About Abdominals
The abdominal muscles, often referred to as "abs" for short, are four group of muscles responsible for stabilizing the trunk. Keeping these muscles fit is crucial towards living a pain-free and active lifestyle. Learn more about how the abdominal muscles work and their significance, so you can remain active and healthy.
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The Facts
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Ther term "abdominals" actually refers to four distinct abdominal muscle groups. As a whole, the abdominal muscles help maintain body posture, support and move the trunk, assist with breathing and help form a barrier to hold the internal organs in place. The abdominals are located on the front and side of the body and extend from the pelvis to the ribs. These muscles are layered upon one another and extend in all different directions.
Type
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The four types or sets of abdominal muscles include the transverse abdominus, rectus abdominus, external obliques and internal obliques.
The deepest muscle layer is the tranverse abdominus, which is responsible for supporting the internal organs, the back, and posture.
The most superficial muscle is the rectus abdominus, which helps support posture, and is responsible for moving the ribcage towards the hips, as in a "crunch" exercise.
The internal and external obliques, of which there are two sets each on the right and left sides of the body, work together to twist the body to the side.
The internal obliques turn the body to the same side they're on while the externals turn the body to the opposite side. For example, contracting the left internal oblique and right external oblique together would twist the body to the left side. -
Function
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The main function of the abdominal muscles is to support the back and trunk. Keeping the abdominals strong and healthy seriously reduces the risk of back injury and pain, one of the leading health complaints among people living in the US.
The abdominals play a crucial role in maintaining proper posture, which can help prevent a myriad of injuries and chronic pain issues. Finally, the abdominal muscles lend support and stability to the internal organs, helping to keep them in their correct position inside the body.
Benefits
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The benefits of keeping your abdominal muscles fit and healthy include better posture, a strong body core, and back stability. The most commonly performed abdominal exercise is "the crunch," which involves keeping the hips and lower back stable on the ground while curling the upper back and chest towards the hips. This excercise can be effective if performed correctly, which involves pulling the stomach muscles down towards the ground and not letting them bulge out.
Other effective strengthening exercises for the abdominals include pelvic tilts, a yoga pose called Plank pose and Pilates exercise.
The abdominals can be strengthening while working other parts of the body by simply concentrating on pulling them in towards the lower spine at all times.
Misconceptions
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One of the common misconceptions surrounding the abdominals is the idea of "spot reducing." This basically means people believe that by merely performing abdominal exercises, they will suddenly have flat bellies with defined muscle striations. This is not true. As with any body part, spot training will strengthen the abs, but in the absence of adding in some type of fat-loss regime, the belly will retain the same amount of body fat, and the "six-pack" will remain invisible.
To lose weight permanently requires following a low-fat diet and burning off more calories than you consume. If you eat a high-fat diet and do not exercise, doing
spot exercises for the belly will not produce a flat stomach.
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