Social canons make us have the preconceived idea that a correct body is one in which the abdominal muscles can be observed in detail. In this sense, there are countless campaigns and pseudo-methods that try to show certain methods that expose you to get visible abs . At this point it is important to remember that the muscles that will be exposed will be the rectus abdominis and the external and internal obliques.
It is very common for people to think that doing exercises that involve the abdominal muscles will achieve defined abs. However, this is not even close to the true reality since the fact that your abs are marked will depend on 3 main factors:
- The training.
- The percentage of body fat (mainly belly fat).
- The genetic.
Although all 3 factors are important, reducing the percentage of body fat in the abdominal area should be a priority as it must be removed so that the muscle can be seen. However, there are 5 exercises that can help you define your abs.
5 exercises to define your abs
1. Bird Dog
- Start with your knees at a 90-degree angle and place your wrists flat on the ground just below your shoulders.
- Very slowly raise one knee and the opposite hand with the elbow straight.
- Slowly extend your knee back as your arm moves forward.
- Keep your pelvis neutral, preventing it from turning, and hold the position for a few seconds.
- Return to the starting position slowly.
2. Abdominal flexion
One of the most common mistakes when training the abdomen is performing exercises that involve the lumbar and hip flexor muscles causing too much lumbar flexion that will negatively affect the lumbar spine. To avoid this:
- Lying on the floor keep one leg straight and the other bent.
- Then try to lift your head off the ground while flexing your chest.
- Don’t lift your lower back off the ground and keep your gaze constantly upward.
- Performing sets of 15 repetitions with good technique will help you favorably.
3. Abdominal flexion in fitball
- Position the upper part of your back on the fitball or Swiss ball so that your knees are bent 90 degrees.
- Try not to let your legs open or close too much.
- Place your hands on your chest and try not to bend your neck.
- Perform a chest flexion while maintaining balance.
4. Front plate
Through this exercise you will be able to activate all the muscles of the lumbo-abdominal girdle and increase the development of the strength of your abdominals.
- Place both forearms on the ground and try not to rotate your shoulders inward.
- With your legs stretched out, try not to let your hips drop down excessively. Also try not to raise your glute by trying to keep it in a neutral position.
- Control that your neck is positioned in a neutral zone so that you can face the ground vertically.
- Performing sets of 15 to no more than 30 seconds will favor you.
5. Front iron on fitball
Through the instability of the fitball you will need to control the movement by activating and coordinating the abdominal and lumbar muscles. For it:
- Position your forearms on the fitball.
- With your knees straight and your feet on the floor, try to keep your pelvis neutral. That is, neither up nor down.
- From the previous position, hold for a maximum of 15 to 30 seconds.
- An interesting variant would be to perform small controlled movements back and forth.
Reference
- Sophia McDemortt. 5 Exercises for fully defined ab muscles. For Breakingmuscle [Revised October 2016]
