Guide to the most important exercises for abdominals

The abdomen is one of the most sought after and dreamed muscular districts by gyms frequenters, ideal of visible beauty at very low percentages of fat mass. Spent it is said that he is trained at the table, meaning that diet is the first important ingredient for a visible abdomen. This is certainly true, but to have a hypertrophic and well-structured abdomen also training wants its part. In this article we will see the 3 best exercises for the abdomen.

Crunches

The Crunches are the main exercise to train the abdomen, in general the best. It is essentially a spinal flexion/extension (not to be confused with sit-ups that are a pelvic flexion/extension). The movement therefore involves “closing” bending the spine and contracting the abdominal wall.

As the abdominal muscles of the muscles are fundamental in breathing dynamics, it is also important to exhale strongly in order to contract the target district.
The Crunches can be made also inverses, holding to a bench with the hands, bending the plug carrying the knees towards the chest.

Usually the hip flexion/extension movement is synergistic but must not be preponderant in the motor scheme that must always be fluid and concentrated.

Our advice is to make 3-4 series of 15-20 repetitions with a strong contraction at the end of the concentric phase of the movement.

Plank

Plank is an isometric exercise. It is particularly important to include it in our abdominal training as it allows to train the core in general by establishing and maintaining a balance of forces between the pelvic rotators and the flexor/ spinal extenders. The final result will be a stronger core and less prone to injury.

Our advice is to make 1-2 series from 60-90′ target. So we try to keep the position as much as possible and, every time we give in, we repose 5-10” and we start again until we complete 60-90” of the exercise (do not count the recovery seconds then!)

Vacuum

Vacuum is an exercise that allows you to train the abdomen in its function during breathing dynamics. It is a very important exercise in general for the control of the midsection, of the breath, which will also allow us to control our SNA (autonomic nervous system) thanks to a vague nerve stimulation.

Our advice is to make 1-2 series from 30′.

When to train the abdomen

Last necessary reflection concerns when to train the abdomen. There are many points of view on this. Who trains him after training, who before, who every day, who a few times a week.

The abdomen is actually a muscle with hypertrophic perspectives and limited growth margins. It will never grow exponentially. Its growth and development should therefore be understood as a consequence of its functional training. This seems to be a more concrete and fruitful objective.

We therefore recommend to train him before the sessions of Lower (in which we train the legs with movements such as squat or viarianti di accociata) and Pull, where we insert some breaks or we go anyway to stress the lower back and spinal erectors.