Building a Sexy Midsection

Before I go any further I want you to understand that the absolute most important part of building a lean and sexy midsection is nutrition. Whether you’re aiming to have a stunning set of abs or just to have a flatter stomach there is absolutely no other way. If you look long enough you’ll probably meet someone who’ll tell you otherwise, but they’re selling you a load of BS.

There are no exercises or diet pills that can overcome the effects of a crumby diet. If you want to achieve a leaner midsection you’ll need to examine what you’re putting in your mouth.

That said, there are some exercises that can help develop the musculature underneath the fat and provide the look you want once you manage to get your diet in order.

Most people jump into abdominal exercise with the ever-popular crunch. As appealing as it is to lie on your back and do several thousand repetitive head and shoulder lifts, I’m going to suggest doing something totally different. I’m going to suggest that before you run out and do something that requires movement, that you gain control of your abs in a static (i.e., movement free) position. The goal here is to strengthen the muscles that provide stability to the spine and to develop all the muscles of the midsection.

Isn’t This Just Core Training?

While some might call this “core training”, I prefer to refer to it as abdominal exercise since the term core training is most often used as a buzzword by untalented, stability ball hugging trainers to make sales based on media hype. The “core”, as it is called, is made up of so many muscles that they must be targeted in the very specific way and balancing single legged on a bosu ball with a blindfold just doesn’t cut it.

Performing A Plank

The staple exercise of static abdominal training is the plank. While there are several variations, the simplest are probably the most effective.

Lie on your stomach and prop yourself up on your elbows. The goal here is to hold yourself in an entirely straight position for as long as possible. Be careful that you don’t stick your butt up in the air or let your body sag. You should be as straight as a board. If your form starts to suffer the set is over.

The Side Plank

To perform a side plank (otherwise known as a side bridge) I’d suggest that you start with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle and lie on your side. Then prop yourself up on your elbow and hold your body as straight as possible for as long as possible. As with the normal plank, do not let your body sag towards the floor. Your free arm should rest on top of your other leg. If you feel pain in the shoulder that you’re leaning on it sometimes helps to take your free hand and to pull down gently on top of that shoulder during the set. After you’ve completed one side switch to the other and repeat.

Once you’re able to hold this variation of side plank for about a minute you can add difficulty by performing it with your legs straight. This makes it much harder to remain straight so extra attention is required.

The Plank Roll

After you’ve mastered both the front and straight legged side plank (i.e., you can do them each for a minute) you can attempt a plank roll. Choose a side and perform a 30 second side bridge. At the end of the 30 seconds keep the body entirely straight and roll to the center plank position without your body ever touching the floor. Hold this for another 30 seconds and roll to the opposite side keeping the body rigid. After the final 30 second side bridge your set is over. When performing this exercise the most common mistake is to let the butt stick up into the air when performing the roll. For absolute control of the abdominals you must remain absolutely straight. To advance simply increase the amount of time spent in each position to a maximum of 1.5 minutes each.

Graduation

At this point, and only at this point, are you truly ready to graduate to exercises where motion is involved.  See part II of this article for the next phase.

Now all the remains is to get your eating habits under control and you’ll have an amazing set of abs.

2 comments January 10th, 2007