Routine for 6 Pack Abs
3 Killer Tips to Uncover the Most Effective Abdominal Exercises in Your Routine!
Uncovering a killer routine for 6 pack abs doesn’t have to be difficult. You have probably searched unsuccessfully to find the secrets to revealing your six pack but have not had much success. Well I am going to reveal to you 3 secrets that you need to know in order to melt away the fat that is covering your six pack. In fact, don’t tell your personal trainer because he or she just may be out of a job.
I am not going to give you a list of exercises to do and tell you how many sets and reps for each. There are plenty of resources available that will list a lot of exercises. However, how do you know whether they are effective or not. I would rather reveal how to discover the most effective exercises. That way you will never have to worry about wasting time.
The first secret is to understand how the abdominals actually work. Everyone in the gym, including the personal trainers, think that the main reason we have abdominal muscles is to crunch our trunk (flexion). The truth is that it is not that difficult to flex your trunk when you are standing or sitting. If you just relax, gravity will take over and flex your trunk for you. So really that is not a huge issue.
Your abdominal muscles are most effective at slowing down motion. That’s right, slowing down. In the strength training world we call that an eccentric contraction. Most muscles thrive on being slightly stretched before contracting. Sure, there are times that you need to contract quickly to throw a ball, but your first motion will always be to slow down one direction so that you can accelerate in the opposite direction.
The second secret is to forget about isolating your abdominal muscles. Everyone seems to want to do an excessive number of crunches. An effective routine for 6 pack abs will consist of exercises that work all of the abdominal muscles together. This can be achieved by performing total body movements rather than isolated exercises. Some examples of total body abdominal exercises are push ups, woodchoppers and kettlebell swings. Each of these exercises requires a combined effort on all of the abdominal muscles in a way that will help everyday motions and activities.
The third secret to a routine for 6 pack abs is to select exercises that require stabilization of the trunk through the abdominal muscles. All movements require a stable base to anchor on to. For example, if you are going to throw a ball you will need to stabilize your core in order for your shoulder and arm to take advantage of as much strength as possible. If you are not sure about this, try throwing a ball with your feet off of the ground. You won’t be able to throw nearly as far as you could with your feet on the ground and your trunk stable.
If you take advantage of these simple, yet effective secrets you will be able to create a routine for 6 pack abs that will be effective and make you look better than ever before. You will also need to consider other factors that will help you to lose belly fat faster than an abdominal workout alone.
The Ultimate Hard-Body Exercise
Here is an article by Mike Geary. He describes the effectiveness of the front squat and why it is one of the best exercises for creating a total body effect. Most long boring cardio exercises do not require the type of total body balance, stability, and coordination that the front squat and dead lift stimulate. What does that mean for you? Maybe more efficient core training?
Total body exercises are the best and most effective way to lose fat and train your body for the stresses of everyday life. The front squat and the dead lift require not only lower body strength but strengthen the core muscles that help to support the whole body as well as ripping the six pack that so many times is cleverly disguised. Enjoy! Train Fast! Explode!
The Ultimate Hard-Body Exercise
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author: The Truth About Six Pack Abs
The Front Squat
As you may have already discovered, the squat is at the top of the heap (along with deadlifts) as one of the most effective overall exercises for stimulating body composition changes (muscle gain and fat loss). This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under a heavy load than almost any other weight bearing exercises known to man. Hence, these exercises stimulate the greatest hormonal responses (growth hormone, testosterone, etc.) of all exercises.
In fact, university research studies have even proven that inclusion of squats into a training program increases upper body development, in addition to lower body development, even though upper body specific joint movements are not performed during the squat. Whether your goal is gaining muscle mass, losing body fat, building a strong and functional body, or improving athletic performance, the basic squat and deadlift (and their variations) are the ultimate solution.
If you don’t believe me that squats and deadlifts are THE basis for a lean and powerful body, then go ahead and join all of the other overweight people pumping away mindlessly for hours on boring cardio equipment.
Squats can be done with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, or even just body weight. Squats should only be done with free weights – NEVER with a Smith machine! My ebook, The Truth About Six Pack Abs contains the full story on why machines are so inferior and even potentially DANGEROUS compared to free weights.
The type of squat that people are most familiar with is the barbell back squat where the bar is resting on the trapezius muscles of the upper back. Many professional strength coaches believe that front squats (where the bar rests on the shoulders in front of the head) and overhead squats (where the bar is locked out in a snatch grip overhead throughout the squat) are more functional to athletic performance than back squats with less risk of lower back injury.
I feel that a combination of all three (not necessarily during the same phase of your workouts) will yield the best results for overall muscular development, body fat loss, and athletic performance. Front squats are moderately more difficult than back squats, while overhead squats are considerably more difficult than either back squats or front squats. I’ll cover overhead squats in a future newsletter issue.
If you are only accustomed to performing back squats, it will take you a few sessions to become comfortable with front squats, so start out light. After a couple sessions of practice, you will start to feel the groove and be able to increase the poundage.
To perform front squats:
The front squat recruits the abdominals to a much higher degree for stability due to the more upright position compared with back squats. It is mostly a lower body exercise, but is great for functionally incorporating core strength and stability into the squatting movement. It can also be slightly difficult to learn how to properly rest the bar on your shoulders. There are two ways to rest the bar on the front of the shoulders.
In the first method, you step under the bar and cross your forearms into an “X” position while resting the bar on the dimple that is created by the shoulder muscle near the bone, keeping your elbows up high so that your arms are parallel to the ground. You then hold the bar in place by pressing the thumb side of your fists against the bar for support.
Alternatively, you can hold the bar by placing your palms face up and the bar resting on your fingers against your shoulders. For both methods, your elbows must stay up high to prevent the weight from falling. Your upper arms should stay parallel to the ground throughout the squat. Find out which bar support method is more comfortable for you.
Then, initiate the squat from your hips by sitting back and down keeping the weight on your heels as opposed to the balls of your feet. Squat down to a position where your thighs are approximately parallel to the ground, then press back up to the starting position. Keeping your weight more towards your heels is the key factor in squatting to protect your knees from injury and develop strong injury resistant knee joints.
Keep in mind – squats done correctly actually strengthen the knees; squats done incorrectly can damage the knees. Practice first with an un-weighted bar or a relatively light weight to learn the movement. Most people are surprised how hard this exercise works your abs once you learn the correct form.
For complete descriptions of over 50 of the most effective full body exercises for stripping away body fat while developing a rock-hard body, download my e-book The Truth About Six Pack Abs
3 Best Abdominal Exercises
For a long time I have been a believer that the best way to train your abdominal muscles is through natural movements. It always seemed that there should be a better way to get six pack abs then spend hours doing crunches and variations of crunches. I found it difficult to believe that lying flat on your back training your abdominal muscles would be the best way to train for quick side to side and rotational movements.
Over time I learned that the best abdominal exercises mimic athletic movements similar to those involved in sports. The following article by Mike Geary is a great example of exercises that strengthen the entire core group of abdominal muscles.
The 3 Best Abdominal Exercises that Are Not Traditional Ab Exercises
by Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Instead of the typical ab routines that we see so often with crunches, situps, leg lifts, etc… I like to give my readers better options for metabolism-boosting high intensity workouts that work their entire body while also working their abs… thus building rock hard abs & core, but also creating a much better fat-burning workout than a typical ab workout.
I’m going to show you an example today of one of my favorite “ab workouts” that doesn’t include any direct “ab exercises” at all. It’s in a tri-set format (similar to a super-set but alternating between 3 exercises).
Here goes:
1a. Renegade Dumbbell Rows
1b. Front Squats with Barbell
1c. Mountain Climbers on Floor
A good rep scheme to use with this could be 3-4 sets of 8 reps for each exercise, or more sets for less reps, such as 5 sets of 5 reps of each exercise. Mountain climbers can be done for a time interval (such as 30 seconds) instead of “reps”.
Exercise Pics & Descriptions:
Renegade dumbbell rows are done starting in a pushup position with the hands on 2 dumbbells. You then row one dumbbell up while stabilizing your body with the other arm. Bring the dumbbell back to the ground and alternate the rowing arm while stabilizing with the opposite arm. This stabilizing effect during the rows creates incredible work for your entire midsection core area. Trust me… you’ll feel it in the abs!
Front squats are done similar to back squats, however with the barbell in front of your body on the front of your shoulders instead of resting on the upper back as in back squats. You stabilize the barbell on your shoulders by crossing your arms and pushing your fists into the bar against your shoulders while keeping your elbows out in front of the body.
This takes a little practice at first, so you will want to seek a professional trainer at your gym to help you with the form. Front squats require extreme stabilization strength from the abs due to the barbell weight being shifted to the front of the body instead of the back. Even though this is mostly a leg exercise, you’ll feel this one in the abs big time!
Mountain climbers are done by starting in a pushup position and then shuffling your feet in and out so that your knees are moving in under your chest and then back out to starting position. It sort of resembles climbing a mountain but flat on the floor. If you want an advanced version, you can also shuffle your hands 8-10 inches forward and backward in addition to the leg movements. This really makes it a full body exercise and MUCH more difficult than standard mountain climbers.
After finishing each exercise, rest about 30 seconds before starting the next exercise. Rest about 1-2 minutes after completing each “tri-set” before repeating.
This will give you one of the best ab workouts you’ve ever had without even doing any direct ab exercises. You’ll see what I mean after you try it!
This is just a sampling of some of the killer ideas you’ll discover in my internationally best-selling ebook program, The Truth about Six Pack Abs, currently the #1 most popular abs program on the internet (as ranked by clickbank.com) with 10’s of thousands of users in over 150 countries. If you don’t already have a copy be sure to pick one up today…
Not only will you receive a complete blue-print for challenging full-body workouts that will thoroughly define your entire body in addition to your abs (can be adjusted to beginners or advanced levels), but you’ll also gain a thorough understanding of what types of nutritional strategies and other lifestyle aspects that it takes to reduce your belly fat to the level where your abs are visible.
Check out what other users are saying about their results with the Truth about Six Pack Abs program
Don’t be lazy… Be lean.
Stop Wasting Your Time with Worthless Treadmill and Elliptical Machine Workouts!
Stop Wasting Your Time with Worthless Treadmill and Elliptical Machine Workouts!
by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author: The Truth About Six Pack Abs
Now that I pissed off all of the treadmill and elliptical machine worshipers… let me say that if you truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on a treadmill or elliptical (or exercise bike for that matter too), then by all means, keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise is one of the most important aspects to sticking with any exercise program…
However, don’t say that I didn’t warn you that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardio machine boredom.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, I don’t believe in cardio machines, and to be quite honest, I don’t think I’ve personally used a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike for at least the last 7-8 years or so.
As a matter of fact, I don’t even use cardio machines anymore for warmups before a workout (did before occasionally)… Nowadays, I prefer to do dumbbell or kettlebell snatches and swings mixed with bodyweight exercises as the perfect full body warmup at the beginning of my workouts.
So why do I have such hatred for cardio machines? Well, here goes:
1) Treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes are mind-blowingly BOOOORING!
2) Mindless steady state exercise while watching tv or reading creates a mind / body disconnect resulting in poor results from your exercise routine
3) I’ve seen studies that indicated that treadmill running may be less effective than outdoor running for various reasons such as stride abnormalities on treadmills vs natural running, slightly less caloric burn compared to outdoor running, etc.
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(although I never recommend just “jogging” anyway… variable intensity walks / runs or sprints are so much more effective, training your heart rate in a much wider range instead of just the same pace during the entire workout).
4) Treadmills and ellipticals are ridiculously expensive and a waste of money for people that workout at home… there’s so many better options for home workouts you could have spent your money on rather than wasting it on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.
The perfect home gym setup is MUCH cheaper… there’s no reason you need anything other than a jump rope, bodyweight exercises, a few dumbbells, stability ball, maybe a few kettlebells (if you want to get fancy), and perhaps high tension bands for some more variety.
By the way, here are some great adjustable dumbbells such which can save you big time cash if you’re setting up a home gym.
5) Treadmills and elliptical machines are just a very ineffective way to workout compared to other options. Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a fat-burning hormonal response and stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent.
So what are the alternatives to treadmills and ellipticals? Here are some of my favorites:
* jumping rope – great mind / body connection (try speed jumping, crosses, double jumps once you get skilled at it)
* bodyweight training – bodyweight squats, pushups, lunges, jumps, bear crawls, mountain climbers and jumpers, planks, and the list goes on and on
* kettlebell training – nothing will get your heart pounding like high repetition KB swings and snatches or clean & presses (can be done with dumbbells too, but I prefer KBs)
* outdoor wind sprinting (the ultimate for a rock hard ripped body… just look at the chiseled powerful bodies of world class sprinters, and compare that to the weakling withered physique of a typical marathoner… nuff said!)
* hill sprinting (yet another classic for a rock hard powerful body)
* rowing machine (ok, I don’t really lump this in as a “cardio” machine like treadmills and ellipticals… I think the rowing machine is actually a great full body workout that actually uses resistance)
* sprint style swimming workouts (a more muscular workout than steady state distance swimming… I actually love the upper body pump I get from sprint style swimming) – this is the same concept as sprinting vs jogging but in a pool instead
* heavy bag punching / kicking workout, speed bag, rebound bag… all great forms of training and much more interesting than boring cardio machines (requires an intense mind / body connection)
* shadow boxing… awesome workout, but if you’re shy, this is best done at home since you’ll get some crazy stares doing this at a typical gym from people who think they’re “too cool” for stuff like that.
Well, I hope that helps give you ideas on how you can get away from all of these mindless and ineffective treadmill and elliptical (and exercise bike) workouts that are just wasting your time and energy that could be better spent on more effective workouts.
best full body and ab workoutsIf you don’t already have a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs program, you can see some of the incredible reviews and results people are getting with Truth about Abs here
You can check out the common questions and answers about this super-effective fat loss program here
Have a great one, and get out there and actually ENJOY your workouts!
Don’t be lazy, be lean.
interval trainingFat Loss Secrets Revealed: Proven Methods to Get Six Pack Abs
Fat Loss Secrets Revealed: Proven Methods to Get Six Pack Abs
by Aaron Ivey ATC, CSCS
Some strategies work better than others for getting rid of belly fat and showing off the six pack abs underneath. Unveiling the six pack doesn’t need to be a complicated or tricky process. However, it seems that it has become more complicated as more and more advice is thrown around without sound science to support it. Here are 3 proven ways to reveal the six pack abs that are waiting to be discovered.
1. Control the diet
The first and most important strategy for gaining a six pack set of abs is to take control over what you put in your body. Nobody will notice the ripped abdominal muscles you have if you cover them up with unwanted fat. Exercise is certainly very important, but if have the strongest and most toned abs ever and nobody can see them, it doesn’t help you look good.
There is a lot of confusion in the diet world right now because so many different programs and opinions are out there about losing weight and what a healthy should consist of. Just pay attention to the headlines of magazines and mainstream media – the newest and greatest method seems to be revealed weekly.
The truth is that a healthy diet is one that comes directly from the ground. It is best to consume whole fruits and vegetables with as little processing as possible. Whole grains are a great source of healthy fiber. Eating good quality meat will give the right types of fat and vitamins in order to produce the hormones and energy that is needed to recover from a workout.
2. Intensity
Focusing on the intensity of the workout is the second most important thing to consider. Workouts should consist of high intensity, short duration exercises with equal rest periods in between. You should also focus on working the whole body rather than isolated muscles. This gives you the most metabolic challenge possible and will therefore stimulate your body to make the changes necessary to become more efficient at burning fat and slimming down.
3. Abdominal training
It may come as no surprise that working your abdominal muscles would be the third component. To train the abdominal muscles correctly and get real results, forget about crunches and situps. These exercises have their place for those that are deconditioned and need a basic way to get started. They are not the most effective abdominal exercise.
Effective abdominal training involves exercises that focus on rotation, stabilization, and deceleration of the trunk. Ideally, if you can combine all three of these into one exercise you will have yourself a great abdominal exercise. Most of the time, if you are performing a whole body exercise, you are also training your abdominal muscles the way they were intended.
Getting rid of excess body fat is going to be the most effective way to show off definition in the abs and midsection. The most effective exercises to burn fat are complex, whole body movements such as swings and snatches, combinations of squats or lunges with a push or pull movement. To look good, focus on these 3 things and you will get the body that you deserve.
Revealing Your Six Pack Abs: Mistakes Most People Make
Revealing Your Six Pack Abs: Mistakes Most People Make
by Aaron Ivey ATC, CSCS
I am a little bit of a people watcher. I look to observe the techniques and methods that people are using to try and get in shape. Over the years I have observed some mistakes that many people seem to make that really get them nowhere. In this article, I discuss 2 of the biggest mistakes that people make and how to fix it.
It is very important to train your abdominal muscles, there is no doubt about it. However, if they are “cleverly disguised” and nobody can see them, it doesn’t do you much good. Having a visible six pack of abs is mostly about getting your body fat percentage to a level that will reveal the hard work that you have put in to strengthening your abdominal muscles.
Getting rid of body fat is a combination of nutrition and the right kind of exercise. You need to stoke the fat burning furnace in order for the body to want to burn fat. That just doesn’t happen by working small muscle groups. You must work the whole body with complex movements rather than focus on bicep curls. Focus more on using a combination of large muscle groups like the legs, back and chest. These complex motions create a lot of demand on the body to produce energy and adapt to the overload. Some researchers suggest that high intensity exercise stimulates hormones that burn more fat and build more muscle.
As far as the diet goes, it should consist of the most natural form of foods possible. Focus on foods as unprocessed as possible. Instead of consuming fruit juices, eat the whole fruit. Whole fruits have a lot of fiber and good sugar that will actually help to regulate your blood sugar correctly. Additionally, whole fruits and vegetables pack a punch when it comes to vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants necessary to repair damaged cells and create healthy new ones.
Choose whole grains over refined grains. Whole grains also contain a great supply of fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, and essential fats. Yes, you need fat in your diet. Hormones are dependent upon them. Other good sources of healthy fat are nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, organically grown meat, etc.
There really is nothing complicated about how to show off your six pack. Don’t be fooled by the latest gimmick or device, diet, etc. claiming to be the newest and best thing. A balance of ALL of the macronutrients is necessary for a healthy diet. The combination will provide all of the necessary building blocks your body needs.
Killer 11-minute workout
Killer 11-minute workout
In case it gives you any ideas, here’s a killer high intensity fat burning workout that I did with a friend today… the entire sequence was done in 11 minutes and we were drenched in sweat from the intensity. You can do more or less based on your current fitness level:
a. 1-arm dbell swings (alternate arms every 5 reps) – 3 minutes straight as many reps as possible.
rest 1 min
b. 1-arm dbell snatches (alt arms every 5 reps) – 3 minutes straight as many reps as possible.
rest 1 min
Truth About Six Pack Abs
c. Dbell renegade rows (alt arms after each rep) – 10 reps each arm.
rest 30 seconds
d. Floor mountain climbers – 30 seconds max reps.
rest 30 seconds
e. Floor mountain jumpers – 30 seconds max reps.
Total workout time = 11 minutes of metabolism boosting insanity!
It may sound like an easy and short workout, but those first 6 minutes of non-stop swings and snatches will leave even the leanest and meanest trainee gasping for breath.
If you’re not sure what any of these exercises are or how to do them, they are all outlined in detail along with over 50 other of the most effective full body exercises to give you a tight lean body in my Truth About Six Pack Abs program…
Do You Really Need “Cardio” Workouts?
Do You Really Need “Cardio” Workouts?
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author: The Truth About Six Pack Abs
In this article, I have an intriguing discussion about cardio workouts, which will hopefully get you thinking differently, and trying new things.
You may know I’ve been called the anti-cardio guy before, but this week I’m back posing the question to you… Do you really need cardio training to get lean and in great shape? By the way, you’ll see in a minute that I’m not really “anti-cardio”, just “anti traditional cardio”.
Most fitness buffs, weekend warriors, or anyone trying to get in shape or lose body fat, consider it a fact that they need “cardio” exercise to accomplish these goals. They would never even question it. However, I’m not only questioning it, I’m going to refute it! In fact, you may be surprised to know that some of the leanest and meanest people I know (men and women), NEVER do any type of normal or traditional cardio. And I’ve spent over 15 years working out in various gyms, and hanging out with athletes of all sorts, so I’ve seen it all.
I will say that there can be a place for low-moderate level cardio for really overweight or deconditioned people, but even in those cases, there can be more effective methods.
But what exactly is “cardio”? Most people would consider cardio to be pumping away mindlessly on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or coasting on an elliptical machine, while watching the TV screen at their state of the art gym. This is what I call “traditional cardio”. Hmmm, no wonder the majority of people get bored with their workouts and give up after a couple months without seeing results.
But if you look closer, “cardio” exercise can be considered any type of exercise or activity that strengthens the cardiovascular system. I’m not going to get into anything technical like increasing your VO2 max or anything like that. To keep it simple, if it gets your heart pumpin, and gets you huffin and puffin, it’s cardio. I don’t care if you’re holding dumbbells or a barbell and everyone calls it a weight training exercise…it’s still conditioning your heart.
Let’s take a look at a couple examples. Take a barbell (or dumbbell, or kettlebell) clean & press for example, which involves lifting a barbell from the floor up to shoulders, then push pressing overhead. And listen up ladies, because even though this is usually seen as a manly exercise, it doesn’t matter if you’re not lifting 250 lbs; if 45 lbs is challenging to you, then you will still benefit just as much.
At first glance, most people think of the barbell C&P only as a weight training exercise or strength exercise. However, I challenge you to do a hard set of around 10-15 reps on the C&P. If you used a challenging enough weight, what you’ll find is that your heart rate is probably up to about 80-90% of your recommended max, and you are huffing and puffing like you just ran a 100-meter sprint (which by the way, sprinting kicks the crap out of jogging any day if you want the easiest way to lose the flab).
Try the same thing for a set of 20 reps of one-arm snatches or swings with each arm with a kettlebell or dumbbell, and tell me your legs aren’t burning, heart racing, and you’re gasping for breath. How about trying 5 minutes straight of bodyweight squats, lunges, and pushups with very little rest. Again, notice your heart pounding, sweat pouring off of you, and chest heaving for breaths!
Try and tell me you’re not conditioning your heart with this style of training! Conventional thinking says that these are weight training or strength training exercises. However, they are fullfilling your cardio workout needs as well.
Not only do you save time, but you strengthen and condition almost every muscle in your entire body with these full body exercises if you do them with enough intensity…something that can’t be said for that boring stationary bike ride or treadmill jaunt while reading or watching TV. Seriously, if you can read or watch TV while doing any exercise, you’re not concentrating enough on what you’re doing, plus you’re probably not working out hard enough to see any real results.
I challenge you to give the “traditional cardio” a rest for a month or two, and start training the way I explain in my internationally-selling Truth about Six pack Abs Program, and see how you start getting leaner, more defined, and your six pack starting to show through what used to be stubborn stomach fat deposits.
3 Functions of the Abdominal Muscles
3 Functions of the Abdominal Muscles – How They Really Work!
Aaron Ivey ATC, CSCS
With so many gadgets and gismos bombarding our television, internet, and health clubs, how do you know what exercises work the best for abdominal training? In order to understand which exercises we should do we need to understand how the abdominals really work. This article outlines the purpose of the abdominals and what they were designed to do.
The abdominal muscles provide 3 basic functions: stabilization, rotation, and deceleration. Let’s look at each of these individually.
1. Stabilization: We all know that in order for a tree to withstand powerful winds it must have a strong trunk. This allow for the branches to move in the wind and yet the tree stands firm and rooted. Our abdominals are no different than the trunk of a tree. It is no wonder that we oftentimes refer to the abdominal muscles as our trunk.
When the abdominals contract it helps to stabilize and stiffen our trunk so that our arms and legs can perform their function. With weak abdominals we run the risk of injuries to the back and the extremities. Many times I have seen injuries to athletes that resulted from weak abdominal (core) muscles. Once good stability was reestablished, the athlete’s injury was able to heal.
2. Rotation: I think this is one of the most obvious ones. Our abdominal muscles rotate our trunk. Forceful rotation of the trunk, shoulders and arms comes from the hips and abdominal muscles.
3. Deceleration: The abdominal muscles slow down rotation, side bending, and most importantly, hyperextension of the back. For example. you are playing basketball and your team mate throws the ball above your head. You reach up to grab the ball and are forced to bend backwards. If your abdominals are strong enough you will be able to avoid doing a back handspring and folding in half.
Abdominal muscles also help to slow down rotation of the legs. There is some evidence (and my personal opinion) that a strong core can help to prevent ACL injuries.
So remember, don’t waste your time with machines and exercises that don’t train the abdominal muscles the way they were designed. Now that you have a better understanding of how the abdominal muscles truly function, it will be easier to design a training program that is effective.
