10 Requirements for a Tight Midsection

All too often, people are looking for advice on how to slim, trim and tighten their midsection. Pick up any magazine related to health or fitness and you’re bound to see at least one article related to the abs. Why? Easy, sleek, well defined abs are nice looking and sexy! They are the quickest way to determine whether an individual takes their healthy lifestyle seriously.  A deeply chiseled, well-defined midsection gives the appearance of being in good condition. Dominant abs can make any physique look better, irrelevant of the rest of the bodypart definition shown.

In an attempt to minimize confusion and provide a straight forward approach, we have put together what we believe are the 10 most important and useful principles to creating a killer, tight, set of abs.

Take the time to carefully read the below principles and make a concerted effort to understand them. Truly understanding how the abdominals function goes a long way to building a better set for yourself.

1. USE FULL RANGE OF MOTION As with every muscle group, you MUST use a full range of motion. A partial range of motion equals partial development; full range of motion equals full development. Yes! It’s that simple!
2. HYPEREXTEND YOUR TORSO Full extension of the torso is typically assumed to be 180 degrees, but that’s really only partial extension of the rectus abdominis. The deepest stimulation of the abdominal muscle fibers is achieved when you arch backward another 15 degrees. From that point, you get a much longer contraction and extended range of motion.
3. EMPLOY HEAVY WEIGHT AND LOW REPS Abdominal muscles are made up of white muscle fibers and therefore need to be trained with maximum resistance for total fatigue in as short a time as possible. That point should be reached with never more than 12 repetitions and preferably no more than 10. None of these 50-100 rep sets please!
4. SQUEEZE Don’t lift. Apply continuous tension with peak contraction. DO NOT relax at any point during the abdominal exercises you choose. The point of maximum contraction, in fact, is when they should apply maximum effort to intensify a peak contraction, squeezing the muscle all the more. Try that during hanging leg raises and crunches, and you will feel a tremendous burn in your abs. Without peak contractions, one could rep out for hundreds of repetitions with absolutely no results. Contract from the 15-degree hyperextension of the first repetition all the way to the end of the set.
5. TRAIN EVERY ABDOMINAL MUSCLE The most visible abdominal muscle is the rectus abdominis, but this does not mean it is the only one you should concern yourself with. Make sure you also train your obliques, serratus and intercostals by means of crossovers, twists and side movements, when performing leg raises, sit-ups, crunches and reverse crunches. Those muscles are necessary to accentuate the rectus and, for that matter, your entire torso.
6. TRAIN YOUR UPPER AND LOWER RECTUS ABDOMINIS INDIVIDUALLY This does not mean on separate days or even in separate workouts, just merely with different targeted exercises. Due to the design of the abs, all areas will receive indirect work during just about any ab exercise, but to truly build a beautiful, functional midsection, you must target each area. For example, sit-ups emphasize the upper rectus, and hanging leg raises emphasize the lower rectus. Use both!
7. TRAIN ABDOMINALS FREQUENTLY Abdominal muscles have an ability to recover rapidly, so train them three or four times a week, not once or twice, as for other muscle groups.
8. TRAIN FOR STRENGTH The core is extremely important aspect of the body as its role in overall stabilization is paramount. For this reason, it is important to train it for strength, as well as for appearance. Too many people having trouble doing exercises such as bent rows, barbell curls, deadlifts, benches and, especially, squats properly due to weak abdominals. If your abdominal girdle is strong, you’ll get more out of every exercise for every bodypart and your overall progress will be faster.
9. USE PROGRESSIVE INTENSITY Every successive workout should be more intense than the last. Use more weight, or harder contractions, or shorter rest periods between sets, or all of these.
10. TRY EVERY EXERCISE Don’t dismiss any abdominal exercise until you have personally tried it and determined what kind of results you achieve. If you feel an exercise working, use it.  If you don’t feel it working, don’t use it. For most people, the exercises mentioned above are the most productive, but, ultimately, you must judge each for yourself. It’s possible that some people simply will not be able to create an intense burn from hanging leg raises, but they may star a fire by using reverse crunches. Use what works best for you!

The abdominals can appear, at first glance, to be an overly complicated muscle group. Don’t shy away from them! Use the above ab tips and you will be well on your way to a much leaner, meaner midsection! Oh…. one more thing, don’t worry about that age old fallacy of using lighter or no weights otherwise your ab muscles will get too big! Come on now folks! Really, find me a natural trainer with an abdominal wall where the muscles are “too” big! Ain’t gonna happen so relax……just not during your AB WORK!

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