How to Train Ab Muscles from My Experience

Hello, it’s Sho.

Today, I want to share my thoughts and experiences on how to train your ab muscles effectively. With so many different core training methods out there, it’s easy to get confused about what to do and how to do it. To simplify things, I’ll break down the scenarios where you might want to focus on core strength training.

1. Improving Performance by Stabilizing the Core

This is important for activities like lifting heavy objects or running faster. The goal here is to stabilize the core to enhance the quality of your movements.

2. Enhancing Movements that Involve Spinal Flexion and Extension

This applies to sports like gymnastics, where you need to create energy by bracing the front and back of your body separately. It’s also essential if you want to improve your ability to perform repeated flexion movements of the abdomen.

3. Developing Aesthetic Abs

If your goal is to have impressive-looking abs, then focusing on the outer muscles is key. While it’s challenging to isolate the internal and external obliques, working on the rectus abdominis is crucial in this case. Simple exercises like sit-ups or L-sits can be effective.

Among these scenarios, the most distinct difference in training methods is between the first category (stabilizing the core) and the second and third categories (spinal flexion and extension, and aesthetic abs). This is because the first scenario involves increasing intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) by engaging muscles like the diaphragm, multifidus, and pelvic floor, whereas the other two scenarios mainly focus on flexing the spine, which does not rely on these muscles as much.

How to Train for Each Scenario

1. Improving Performance

To enhance performance, the focus should be on stabilizing the core and creating a state where intra-abdominal pressure is maintained. The key is to co-contract the core muscles as a unit to withstand various loads. Here’s a link that explains the detailed mechanics.

Some exercises that can help include:

• Bridges
• Dead bug
• Bird Dogs
• Planks
• Single KB Carries
• Around-the-World Carries

In these exercises, the emphasis is on engaging the entire core simultaneously, ensuring that the spine remains stable without excessive flexion, extension, or lateral bending.

Progressive Training for Effective Core Stabilization

However, jumping straight into these exercises can sometimes result in the outer muscles (such as the rectus abdominis and external obliques) doing all the work, while the inner unit remains inactive. Therefore, it’s crucial to follow a progressive training approach. Even among dedicated athletes, I often see cases where the inner core unit isn’t properly engaged. One method I personally use and recommend is Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS). This approach is relatively easy to incorporate and highly effective.

For more information, here’s a literature review on the effect of Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization on core strength.

Training for Spinal Flexion and Aesthetic Abs

For scenarios 2 and 3, exercises like sit-ups, crunches, side bends, and leg raises are essential. These movements primarily involve the flexion of the spine, engaging the rectus abdominis and the oblique muscles.

• Sit up
• Crunch(side crunch)
• Side Bends
• leg raise

As mentioned in the article I referenced earlier, even in scenario 1 (improving performance), the muscles of the abdominal wall (including the rectus abdominis and obliques) are used, so training with a focus on scenarios 2 and 3 can also have positive effects on scenario 1.

Load Setting in Abdominal Training

There are various methods for abdominal training, but I emphasize the importance of incorporating low-rep, high-load exercises into your routine. Many online resources suggest high-rep routines or exercises performed in quick succession, focusing on time under tension. However, the abdominal muscles, like the glutes and pectorals, are skeletal muscles. This means that if you want to increase strength, you should also include exercises with a load equivalent to around 5RM.

Conclusion

In summary, core training can be divided into exercises that increase intra-abdominal pressure and those that involve spinal flexion. Each approach has its benefits, but training that strengthens the abdominal wall will positively impact both areas. When setting the load, it’s important not only to focus on long-duration, low-intensity contractions but also to include exercises that involve significant weight for added muscle stimulation.

Thank you for reading.

Sho