I restarted training my abdominals yesterday. Once upon a time this was my favorite body part to train. I loved doing crunches and sit ups of any kind just to feel the burn in my tummy. While learning to become a PT, I was told that traditional abdominal work was unnecessary to develop a toned midsection. Soon enough I stopped focusing on abdominal training and concentrated on other body parts. While I agree that the average person doesn’t have to waste their precious training time on the floor doing sit up after sit up, I do believe that someone who wants to sport a tight and muscular midsection has to include some abdominal work in their training week.
Runners require strong abdominal muscles to support their back and help them run faster. The torso is the area that keeps everything stable and in order to keep it strong it’s vital to do some core exercises. The good news is that if you hate doing crunches or sit ups you don’t have to do them per se, there are other exercises that focus on the abs and can help make them stronger and more defined.
*Weight training
Whenever you are doing push ups, squats, lunges or the seated row, you can be working your abdominal muscles at the same time. Regardless of whether or not you include crunches at the end of your training session, during each exercise that you perform your tummy should be tight and clenched. If you do this properly you should feel your abdominal muscles a day or two after your workout.
*Pilates
Working the abdominals and lower back, Pilates is an excellent way to strengthen the core and back. As running is a high impact activity that places a strain on your spine, including a Pilates workout or two each week can be beneficial to runners. A good Pilates workout can leave you feeling your abs for days afterwards.
*Hover/Plank
This exercise looks easy to do but is actually difficult to sustain for longer than twenty seconds if you’re abdominals aren’t in shape. You can do it by keeping your back straight like a board while balance on your toes and elbows. The side version is also good for your side abdominals. Each time you complete this exercise try to hold the position for longer until you can do three one minute sets.
Just like any other muscle, your abdominals need a break. Training them two to three times a week with a day rest in between is enough to help them get stronger. However, if there’s a layer of fat covering your belly, to see your abdominal muscles you’re going to have to rev up your cardio sessions to burn it off otherwise those abs will stay hidden forever.
