By Dr. Gianfranco De Angelis
If we evaluate the muscle groups based on two criteria, the aesthetic and the functional, none is more important than the abdominal area.
Functional appearance
The muscles of the abdomen enclose, support and protect some of the most important organs of our body, such as the stomach, liver and intestines. Within the area protected by the abdominals vital processes take place, such as digestion, absorption and evacuation. Keeping these muscles in perfect shape therefore means keeping all the organs contained in the abdominal cavity in optimal conditions. Unfortunately, it often happens that these functions are strongly reduced and without any doubt irregular, due to the loss of firmness of these muscles; this is due to the almost total lack of abdominal movement. This is the speech that concerns the functional aspect of the muscles of the abdomen.
Aesthetic aspect
If, on the other hand, we consider the purely aesthetic aspect, even in this case the evaluation places the abdominal muscles at the top of the list of importance, since no other area gives the physicist that classic and athletic aspect at the same time. If you have all the muscles of the body barely noticeable but at the same time presented with a perfect development of the abdominal area, this will be enough to obtain consent and admiration. On the contrary, if you have succeeded in considerably developing all the muscles of the body while the abdominal area remains smooth, tarnished and lacking in tonicity, the effect is that of a stain on a masterpiece or a tear on a new dress, it would lose that is, all merit and work.
To test the opinion of ordinary people, it is sufficient to enter the topic related to muscle development. You will always find someone who does not appreciate or even criticize an excessively muscular body but if you bring the subject to the abdominals, immediately everyone asks you how they get their development and their tone.
Abdominal training
It is not possible to ignore what nature creates and disposes. It has established that the abdominals have a precise and fundamental task; preventing or simply not going along with this task, letting the muscles of the abdomen fall into disuse and inertia means paying the consequences sooner or later. These consequences are called fat accumulation, loss of tonicity, therefore muscle atrophy and deformation of the abdominal belt. This should be enough to encourage anyone to devote at least a quarter of an hour a day to abdominal muscle training. The common man does not need to practice special exercises or to perform sophisticated techniques to obtain shape and tonicity of the abdominal area. It is sufficient for him to perform some series of leg elevations and crunches lying on the floor, or rather on an abdominal bench, and the area in question will obtain the necessary stimulus to keep in an appreciable form. After all, the abdominals are not muscles that are difficult to develop, those who do not succeed because they make the mistake of not balancing the caloric ratio "intake and consumption" of food (that is, the revenues exceed the exits). It follows a logical accumulation that ends up hopelessly on the abdominal area. In this case you need to adjust your diet by consuming fewer calories during meals or "burning" more calories with energetic physical activity. It is necessary to add that even the quality of food is of fundamental importance: therefore create a culture about it.
Returning to the training of the abdominal area, the discussion becomes a bit more complex if it is addressed to the category of athletes who specialize in the development of abdominal muscles at a competitive level. Today everyone is well aware of how important it is to present yourself to a fitness competition with abdominal muscles in perfect condition, without a shadow of fat, with suggestive reliefs and sensational details. The latter are now part of the muscular "kit" relative to the abdominals of every respectable athlete. In fact, it is no longer sufficient to present relevant abdominals and obliques, but it is strictly necessary to extend their development to the adjacent area, finding small details such as the intercostal and large dentate muscles. Needless to add that when all this together is perfectly developed and defined, the whole area acquires a highly spectacular appearance. Regular elevations of the legs and trunk are found to be nothing short of sufficient to give the abdominals a similar characteristic, which involves not only the area between the pelvic region and the diaphragm, but reaches the lower and lateral part of the chest. Of particular importance are the intercostal muscles and the large dentate, they represent the junction between the pectoral muscles and the abdominal area. It is no longer possible to neglect them to get a good balance of the whole area. The tonicity of the intercostal muscles is obtained by practicing particular torsions of the torso during the abdominal and oblique movements with deep expirations. It is not necessary to underline that you must seek the development of these muscles only when both the abdominals and the obliques are in optimal conditions. It would make no sense to specialize in detail when the main effects are missing.
Now I will try to list the various stages of a workout for the abdominal area . I begin by saying that it is very difficult to present a standardized program that will be good for everyone, as it is practically impossible to find individuals with the same reactions, and above all the same needs.
The work of the abdominal muscles must be based on progressive training, not so much for the duration of the session as for the intensity of the training. Thus, there is an initial stage at the level of beginners, with a maximum of two sets of leg elevation and as many crunches lying on a floor mat. It is not unlikely that during the first training sessions for the abdomen some will experience dizziness, nausea or even vomiting: this is only a logical consequence of a long inactivity. After a few sessions, the muscles will already be used and will require more demanding work.
An advanced athlete, whose purpose is to achieve the complete and perfect development of the entire abdominal area, should perform an exercise for the "lower part", one for the "upper part", one for the "central part" and one for the obliques. Then choose the elevations of the legs to the bench or to the bar, then elevations of the trunk on an inclined bench; crunches on the bench or crunches machine or crunches on the high cable; and finally twisting the trunk with a weighted rod on the shoulders. Particular attention must be given to the twists: trunk slightly tilted forward and perform short (little rotation) and fast movements, so as to fully exercise the internal and external oblique muscles.
Perform the cycle three times in a row to complete twelve sets in total. The ideal number of repetitions should be around 15; but someone may be able to stimulate his muscles with less repetitions, while others will prefer to do more. However, these details are not of great importance.
About the question whether it is preferable to train the abdominal area at the beginning or end of the session, it is necessary to make a brief but essential clarification. Those who begin the session on an empty stomach, that is at least three hours after the main meal or in the morning on an empty stomach, can immediately train the abdominals and this practice will allow them to provide excellent general warming to the whole body with undoubted general benefits. On the contrary, if you eat a light snack an hour before exercising to have a greater energy reserve during training, it is advisable to exercise your abdominal muscles at the end of the session.
Some individuals with long torso and short legs will find it difficult to perform trunk elevations and will notice that the upper abdomen will not respond to perfection or will complain of discomfort or pain in the lower back; therefore it would be advisable to replace this exercise with an alternative type crunches on the high cable. On the contrary, individuals with opposite morphological conformation ie with long legs is short trunk, will have some difficulty raising their legs and will have difficulty in performing leg elevation movements with overloading or complaining of lower back pain; therefore it would be advisable to exercise the lower part of the abdomen with movements in unloading of the column as the elevations of the legs to the parallels. However, the advice is to practice constantly and personalize the abdominal exercises routine, perhaps being guided in the choice of exercises by a specialized trainer.
Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that, if the final objective is the complete and defined development of the entire abdominal area, the diet is of fundamental importance.
