How to Get Tight Abs
Ah, yes, tight abs. They’re like the holy grail for the fitness enthusiast: so appealing in their firm, flat appearance; yet seemingly out of reach for so many of us. Make no mistake, however, tight, flat abs are attainable, if you’re willing to put in the work.
First things first: we need to understand the nature of the beast to be tamed. That is: to train our abs we must know what we mean when we say, “abs.” The abs actually consist of a 6 major muscles: the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, 2 internal obliques, and 2 external obliques. Each of thes muscles contributes to stabilization and upper body posture
The transverse abdominis runs laterally across the front of the abdominal cavity, holding our insides in place, and helping hold our carriage (upper body) upright. Over the transverse abdominis, but running up and down rather than across, is the rectus abdominis. The bands of tendon that run across this muscle are what create the “six pack” that so many of us aspire to have. Both sets of obliques run the length of our core on each side. They wrap around from front to back at different angles, assisting with stabilization, and allowing us to twist and turn.
Now that we have an idea of what the abs are, we can get to the good part: how to make work well and look good. When considering how to get tight abs, we need to address all of the muscles discussed above. If you’re working out at home, or on a mat at the gym, the most obvious exercise is the traditional crunch. But (as you may have seen on one or another television infomercial) the traditional crunch targets mainly the rectus abdominis, and does very little for the rest of the abdominal muscles. So do your crunches if you love them, but don’t stop there.
To target the transverse abdominis we need to dig deeper; and an easy way to make it engage is to perform exercises that require more stabilization. An isometric exercise, like the plank (balance on 3 points: hands or elbows, with toes or knees together on the floor), that requires nothing more or less than to hold your whole core tight is a great way to strengthen even the deeper transverse abdominis.
And if you simply must crunch, try bicycle crunches—squeezing the abs diagonally to bring an elbow toward the opposite knee while the other elbow and leg are extended away from one another—to really get those obliques working.
Of course there is also an abundance of equipment on the market, and probably classes at your local gym that can provide you many new and different ways to target those abs. The more you exercise them, the stronger and tighter your abs will grow. So there you go: how to get tight abs is no longer a mystery. It’s only a matter of effort.
Tags: bicycle crunches, get tight abs, how to get tight abs, isometric exercise, rectus abdominis, target abs, train our abs, transverse abdominis