Some love it, others hate it: abdominal training. Regardless of whether it’s fun to train your stomach or not, one thing is certain: if you want six-pack abs, you have to train your core.
Unfortunately, the abdomen is particularly susceptible to errors in execution, which can reduce effectiveness or even cause injury. We reveal six tips to help you get the most out of your abdominal workout. So off to that Sports mat and off we go.
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1. Consciously and with a lot of time
During a full-body workout, abdominal training is quickly pushed to the end and only “checked off” with little effort. But it makes a significant difference whether you concentrate on the movements and carry them out slowly and carefully or whether you frantically do a few crunches without concentrating on the muscle tension.
The muscles should also have enough time to regenerate between sets. To save time, you can do a second exercise for a different muscle group between abdominal exercises. For example: sit-ups alternating with lunges. While you’re doing lunges, your abdominal muscles have enough time to recover.
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2. The key is correct execution
No matter how good the exercise is, it is only effective if it is done correctly. Three errors occur particularly frequently:
- Too much momentum: When an exercise is performed with momentum, the strength does not come from the abdominal muscles.
- Movements that are too fast: The exercises should be carried out slowly and with concentration. It can help to combine movement with breathing. For example, when doing sit-ups, you can exhale as you go up and inhale as you go down.
- Too many repetitions: You don’t necessarily need a lot of exercises to get strong muscles. What’s more important is that the tension is high. You can achieve this through slow movements and possibly additional weight. In the long term, you will build more muscle this way than with lots of “easy” repetitions.
3. Think about your back
If you want to have defined abdominal muscles, you shouldn’t only train the front and side abdominal muscles. The back also plays a role. The goal is a strong core and that includes the back, hips and shoulders.
Together, these form a unit that ensures the stabilization of the body. This means: The opposing back should also be trained regularly. This will also prevent pain and poor posture in the long term.
It’s best to do a balanced, full-body workout or exercises that target multiple muscle groups, such as planks.
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4. Variety is important
In order for a muscle to grow, new stimuli must be provided. If you only ever do one exercise, you will soon no longer see any success. The body has become accustomed to the movement and does not need to build new muscles.
Try to add variety to your abdominal training or vary your favorite exercises. For example, you can add weights or bands to make an exercise more strenuous.
5. Sometimes less is more
Muscle recovery is at least as important as training. Muscle fibers are destroyed during training. This is completely normal. In order for the body to be able to repair this, a recovery phase is required in which the muscle is not put under strain.
There is nothing wrong with exercising on two consecutive days, but you should not train the same muscle groups. The consequences can be injuries and symptoms of fatigue.
So it’s not a bad idea to do gentle workouts like yoga, Pilates or a walk on some days.
6. Nutrition is key
You’ve probably heard of the saying “abs are made in the kitchen.” This doesn’t mean you should do sit-ups in the kitchen, but rather that diet has a big impact on your abs.
Even the most trained abdominal muscles only become visible when the body fat percentage is low enough. For women, the percentage is approximately 20 percent. So if you want to have a six-pack, you should also adjust your diet in addition to your abdominal muscle training. Protein, vegetables and healthy fats can help you lose body fat.
In addition, you shouldn’t miss out on endurance sports. Sports like jogging, cycling, swimming, etc. burn a lot of calories and melt fat.
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