Abdominal Exercises - Plank Your Way to a Flat Stomach and Healthy Spine

By Ted Ryce 
If you currently perform abdominal exercises like crunches and leg lifts to flatten your midsection then this is going to be an eye opener for you. The new trend in abdominal training is moving away from exercises that put your spine through a large range of motion under a load and for good reason. New research into how your spine and abdominal muscles work has created a new way to train our abdominal region that gets better results, improves your posture and prevents injury.

Abdominal Exercise Versus Core Exercise

You may heard of the new buzz word "core" if you spend enough time in gyms. The concept of the core is complex and the definition can vary from expert to expert. However, I want to give you a brief explanation of the core so you know what it is and what it isn't.

First of all, although ignorant fitness professional would have you believe otherwise, the "core" is not simply a new way to refer to your abdominal muscles. The core musculature includes the abdominal muscles that wrap around your mid-section which are your:

• Rectus abdominus: This is the "six pack" muscle that runs from your sternum to your pubic bone.
• External obliques: Runs from the side of your ribs to your pelvis in a forward diagonal pattern.
• Internal Obliques: Runs from from the side of your ribs to your pelvis in a backward diagonal pattern
• Transverse Abdominus: Located underneath the other abdominal muscles, this is the deepest of the abdominal muscles and the only abdominal muscle that runs horizontally while wrapping around your waist like a belt.

The core goes beyond the abdominal muscles to include the muscles of your hips, your lower back, your pelvic floor, your diaphragm as well as the muscles that attach all the way up the spine to your neck!

What I want you to take away from this explanation is that the abdominal muscles don't work in isolation and you will get better results working them with integrated exercises than with endless crunches or leg lifts.

The Plank

The first exercise I want you to try in this new approach to abdominal training is the Plank exercise. The Plank exercise is what is referred to as a stability exercise. The word stability sounds a little fancy but what it refers in this context to is the being able to control muscles in a way that minimizes movement of your spine.

You will understand what I mean when we discuss how to perform the plank exercise.
To perform the plank exercise:

1. Lay face-down resting your midsection on the floor while supporting your upper body with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders. Your feet should be together with your toes curled up i.e. on the balls of your feet.
2. Place your neck in line with your spine with your chin tucked in.
3. Extend your knees until they are locked and push yourself off the ground so that you are supporting your body with the balls of your feet and forearms.
4. Hold this position for the stated amount of time and return to the position in step one.

You know you are in the proper plank position when your body looks like it is in good postural alignment but horizontal to the ground. Use a mirror if you can't feel if you are in proper alignment or not. If you feel pain or are not sure what good alignment is, then ask a qualified professional to check your exercise technique.
Common mistakes in performing this exercise include:

• Your low back sags. This means your abdominal muscles are overloaded and you are using your spinal joints to support yourself. Stop the exercise when this happens.
• You raise your hips high instead of keeping your body parallel to the ground. This puts you in bad postural alignment. Lower your hips until your legs are close to parallel to the ground. Stop the exercise if you cannot maintain proper alignment of your hips.
• Improper neck position. Make sure you maintain strict alignment of your neck during the exercise.

Do not get lazy with your technique! The reason I ask you not to be lazy with your technique is because adhering to strict exercise technique improves your results and helps you avoid injury.

Ted Ryce is a Miami Beach Personal Trainer who specializes in body transformations, corrective exercise and post rehabilitation.
Visit my website for more information on Fitness, Exercises for Injuries and Miami Beach Personal Training.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ted_Ryce

12 Feb, 2013

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Source: http://burnthefat1001.blogspot.com/2013/02/abdominal-exercises-plank-your-way-to.html
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