degrees, trying to pull your knees closer to your body. Lifting is carried out only by the abdominal muscles, without auxiliary movements in the form of rocking and work by the auxiliary muscles of the back. With each new approach, try to pull your legs to chest level and above. To achieve the ideal effect, you can complicate the exercise a little and at the end of the approach, fix the raised position of your legs for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3. Another option for exercising on the horizontal bar is a corner
. A type of hang in which the legs are raised straight and the angle is fixed at 90 degrees until complete failure. In order to perform this exercise, you first need to release the previous version of the leg lift.
4. Side crunches.
The horizontal bar can be used to work not only the rectus abdominal muscles, but also to use the oblique abdominal muscles. Performs like a straight leg lift while hanging, but not straight in front of you, but tilting your legs alternately to the left and right corners.
5. Ab roller exercise
. If you have been working out at home or in the gym for several months now, then you will definitely like this type of exercise. The ab roller is the most rational and simple home exercise machine. It does not take up much space and has many uses.
A simple and effective exercise that you should focus on first is bending on your knees. To do this, you need to focus on bent knees and toes, rest on the roller with your hands and slowly pull it towards you. We recommend starting with a small amplitude, then decreasing the angle and stretching until your back is straight.
6. Plank.
Finally, we want to talk about the bar. This is a favorite exercise in many sports related to endurance and comprehensive strengthening of the body. Many skiers, runners and martial artists use the plank as one of the universal exercises. In order to perform the plank correctly, you need to follow several steps.
- First, take the emphasis lying on straight outstretched arms or elbows in a half-bent position. The entire body should be straightened in one line to evenly distribute the load. Remember to control your neck and back without overstraining them.
- The head should be directed straight and the gaze should fall on the floor in front of you. Hold the plank until you feel your body begin to sag under its own weight. We recommend starting with 15 seconds, adding 5 seconds every day and ad infinitum. Interesting fact: the plank record is 8 hours, 1 minute and 1 second. It was directed by Chinese policeman Mao Weidong in May 2021 in Beijing.
7. Classic straight crunches.
The most common version of the exercise, but nevertheless, many novice athletes perform the movements incorrectly, thereby reducing the effect of it to a minimum.
- Lie on your back and bend your knees. It is worth paying attention to the lower back; it should always be completely pressed to the floor and not come off in the process.
- Keep your hands on your chest or behind your head, but control yourself and do not help with your hands while lifting your body, this way you can nullify the exercise.
- Rise up smoothly, feeling the tension in your lower and upper abdominal muscles. The main thing is not just to rise, but to twist inward without raising your back.
- Slowly lower yourself to the starting position and repeat. We recommend starting with 10 repetitions for 2-3 sets. Increasing 5 reps per week.
Basic mistakes
Let's look at the main mistakes that can cause you to reduce the effectiveness of exercises or do them in vain.
- Lifting the body too high.
When performing crunches, you rise too high and transfer the main load to other muscles of the body, thereby removing the stress from the abdominal muscles. To solve the problem, try not to perform the exercise “mechanically”, but to fully concentrate on each stage. Over time, you will bring the correct version of the exercise to automaticity and will be able to improve the quality with a small number of repetitions.
- Work for speed.
You have probably noticed that the slower and more carefully you perform the exercises, the greater the load on the muscles being worked is felt. Try to train at a moderate pace, do not try to perform as many repetitions as possible, neglecting quality. Moreover, unnecessary speed can lead to joint overload and lower back injury. Slow down and focus on each repetition of the exercise you perform. After this, wait until your back is completely on the floor, and only then proceed to the next repetition.
- You strain your neck
or help yourself with your arms and back muscles. Concentrate on contracting your abdominal muscles, since the bulk of the load during crunches falls on the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles. You should not use your neck or arms. Also, do not forget to make sure that your elbows are as far apart as possible from you.
- Intermittent muscle tension.
Often, after each repetition, a person relaxes the muscles in the resting phase, thereby missing half the effectiveness of the exercise. Make sure that your abs are tense all the time - at the moment of twisting and when returning to the starting position.
- Holding your breath.
The basis of endurance is proper breathing. Thanks to smooth and correct breathing, you can fully concentrate on the work of each individual muscle. Following the breathing technique, exhale while performing the exercise and exhale when returning to the starting position.
Start in the kitchen
This is one of the personal trainers' favorite recommendations. On a physical level, your abs may be well-developed, but the excess fat that covers them prevents the muscles from showing through. Julia Ribas notes that with a high percentage of fat (for women - more than 12), the abs will not be visible. “So doing hundreds of abdominal exercises in order to pump it up is a little pointless. Of course, you have to be careful that your body fat percentage doesn't fall below normal." Julia suggests this formula: eat plenty of vegetables, drink enough fluids and control the ratio of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in your diet. Below are some more tips:
- 1
After your workout, eat fresh cheese or yogurt. “Fermented milk products, such as yogurt, help with digestion and maintain the balance of intestinal microflora,” explains the expert.
- 2
Eggs are a source of natural protein that helps build muscle mass.
- 3
Include chia seeds in your diet (you can add them to smoothies or salads). They are rich in essential fatty acids, fiber, proteins and minerals. Note: if your main goal is to lose weight, you shouldn’t rely too much on chia. They contain a lot of fat, which can prevent you from achieving what you want.
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At the stage of gaining muscle mass
The stage of gaining muscle mass implies certain nutritional conditions. In short, we are talking about excess calories in the daily diet.
EXCESS CALORIES is when you eat more carbohydrates (energy) than you expend (expend)), which is actually what causes an increase in body weight. Moreover, if there is proper training = body weight will increase MAINLY due to MUSCLES (but there will also be fat, without this there is no way, the ratio just changes towards muscles). If there is no training at all, body weight will increase only due to fat.
If there is no excess calories, you will not be able to build muscle.
I am telling this so that you understand: at the stage of gaining muscle mass = your abs will be hidden from prying eyes, including yours. can you guess why? A? No?
Because powerful abs (the goal is usually for men) or just a flat tummy (the goal is usually for girls) = are visible only when a person has a small (low) % of subcutaneous fat in the body. Do you understand? And a low % of fat in the body (body) on mass = impossible)), because The main rule for weight is excess calories.
And a low percentage of fat in the human body (body) is achieved using completely opposite conditions (compared to weight), primarily in nutrition.
Those. if on mass we have an EXCESS OF CALORIES, then on DRYING (when the goal is to burn fat, reduce the % of fat in the body) there should be a LACK OF CALORIES. It is the lack of calories that CREATES AN ENERGY DEFICIT IN THE HUMAN BODY, which in turn will manifest itself in a decrease in body weight.
Actually, due to this, weight loss occurs. Accordingly, it is impossible in principle to combine EXCESS CALORIES and LACK OF CALORIES. These are completely different processes. Do you understand?
I told you all this so that you understand the MESSAGE (idea, essence): at the masses = the press will not be visible! No matter how you pump it up, hundreds of repetitions, exercises, etc. and so on. if you do not have a low % of body fat (if, figuratively speaking, you are wearing a fur coat) = there will be no abs, because abs (or a flat tummy) are visible only when we have a low % of body fat:
- in men 10-12% and below;
- for girls 15% and below; I would recommend around 13-14-15% depending on the constitution.
Here, see the photo below, just guidelines for you:
So, guys and girls, stop pushing your poor belly. If you are in public, you still won’t see it until you take off your “fur coat.” ComprendO?
This was the first important nuance. The second nuance concerns the fact that no exercises on the abs (abdomen), sides, etc. and so on. DO NOT BURN FAT! Those. pumping up your abs = you won’t burn fat in that area.
In principle, no exercises can do this. But, alas, many people mistakenly believe this. They believe that if they do this or that exercise on this or that muscle group (for example, in our case on the abs) = they will burn fat there and everything will be all right. Alas, this will never happen)).
In practice, exercises in terms of losing weight (burning fat) can only increase ENERGY CONSUMPTION!!!! Not more than. But, as I understand it, this will never reach many people in their lives anyway.
