Crunch time for abs

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By Gary Dawkins on Fri, 29 May 2009
Health | Body & Soul | Fitness
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Oblique twists: Muscles worked: Obliques, lower abdominals, and upper abdominalsSit on the ground with your feet supported by a fixed platform. At first keep your torso in a vertical position and start twisting from left to right with your head following your twist. If your back is feeling strong then progress this by leaning back with your torso 15-25 degrees and perform the same twisting action. Back extension from floor or swiss ball: Muscles worked: Lower backAt first do this from the floor. Lie down and keep your head looking down at the floor at all times. With your hands to the side slowly raise your torso up 15-25 degrees and hold for 2 seconds before lowering down slowly. Lying abdominal leg cycles: Muscles worked: Lower abdominals (transverse abdominals). Place your hands underneath the arch of your back. Make sure your lower back is pressed down hard against your hands at all times. Lift your legs up and slowly cycle them out and in. At first keep your legs high. As your muscles become stronger you can start lowering your legs closer to the ground as you perform the cycles. Superwomen (man) from knees: Muscles worked: Lower back. Position yourself on all fours. Keep your head looking down at the floor at all times. Slowly raise one arm and the opposite leg up to right angles and hold for two seconds and slowly release them back to the ground. Now do the same with the other arm and leg. At all times hold yourself as stable as possible. Prone floor hold: Muscles worked: Lower abdominals; lower back (Erector Spinae). Rest on your forearms and hold your back straight. At first you can do this exercise on your knees. Once you feel comfortable you can progress on to your toes to form a plank with your body. You will also feel your arms working as they hold you in the position.
 

A six-pack looks great. Even better, an eight-pack. Even better again is the 12-pack. How would you like fab abs?

Well, the abdominals are the area of the body where fat seems to accumulate first and burn off last.

It is this area that has been the subject of thousands of TV commercials promoting the latest abdominal exercise gimmicks - guaranteed to develop abs in just five minutes of working out a day.

If only it was that easy.

Our fitness expert, Gary Dawkins, has some answers in our fitness and fat-loss programme.

Unfortunately, the body does not achieve spot reductions.

This means your body does not remove body fat around a particular area just because that area is being exercised.

The underlying muscle will be worked, but if there is still excess body fat over that muscle, then you will not see any signs of a six-pack emerging.

We are now at the stage in our fitness and fat-loss programme where you will have eliminated fat from your mid region so the inclusion of abdominal exercises will now allow the muscle definition to emerge.

It is important to exercise the lower back and oblique muscles so that the entire mid region is strengthened evenly.

A sure way to develop an injury is to exercise your abdominal muscles intensively while performing no lower back exercises.

Our mid region is our centre of gravity. It is the powerhouse of all movements.

When this is strong our performance in all activities is significantly improved.

A lot of people experience lower back problems when their abdominal muscles are weak.

Abdominal muscles can become weaker after childbirth (especially the lower abdominals).

Also, the lower back can become weak and develop injury when there is excess weight around the abdominal muscles, putting undue strain on the lower back.

Mid-region exercises include the abdominal muscle group, the lower back muscle group and the oblique muscles (to the side of the abdominals).

In our programme, we will be including mid-region exercises to condition the lower abdominals (transverse abdominals, located below the belly button), the upper abdominals (rectus abdominals, located above the belly button), the internal and external obliques (to the side of the abdominals) and the lower-back muscle (erectus spinae).

• Gary Dawkins is a a director of Creative Conditioning in Dunedin.

 

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