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4 Steps to Getting Six Pack Abs!
At one point in time, every last one of us passionately wanted a
chiseled rock-hard mid-section. We all wanted to know just how to
get great 6 pack abs. Well here is one of the best kept secrets. In
study after study researchers and health specialist alike have found
that decreasing fat in your abdomen, and waist to hip ratio is the
single most significant step that you can take to stay healthy for life,
and age gracefully.
Most of us have given up on the idea because our quest has for naught.
We have been flooded with miss-information from fad diets, fat burner
supplements, to exercise gadgets, promoting six week transformations
with dramatic before and after photo’s, etc. The key to that coveted six
pack is not one thing, it is four things.
The 4 Steps to Bringing Your Body-Fat Level Down:
1.) Following a precise nutrition plan that has the right amount of
protein combined together with the right amount and the right type of
carbohydrates spaced strategically through-out the day, and around
weight training and cardio sessions.
2.) An intelligent cardiovascular program
3.) An optimistic athletic mid-set
4.) Building up the muscles of the mid-section, and building up all
other muscle groups
In this article let’s focus on #4.
The secret weapon for developing the musculature of the abdominal wall
is a little known exercise called the ab vacuum. It targets you inner
most abdominal muscle, the transverse abdominis (TVA for short). Most
people don’t even know they have one let alone how to activate it. The
TVA is like a corset, it is your own internal weight belt, holding your
internal organs in place. It is the foundation for the rest of the
abdominal muscles, the internal and external obliques, and the rectus
abdominis. If you have done crunches and leg-lifts until you are blue in
the face and are still unhappy with your mid-section, this information
could take your quest for that fit chiseled mid-section to the next
level.
There are other benefits to strengthening your TVA.
• It is the only exercise that has the ability to actually make your
waist-line smaller.
• By working and strengthening the TVA you are actually giving your
spine more support, so the risk of a vertebrae or a disc slipping out of
place is less. Did you notice that the old leather weight belts are not
used anymore? That’s because we learned to tighten up our own internal
weight belt on exercises verses using an external weight belt that shut
off the need to activate the TVA which lead to injuries.
• Better sex. When you strengthen your TVA with the ab vacuum exercise
you will be using your diaphragm and you will also strengthen your lower
pelvic floor muscles (ala a kegel squeeze). To perform a kegel exercise,
squeeze your pelvic floor muscles, as if you’re trying to stop the flow
of urine mid-stream. Stronger pelvic floor muscles help women achieve
orgasms and help men achieve and maintain erections. It also makes the
orgasms more pleasurable. As soon as I tell my clients this, you can
always be assured of overtraining of the TVA.
• You can work the other abdominal muscles more effectively. You can’t
shoot a cannon out of a canoe. You can’t have strong walls on your
building if your foundation is weak. When you strengthen up the
foundation of your mid-section you will be able to perform your other
abdominal exercises with more focused intensity. You will be able to
feel the difference in weeks.
• Athleticism- The TVA is the deepest abdominal muscle group there is.
It is truly the core the core. An athlete can have excellent
cardiovascular condition and have strong leg and back muscles, but if
his core muscles aren’t in optimal condition, this creates a weak link
in the bodies muscle chain that affects all his movements. All movements
and reactions start at the core. If core muscles don’t do their job to
stabilize and move the torso, then arm and leg muscles will
overcompensate, trying to do a job for which they are ill-equipped.
To get in tune with and activate your TVA simply place your hands around
the sides of your body at your pelvis. Flatten your stomach by gently
pulling in your gut, or pulling your belly away from your waist band.
You can feel the TVA at work as it reduces the diameter of your torso in
that area. This simple exercise also demonstrates the involvement of the
abs in respiration, particularly exhalation.
I have put on an incredibly unique twist to this exercise. The
combination of two little known exercises takes the effectiveness of
this core exercise to the next level. Basically, I have combined an ab
vacuum with a kegele squeeze. Most women know what a kegel squeeze is.
In child birth it gets the lower pelvic floor muscles stronger which aid
in the pushing for child birth. For men, when trying to perform a kegel
squeeze, think about stopping the flow of urine mid-stream while pulling
your belly-button back toward your spine (as you exhale about ½ of your
lung capacity). Also try to think about squeezing your sphincter muscles
or like you have a quarter between your butt cheeks and you don’t want
it too fall out.
Now lets perform the exercise
To begin, lie on your back with your knees bent at a 90, feet flat on
the floor and the small of your back pushed flat into the floor. Take in
a very slow long breathe and start to slowly exhale ¾ of your air while
you are pulling your belly button down toward your spine (I like to put
my index finger on my belly-button and feel it raise as I take the long
breathe in and then feel it start downward as I exhale ¾ of my lung
capacity). While at the same time pushing your lower back into the floor
and drive you chin down toward your chest slightly. Once you have ¾ of
your air out hold your breathe and suck in through your throat with your
breathe being held for 5-10 seconds. As you are holding your breath and
sucking in, think about pulling your innards up and under your rib-cage.
It is called the ab vacuum for a reason, it is a little hard to come out
of it and resume your normal breathing. But you will, and once you do
relax and take a couple breathes and repeat. Starting out do 1 set of
6-9 repetitions, 2-3 times per week.
You can do the ab vacuum anywhere, and need no equipment. It’s a great
way to wake up, or to end your day. It will take lots of practice and
each week you will be able to feel the muscles working more and more.
Once you get good at the technique you will be able to feel a ½ circle
burning sensation in the pubic area. Don’t be alarmed, just feel good
about mastering one of the most unique and effective abdominal exercises
out there. Please don’t give up on this exercise, once you master it you
will be able to reverse gravity, and start to put back in place what
years of inactivity and bad posture has started to let hang over your
belt line.
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