Core Training

As it is every summer, suddenly everyone is concerned about their "abs" and we see numerous people spending hours in the gym trying to get a "6 pack". There are quite a few things that we need to understand in order for us to achieve this. You may find that you might be overtraining your abdominal muscles, and maybe even going about this whole thing the wrong way. There are many misconceptions when it comes to the abs. We need to understand the purpose of the rectus abdominis (the 6 pack) and the proper way to train it.

The number one thing I hear from nearly EVERYONE is, "I only want to lose belly fat, I'm fine everywhere else." What people need to understand is that you CAN NOT lose fat in a specific area. There is no such thing as spot reduction, so spending hours doing crunches is not going to get rid of the fat on your belly. When trying to lose fat it is important to understand that the last place you gained it will be the first place you lose it. This also means that the first place you gained it, will be the last place you lose it. If your belly was the first place that you stored fat, then it will be the last place you lose it and this means that you must work much harder to get rid of it. The take away message from this is that if you are trying to lose belly fat, you need to lose fat PERIOD. Do not focus on one specific area, focus on large muscle groups, compound movements, and full body workouts. This will get the calories burning and expend a large amount of energy.

Secondly we need to understand the purpose of the rectus abdominis (the 6 pack) and this will ultimately tell us how to train it. It is common to see people training their abs by doing countless crunches and sit ups but is this how we should be training our abs? If you have ever sat on a swiss ball and tried to sit straight for a long period of time, you would notice that you have to keep the core engaged in order to keep your body up-right and to keep good posture (position). You can slouch (crunch) all you want, but this will not keep you stable or allow you to stay up longer. From this we can see that the functional purpose of the core is to keep the body stabilized (erect) for a long period of time, in other words, endure. If the functional purpose of the abs is to endure and hold posture, then why are wasting time doing hundreds of crunches? Would it not make sense to train them by enduring and using momentary holds? If you've ever taken an anatomy and physiology course, you might have also learned that the fibers of the rectus abdominis run parallel meaning that they are built for endurance rather than power.

The Core
There is more to the core than just those frontal 6 pack muscles. The core consists of muscles on the front, the sides, and the back of the trunk (as well as deep within). As I mentioned earlier, the functional purpose of the core is to stabilize but each individual set of muscles serve for specific purposes. The muscles of the front work to flex or draw the trunk forward, the muscles to the sides work to rotate and laterally flex the trunk, and lastly the muscles to the back work to extend or move the trunk backwards. For the sake of keeping things simple, this will be as far as I go in explaining the muscles of the core.

I should also mention that when flexing the trunk forward, the abdominal muscles only flex while the pelvis is stabilized or held in place. When people do full sit ups- the hip flexors are the primary muscles working, NOT the abdominal muscles. Not only does this not target the abs it also places a tremendous amount of stress on the low back, so PLEASE STOP DOING SIT UPS.

Beyond the Gym
The most important point that should be made about getting a "6 pack" is that diet/nutrition is the key to the entire equation. We all have a 6 pack it's just that some of us have it covered up. In order to show these muscles off we have to reduce the amount of body fat that we store.

A balanced diet that contains mostly natural foods is best when it comes to promoting the reduction of fat storage. If you currently have a high percentage of body fat it is important that you start to make better food choices and make exercise a regular occurrence. To reduce body fat there must be a caloric deficit meaning that we must expend (burn) more calories than we take in (eat). In order to lose 1 pound of body fat there must be a deficit of 3500 calories for the week. This can be done by eating 200-300 calories less a day and burning 200-300 calories through exercise. This would give us a deficit of 500 calories a day and 3500 for the week. Obviously some people will reduce their calories by more than this but we need to realize that losing more then 1-2 pounds a week can be unhealthy. However, in the event that someone is obese, losing more than 1-2 pounds a week is very common.

Key Points

• The "core" consists of more than just the six pack or frontal muscles. It includes the muscles to the sides and back as well.
• Teaching the core as a whole to stabilize allows us to function more efficiently and allows us to endure with better posture for longer periods of time.
• Include exercises such as planks to enhance core stabilization.
• When performing crunches, hold for about 5 seconds at the top before performing the next rep.
• In order to show your abs off you must eat a balanced diet of mostly natural foods to promote body fat reduction.
• Drink lots of water!
• STOP DOING SIT UPS!!!!!