Health, Fitness, & Bodybuilding: 5 Myths Behind Building Great Abs

As a trainer, I receive a lot of questions, but the most frequent questions have to do with abs. I can't quite figure out why this muscle group is so mysterious, or why it gives so much people so much confusion. So, in order to answer some of the most common questions I receive, I have put together “5 Myths Behind Building Great Abs.” This is how it is. If you don't like it, you don't have to listen, but you better have some great abs to back up your ego.

Ok. Here we go.

Ab Myth #1: You Have to do Hundreds of Crunches to Get a “Six-Pack”

This is defiantly the most common myth about creating amazing Abs. However, the truth is that your abs are like any other muscle—and you have to train them the same way.

It’s really easy to reason that, if a few crunches work the abs, hundred will bring out definition and create a perfect “Six Pack.” This just doesn’t work. You may have heard this before, but I’ll say it again: You cannot spot train.

We all have abdominal muscles, but they are covered with a layer of fat. In order to get that chiseled look and flat stomach, we must get rid of the layer of fat.

So how do we do all this?

Nutrition is the most important factor. Our main objective should be to decrease our overall body fat, and food is going to be a major factor. Lifetime Physique: 16 Weeks to A Better Body, A Better Life—A Better You lays out a detailed, simple nutrition plan that’s easy to follow. You won’t have to count calories or deprive yourself of food. In fact, you will probably be eating more than you do now—and you’ll lose weight!

Training the abs should be simple too. No need to perform hundreds of crunches a day. Instead, work the abs as you would your other muscles. Perform strict, slow reps that create a deep burn, and perform a variety of exercises.

Remember, we need to make lifestyle changes to reach success.

Ab Myth #2: Crunches are the most effective exercise to create abs.

Many of my clients think it’s necessary to do some variation of a crunch during every workout. “I really want to develop my abs,” they say.

Working out, losing fat, and staying consistent is what develops great abs. The best exercises for the abs are the big, compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, dips, lunges, and pushups.

How can these exercises possibly work your abs? Well, each of these exercises requires balance, force, and a movement involving the entire body. Your abs must tighten (and develop) in order to provide the stability and power needed for these exercises.

In addition, these exercises help burn fat, create lean body mass, and develop the entire physique. They create a balanced body.

As I mentioned in the first myth, you cannot spot train. Doing hundreds of situps, or performing “the best” ab exercise won’t develop your abs. It’s a balanced routine—filled with compound exercises—that will sculpt the body and bring out that six-pack.

So what should we do?

What exercises are the best?

What about the abs—how should we directly work them?

Great questions. The best routine will include a variety of exercises: Exercises for the chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs, and of course, the abs. Lifetime Physique: 16 Weeks to A Better Body, A Better Life—A Better You includes a comprehensive routine that will create a sculpted body, a chiseled six-pack, and an overall healthy lifestyle. The workouts are carefully planned to ensure your workouts are effective and fun.

Lifetime Physique also shows you how to properly perform 40 different exercises so that you can confidently walk into a gym and complete your exercises correctly.

Ab Myth #3: Training Your Abs Everyday is the only way to get a six-pack

When I’m training clients, they all want to throw in their abs during each session. “Stu, we have some time. Can we do some abs?”

My response is always the same: “NO! You don’t need to train your abs everyday to get a six-pack. In fact, you could actually hinder your progress.”

Their bewildered look says it all, but it’s true; we don’t have to train our abs everyday. Logic would tell us that training our abs everyday should speed up our results, but that’s just not how the body works.

You should know by now that you cannot spot train, and that doing more reps won’t help develop the abs any faster than doing less, more focused reps. Well, I’m here to further inform you NOT to train your abs everyday—directly that is.

You see, our abs are working through each and every exercise. They stabilize our bodies and help us perform each lift. You may remember my recommendation to perform a variety of exercises. This is because, even though you may not be directly training your abs, the abdominal muscles are working hard to stabilize your body.

There are some occasions when my abs hurt more after doing pull-ups than after I do a set of crunches. Why? Because they had to contract in order to keep my body in the correct position while pulling myself up. Try doing push-ups on a set of rings without utilizing your abs.

In addition to the indirect work you abs receive, our muscles grow when they rest. In other words, when we work out, we actually break the muscle down. Only by giving the muscles some R&R can they recover from the workout and grow. If we train our abs everyday, we just don’t give them enough time to recover and transform.

So, let’s start training our abs like any other muscle. I recommend training each body part once a week—including the abs.

Ab Myth #4: Training the Obliques Creates a “Box Shape”

This is an interesting myth. For some reason (probably because someone didn’t want to do any extra ab training) people think they will create a “box shape” if they train their obliques.

Your oblique muscles go down the sides of your body, below your rib cage. They are on either side of the “six-pack” and actually frame your abdominal muscles.

Now, I suppose you could reason that if your obliques are on the sides of your body, training them would “widen” your waist and make your body a little “boxy.”

This simply isn’t true. In fact, training the obliques tightens the waistline and gives your abs a chiseled, framed look.

One thing to remember, however, is that if you do train your oblique muscles with weighted side crunches, they will grow like any other muscle. I would recommend using twisting movements when training the obliques.

A few of my favorite exercises include bicycle crunches, broom twists, hanging windmills (aka “windshield wipers”), and crunches that involve a twisting motion.

When performing these exercises, it’s important to contract your abs as much as possible and stretch them during each rep. Doing this will create a deep burn and really focus all your intensity on the muscles being worked. It delivers huge results in a short amount of time!

Any good abdominal routine will include an exercise for the upper region, lower region, and oblique muscles. Start incorporating this into your training today and watch as the results will speak for themselves.

Ab Myth #5: Doing Crunches Creates “Bulky Abs” Instead of A Flat Stomach

This is another great myth that has come from distributors trying to sell the latest gadget or gimmick. I’ve seen the infomercials where this myth is spread.

Crunches WILL CREATE A FLAT STOMACH—complete with the “six-pack.”

What you want to avoid is heavy, weight crunches. Remember the abs are still muscles; train them with weights and they will get bigger. However, doing regular, un-weighted crunches won’t contribute any bulk to your stomach.

This is why I do NOT recommend using those ab machines you see at the gym. Along with the variety of exercises that indirectly work your abdominal muscles, you’re better off sticking to the basics.

Blasting the Abs

Ok. So we need to really hit those abs with the standard crunch. No weight, no machines, just you.

To get that deep burn that tells us we’re really working those abs, it’s imperative that each rep we do is a good one. First and foremost, we need to visualize our abs contracting. It’s easy to go through the motions. Most of us would agree that doing 100 crunches isn’t that hard—if we do them lighting fast. What we need to focus on is doing them SLOWLY and flexing our abdominal muscles on each and every rep.

Let’s go through a proper crunch. First, we need to press our lower back into the floor as hard as possible. You should notice that your abs contract just getting in this position.

Second, we place our hand just to the side of our heads. If we place them behind our head, we have a tendency to pull our heads up (we don’t want to do that).

Now, placing all the emphasis on our abs, pull your shoulders off the ground and in towards your pelvis. As you do this, visualize the contraction of the abs pulling your shoulders up; don’t just curl off the ground

At the top of this movement, exhale deeply and flex your abs as hard as possible. Now, slowly return to the starting position keeping your lower back pressed into the ground.

Just 10-15 reps of this style of crunch will be far more productive than 100 reps of “normal” crunches.

If you have any questions, I encourage you to e-mail me at stu@fitwithstu.com

You should also order your copy of Lifetime Physique, which will provide a comprehensive program to give you control of your life and help you create a new lifestyle. Not to mention, a sensational body.

Stuart Schaefer

www.lifetimephysique.com

MYTH #1: Do Hundreds of Crunches

MYTH #2: Crunches are the Best Ab Exercise

MYTH #3: Train Your Abs Every Day

MYTH #4: You Shouldn’t Train Your Obliques

MYTH #5: Crunches Create Bulky Abs