Dr Michael Colgan Ph D, CNN, FACM
In response to many requests, I will try to show you in a series of posts how our ab program works. We have used it with many champion bodybuilders, physique, and fitness competitors including nine Mr and Ms Olympia, INBA,and PNBA champs.
Abs are NOT simple. First you have to know what you are dealing with. As shown in the drawing of a cross section through the body at the stomach (cakehole), there are 22 main muscles involved, with the eight heads of the abs in front that bend the torso from the sternum of the ribs to the pubic bone. That is the abs full range of movement.
So you know right away that sit-ups are not going to work, because they use mainly the hip flexors. You also know that waving your legs or arms about in weird and wonderful contortions I see daily in gyms is not going to work either, as again it involves mainly hip flexors. Most people have way stronger hip flexors than abdominals, so they take over in many of the common movements used as ab exercises.
Net result for the abs - zilch.
But, before we start the good stuff, here are the muscles you have to exercise. If you want those strong and shapely abs, you have to deal with all of them. Get a good idea of them in your head, because your perception is critical to hitting the right spot with the right exercise.
Dr Michael Colgan Ph D, CNN, FACM 10 July 2014Here is Part 2 in the series of posts on how we do our abs program. We have used it with many champion bodybuilders, physique, and fitness competitors including nine Mr and Ms Olympia, INBA, and PNBA champs.
It’s worth repeating from Part 1 that abs are NOT simple. Most of what we see folk doing in gyms hardly works at all. As shown in Part 1, there are 22 main muscles involved, each of which you have to work correctly.
But even correct movements of those 22 muscles is not enough. There is one other big muscle you have to move right, the diaphragm of the lungs (shown in the pic). For every contraction of the abs, the diaphragm has to be in the right position for the eight heads to grow in the shape you want. That shape is an inward curve from the sternum of the ribs to the pubic bone.
Here is the principle to stick in your mind: THE ABS WILL GROW IN THE EXACT SHAPE THEY ARE IN WHEN YOU CONTRACT THEM.
The diaphragm is a huge, strong muscle. When you breathe in, it expands the lungs downward into the belly. Try it now. Breathe deeply into your belly. See how much it sticks out. If you contract your abs repeatedly while the diaphragm is in this expanded position, that is the way they will grow – sticking out.
We have seen this hundreds of times with bodybuilders. They are told in competition they have to get better abs. So they do tens of thousands of crunches with the diaphragm expanded, or not paying attention to it at all. Not only do they increase their waist by several inches, but their new, strong, abs stick out and pull the spinal erectors forward with them. That kinks the lumbar spine inward to give the victim a stuck out bum as well. If they do it desperately enough then, when you see them facing left, their body shape comes to resemble a question mark.
To train the abs to the right shape, you have to know that it is not the abdominals themselves that determine their position. Abs are a postural muscle that simply bend the spine between the sternum of the ribs and the pubic bone. As pictured in Part 1 of this series, the muscle that determines their growth shape is the thin sheet of muscle behind them called the TRANSVERSUS.
The transversus is the corset of the gut. It runs the whole circle, from the abs in front to the spinal erectors at the back. Train your abs wrong and you will stretch your transversus, increase your waist size, and kink your back.
To avoid these problems you have to make the transversus as small as possible, literally stuck to your backbone. To do this you have to get the diaphragm out of the way for every abs contraction. The only place to put the diaphragm is as far up the chest as it will go. Try it now. Inhale deeply. Exhale completely, and suck your gut in and up as far as it will go.
That’s the basic position for every abs contraction. You have to empty your lungs and hold them empty, and suck the gut in for the whole contraction movement. When the contraction is completely finished, you inhale and exhale deeply before you begin the next contraction.
Yes, it’s tough to learn and tough to do, especially if you are used to willy-nilly arm and leg waving as abs exercise. But once you learn to do it habitually, you will grow a smaller waist, great, strong, inward sloping abs, and you will protect your lumbar spine.
If there is enough interest, I will give a free ABS WORKOUT at Isagenix Celebration in August in San Diego (PRE-ENROLLMENT ESSENTIAL). And I will be giving several classes on the ISA- Barefoot Cruise in Feb 2015 (AGAIN PRE-ENROLLMENT ESSENTIAL).
In GOT ABS 3 we will cover the first of the movements to properly train your abs.
(PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE EXERCISES ARE VERY STRENUOUS. YOU SHOULD NOT DO THESE EXERCISES UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PERMISSION OF YOUR HEALTH PROFESSIONAL, AND ARE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A QUALIFIED TRAINER.)
