How to Best Train Your Abdominals

It seems like most of my posts of late have been pretty food focussed. I guess this is because I feel quite passionately about the importance of correct nutrition in creating a flat stomach.I believe that many people underestimate the power of truly understanding their unique nutritional needs. Instead, they fall into the trap of thinking they need to do more and more exercise in order to create a lean beach belly.

While I certainly have plenty more to say in this area, I’ve decided it’s time for a good old-fashioned ab blast.

How do you train your abs when you workout? Crunches, leg lifts, ab machines?

How’s that working out for you?

In my experience, all the crunches in the world won’t give you a flat tummy. I’m not saying there isn’t a time and place for these sort of exercises. However I do think people place too much faith in traditional abdominal training as an end in itself.

Here’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ‘old-fashioned’ ab training. By old-fashioned, I mean training your abs in the way that they were designed to work.

I’m a big believer in training the abdominals through full-body exercises such as squats, lunges and deadlifts. All of the muscles around your core area are designed to work as part of a highly detailed system of support and power. This means that anytime you bend, twist, run, jump or lift, your core muscles should ‘kick in’ to assist you.

I say they ‘should’ kick in because many adults have lost the ability to activate their abdominal muscles. This may be because of inactivity, poor posture, digestive disorders, incorrect training techniques, or for many other reasons.

If left for even a short period of time, poor abdominal activation can cause a host of icky problems. Among the most common are back pain, constipation or diarrhea, postural dysfunction, and – without a doubt – a jelly belly that you just can’t say goodbye to.

So how do you teach your stomach muscles, along with the other supporting muscles of your core, to ‘kick in’ again?

Well, as the saying goes – practice makes perfect.

First, master the ability to draw in and activate your stomach muscles in a relaxed position. I find the simplest way to do this is while lying on your back on the floor. With your hand on your belly, take a slow breath in through your nose. A full breath should begin low in the stomach region, causing your belly to rise into your hand. In the last 1/3 of the breath, your ribcage should expand laterally and the chest and collarbone should eventually rise.

As you breathe out, allow your belly to hollow out below the belly button. Toward the end of the breath, draw the ‘below-the-button’ region in toward your spine. You should feel a light tension in this area, and the upper abs and chest should remain relaxed.

It may take you a few attempts to master this movement. Possibly even a few weeks. Please keep at it – once you gain control of your stomach muscles you will immediately notice your control, strength, and power improve in other ways.

The next step is to begin introducing this activation of the tummy muscles into other movements. Try drawing your belly button in – and holding for a few seconds – as you go about your day-to-day business. Try it in as many different positions or movements as possible.

Finally, introduce your regained control into your exercise regime.

This could mean being aware of your core while running, doing a group exercise class, or riding your bike. I don’t mean that you don’t need to hold your belly button in the entire time while doing ‘cardio’ exercise. Instead you should notice a natural rhythm whereby your core muscles work in conjunction with the impact of each step.

When it comes to activating your core muscles during weight training movements, you’ll notice that you need to learn how to do so during each different exercise. Fortunately, you’ve had plenty of practice at doing this day-to-day, so that shouldn’t be a problem!

Tummy muscles are a somewhat fickle gang, and they really only start to do their job efficiently when you take a focussed approach to your core training. I’d advise you to work initially just with your body weight, or the lightest dumbbell or barbell available, and practice basic movement patterns like squatting, lunging, twisting, pushing and pulling. With each movement, perform your breathing and core activation sequence prior to beginning your first repetition. As you progress into the exercise, take note of how long you can ‘hold’ it for. You should still be able to breathe – we’re not looking for an intense bracing of the entire stomach wall, more a light tension in the lower stomach.

With practice, you will notice your core activation start to become automatic. You’ll also notice that every time you move a load of any significant amount, those tummy muscles will ‘switch on’ in preparation for the movement. This is when you’ve really started to become a master of the core!

And if you think about it, learning to use those tummy muscles in every movement that you do – multiple times throughout the day – will give you a flat stomach a great deal faster than a few crunches at the end of your workout.

Have fun practising! And enjoy the rewards – a flatter stomach before the year is out.

Katrina is a CHEK trainer and Metabolic Typing Advisor in Australia. Make up your mind to press play on life with Katrina and ‘Play Life’. Email Katrina at info@playlife.com.au