‘Abs are made in the kitchen’
We’ve all had the pleasure of hearing this old adage some form or another over the year, and everyone should know by now that diet is an integral part to achieving definition in your abs.
The problem, as with so many things in the fitness industry, is that big statements like the above tend to confuse people’s understanding of the subject in question.
With a lack of information to follow up statements like the above, people tend to revert back to what they were doing in the past, or drop something altogether. This isn’t right.
Abs, just like any other body part, should be trained in relation to your goal. The word (often misused) to describe this is functional. Functional training gets thrown around a lot, with the majority of articles not really explaining what it actually is. Simply put, functional training is a type of training that benefits your goal. If you’re a competitive bodybuilder, then training to increase the size of your biceps so that you can flex on stage is functional for your goal.
Matt Wenning – an Elite powerlifter boasting a 482kg squat – suggests that if your aim is to get stronger in your squat and deadlift that you should train your abs in a functional way in relation to this. As you’re on your feet in both the squat and deadlift it makes sense to include standing ab work in your program to boost your numbers in these lifts.
This is not a tricep press-down. Be sure to just use you abs to pull the band down. Start with a lighter band to perfect the movement, and then when confident increase the band thickness to progress the difficulty.
Apart from the hardened year-rounders who brave the cold through the winter months the summer is the perfect opportunity to try out surfing. Surfing is a technically demanding sports that requires elements of strength, stability, mobility, and coordination, as that’s just getting up on the board.
Following the theme of functional exercises for sports comes a two in one ab movement that comes with a scientifically backed rationale. In the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy researchers found that the swiss ball roll-out and swiss ball pike were the most effective exercises in activating upper and lower rectus abdominis, external and internal obliques, and latissimus dorsi muscles, while minimizing lumbar paraspinals and rectus femoris activity.
The initial getting up on to the board part of surfing requires the activation of muscles such as the , external and internal obliques, and latissimus dorsi in order to allow for an as smooth get up as possible. Training your abs in this way will allow you to not only create new levels of strength in the above mentioned muscles, but will also go some way (especially if you’re new to the sport) to making getting up on the board easier.
The below exercise was created by U.S based trainer Nick Tumminello.
Begin by placing more of your body on the ball, and over time progress to the full pike to roll back.
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