About Abdominal Muscles
The abdominal muscles play several important roles. Abdominal muscles provide support for the torso, help your body move, and in the breathing process. With so many roles to play, it is important to keep your abdominal muscles strong and healthy.
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Identification
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The abdominal muscles are made up of four main groups. However, there are actually six abdominal muscles. Two of the main groups have two actual muscles. The four main groups are the transversus abdominus, rectus abdominus, internal oblique muscles and external oblique muscles. The abdominal muscles as a group help with the breathing process by depressing the thorax in order to push air out of the lungs.
The transversus abdominus wraps around the torso and is the deepest of the abdominal muscles. This muscle cannot be touched from the outside of your body. The transversus abdominus offers support for your back and helps to stabilize the trunk. Posture depends a great deal on the transversus abdominus.
The rectus abdominus is a muscle that when contracted has bulges. This muscle is often referred to as the "six-pack abs." The rectus abdominus is near the front of the pelvis, between the pubic bone and ribs. While this muscle does help to maintain posture, it is not as effective as the muscles located nearer the spine, such as the transversus abdominus.
The internal oblique muscles are a pair of muscles that are located on each side of the torso, inside the hip bones. These muscles are the second deepest and are ranked in effectiveness just behind the transversus abdominus.
The internal oblique muscles work together to help rotate and bend the torso. In order to twist or bend the torso to either side, the internal oblique muscles must contract together.
The external oblique muscles are a pair of muscles located on each side of the torso near the front of the body. While the external muscles do aid posture, they are less effective than the internal obliques and the transversus abdominus.
Like the internal obliques, the external obliques help to rotate and bend the torso. Rather than contracting together like the internal obliques, the external obliques contract one at a time. If a person is bending or rotating to the left, the right internal oblique contracts and if a person is bending or rotating to the right, the left internal oblique rotates.
Benefits
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The benefits of having strong abdominal muscles include helping a person breathe better and better posture that results in less back pain, help a person avoid injury when performing tasks that put stress on the back and torso, and helping the body to heal faster after an injury or surgery to the spine.
It is important to exercise the abdominal muscles on a regularly in order to maintain the strength needed for the abdominal muscles to effectively lower stress to the spine during movement.
The most effective exercises for strengthening abdominal muscles are hollowing exercises and bracing exercises. Hollowing exercises cause the abdominal muscles to be pulled back toward the spine, while bracing exercises flatten the abdominal muscles.
The most effective hollowing exercise involves sucking in your abdominal muscles and holding the pose for as long as possible. The key is to suck in your abdominal muscles without moving your spine or shoulders. This exercise can be done from a sitting or standing position. Bracing exercises include curls and crunches such as the abdominal crunch, crossover crunch, oblique crunch, and the half curl. When performing abdominal exercises, the repetitions should be slow: one repetition per 2 to 3 seconds. -
Risk Factors
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The risk factors involved in having weak abdominal muscles include lower back pain, less protection for the spine and pelvis during physical activity, longer healing period after an injury and less effective breathing. Weak abdominal muscles can also cause the pelvis and lower back to absorb more force during routine movements such as lifting. Having to absorb this extra force can risk injury.
As a person ages, it is important to maintain strong abdominal muscles in order to protect the spine, hips and pelvis.
People with weak abdominal muscles are also at a higher risk of incurring injuries during more aggressive activities such as running and playing sports. Once an injury occurs, the healing process is longer and often more painful for someone with weak abdominal muscles.
Misconceptions
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One of the most common misconceptions is that exercise alone can create "six-pack" abs. No matter how much a person exercises, if it is not combined with a healthy diet to lessen body fat, the abs will not be seen. Whether the rectus abdominus can be seen or not, it is already shaped like a six-pack. The key to having "six-pack" abs is to eat healthy and exercise regularly to minimize the fat that hides the rectus abdominus. Even if a person does not include a healthy diet as a part of the regimen, it is still important for posture and breathing to regularly exercise the abdominal muscles.
What is important to remember that performing abdominal-strengthening exercises builds functional strength to stabilize the spine: this stability is needed for all activities.
Significance
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As ages the joints are more susceptible to the wear and tear. Regular exercise to strengthen abdominal muscles lessens this wear and tear as these muscles take the pressure of everyday activities such as walking, sitting, bending, and rotating the torso. Strong abdominal muscles work with other muscles in your body to protect your spine, hips and pelvis from injury. For everyone, strong abdominal muscles helps prevent back pain and injury during more stressful periods such as playing sports and exercising. Strong abdominal muscles play an important part in your overall health by helping maintain posture, stabilizing the lower back and pelvis, and by helping you to breathe more easily.
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