Abdominal Myths You Should
Know
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And
Flatten Your Abs
http://aseafood.davidfit.hop.clickbank.net/
Developing a great set of
six-pack abs is really quite simple once you understand my
unique Firm and Flatten Your Abs system, which includes two
important components:
1. A
workout program consisting of carefully selected,
biomechanically correct abdominal exercises, and
2. A
nutrition program that optimizes fat loss and maintenance or
growth of lean muscle tissue.
As
simple as this sounds, I'll be the first to admit that ab
training can be an extremely confusing subject at first
because there is so much conflicting information on the
subject.
Opinions Are Just That!
Opinions
Countless opinions,
rumors, and theories about ab training are continually being
circulated by an endless parade of "experts" including
doctors, personal trainers, infomercial gurus, and even
friends, teachers, and parents. Some information is valid, but
most of it isn't. It's hard to sort through it all, let alone
know what to believe. Abdominal mythology abounds, and some
myths never seem to die.
That's
exactly why I wrote the e book Firm and Flatten Your
Abs: To help you cut through the myths and lies and lead
you straight to the truth that will help you develop the type
of body that you'll be proud to show off the next time you hit
the beach.
Before
we discuss the anatomy and physiology of the abdominal muscles
or the actual training routines, the first thing to do is
clear your mind of the myths, lies, and misconceptions that
have been polluting your brain as a result of gym folklore,
false
advertising, and bad advice from self-proclaimed
experts.
More
bad information is published and told about ab training than
any other health and fitness subject, and I've boiled it down
to 14 myths that are particularly damaging and pervasive. I
will explain 3 of them in this article.
Let's put
them to rest permanently, shall we?
MYTH #1: If you
train abs every day, you're guaranteed a six-pack. One of the
most common abdominal myths is that training your abdominals
every day is the best way to get a small waistline and develop
the six-pack look in your stomach. This misconception was
probably funneled through the bodybuilding world, because so
many bodybuilders train their abs daily prior to competitions.
Despite the fact that bodybuilders appear on stage with
incredibly ripped abs, their abs come from their diet, not
just their daily ab
workouts.
Daily
training is not only a waste of time, it's an approach that
won't work for the average person who doesn't use
performance-enhancing substances or have a naturally high
recovery capacity.
There are two reasons that
daily abdominal training is unnecessary and does not guarantee
you a six-pack.
First,
the muscle tissue of your abs is virtually the same as the
muscle tissue in the rest of your body. Abdominal muscles
cannot become stronger and more developed without time to rest
and recover after each workout, just like any other muscle
group such as your biceps or chest. You wouldn't do 100
barbell curls every day to "see your biceps" or 100 bench
presses every day to "see your pecs," so why do the same for
your abs?
Second, even if you could
achieve excellent muscular development in the abs with daily
training, you won't be able to see your abs if they're covered
with a layer of fat. Daily abdominal training does not burn
the fat off your midsection! Fat is lost by creating
a
calorie deficit through your diet. Build the muscle
tissue with exercise; burn the fat with diet.
During
the initial phase of the Firm and Flatten Your
Abs program (Level 1), I recommend that you perform
exercises daily for the first two to three weeks. However,
these Level 1 exercises are very basic movements using only
your body weight, and they are designed to prepare,
strengthen, and neurologically program your body for the more
advanced exercises to follow.
For
the long term, you can get fantastic results training your abs
every other day (about four days a week), and once they're
developed, you can maintain your abs with even less frequent
training.
MYTH #2: You can
eat pizza and hamburgers and still maintain a six-pack as long
as you work out right after you eat them. The truth is that
developing your abs is achieved through exercise, but seeing
your abs is more a function your diet than any other factor.
You could have a great set of abs completely covered with fat.
The secret to uncovering the abdominal muscles is nutrition.
Theoretically, you could
lose the fat covering your abs while eating whatever you
wanted, as long as you still had a caloric deficit. However,
eating calorie-dense junk food makes it much harder to
maintain the caloric deficit you need to burn body fat.
Furthermore, eating fast food and other nutritionally-void
junk as regular daily staples in your diet will eventually
exact a serious toll on your health.
You
simply cannot expect exercise to cancel out poor eating
habits. It takes proper exercise and nutrition to get optimal
results. Go into your local fast food restaurant and look
around. How many people do you see that have an envious
abdominal region? Chances are, you won't see any!
MYTH #3: Sit-ups
develop the abdominal muscles best. It's ironic, but the
sit-up, which is the most popular exercise in the world for
the abdominals, might be the absolute worst exercise and could
even be dangerous for some people under some
circumstances.
What
most people don't realize is that the sit-up is not a true
abdominal exercise. During a sit-up, your main trunk flexor,
the iliopsoas muscle, often does the majority of the work
while the abs are not optimally recruited.
Because the iliopsoas
muscle originates on the lower back, the sit-up literally
pulls on the lower back with every repetition, especially if
your feet are held down or anchored, or the repetitions are
performed quickly in a jerky fashion. This is why too many
sit-ups can lead to a strength imbalance between the iliopsoas
and abdominals, as well as poor posture and lower back pain.
Some
people who have very strong abs and lower backs may be able to
perform conventional sit-ups more safely than others. There
are also some safer and more effective ways to perform
sit-ups. One is the Janda sit-up. This exercise uses the law
of reciprocal inhibition, which means that if one muscle is
working, its antagonist (the opposing muscle) must relax.
During
a Janda sit-up, instead of holding your feet down, your
partner reaches around and holds your calves. As you sit up,
you contract your hamstrings and glutes by pulling your calves
back against your partner's hands. (You can also press your
lower legs
back against small dumbbells or a heavy weighted
barbell.) When the hamstrings and glutes contract, this shuts
off the iliopsoas, making your abs do more of the
work.
If I
prescribe sit-ups, I simply have my clients do Janda sit-ups.
However, Janda sit-ups can be difficult to perform on your own
and because of the injury potential from sit-ups in general,
and since there are so many other more effective exercises, I
have left sit-ups out of this course completely.
It's
incredible, but true: You can develop amazing abs without
ever
doing a single sit-up!
Coach
David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
P.S.If you enjoyed
this workout, then you will love the workout programs in my
Firm And Flatten Your Abs E-book. You can get more information
on the home page at:
http://aseafood.davidfit.hop.clickbank.net/
About the
Author:
David Grisaffi majored in physical
education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from
the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance
Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and
lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a
personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition.
David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and
is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has
been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional
sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and
professional golfer Michael Putnam. David?s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your
Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how
develop ?six pack abs" while improving strength, function and
athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home
page at: http://www.flattenyourabs.net/
