In pursuit of a beautiful belly and defined abs, we often blindly believe in advice from TikTok and advertisements, without considering our health. If you’re following some dubious program, you’re likely to end up with, at best, muscle strain.
Before subjecting yourself to a ‘miracle exercise’ routine from online videos for sculpting a beautiful six-pack, consult knowledgeable fitness instructors first. Furthermore, even the exercises you’re familiar with for your abs might bring you more trouble than benefit. AdmiGram.com will shed light on the hidden nuances of ab training.
Train your abs effectively and safely
Sit-ups on a bench
A classic abs exercise, familiar to everyone since childhood. It seems like nothing could be easier and safer than securing your legs and starting to perform sit-ups. Every person who works out in the gym even has their own special technique for performing exercises. The optimal angle and hand placement are subjects of heated debates between sets.
Caution: The most dangerous aspect of this exercise is the final desperate jerks. It’s during these moments that there’s excessive compressive and impact loading on the lower back, exceeding the recommended threshold. Prolonged stress on the lower back during ab workouts can eventually lead to a herniated disc or guaranteed back injuries.
Leg throws
A fairly popular exercise, especially in group classes. You lie down, and your partner throws your legs down during this exercise, while you try to lower them gently and then raise them again. The problem is that it’s contraindicated for beginners due to their underdeveloped muscles. But for some reason, everyone at the gym tries to start training their abs with this exercise.
Caution: Eliminate this ab exercise from your routine due to excessive loading on the lumbar spine. If you’ve had problems with your lower back and spine, or if you suffer from chronic back pain, this exercise will only cause new, more serious injuries. Especially if you’ve just started working out at the gym.
Plank
Another highly risky exercise where we compete in our own madness. For some reason, everyone at the gym considers it their duty to modify the classic plank into the ‘most effective’ version. The most incredible variations of its execution come into play: on fists, on fingertips, and even holding the plank for half an hour.
Caution: Despite the plank being one of the best exercises for strengthening the core muscles, weak abs and improper technique make it quite dangerous, shifting the load from the abdominal muscles to the spine. Any spinal problems, curvature of the spine, or sedentary work essentially become serious contraindications for doing planks.
Crunches
Another popular trend among almost all fitness enthusiasts on Instagram. You lie on the floor and raise the upper part of your torso with abdominal twists. The stronger the twists, the ‘better’ your side fat disappears. The problem is that as a beginner, your neck, shoulders, back, and even the muscles of the front surface of the thighs work, but not the abs.
Caution: This is an effective exercise, but only if you have strong ab muscles and understand how your body works at an athlete’s level. But if you’ve spent 8 hours sitting at a desk job, your untrained muscles and excessive pressure on the intervertebral discs will lead to serious back injuries when performing such exercises.
Exercises on dubious advertised machines
Unfortunately, we tend to believe in all sorts of miracle machines that promise to turn us into superheroes in a matter of days. It’s important to understand that if you don’t engage in regular physical activity, no miraculous machine will give you those tempting abs in a couple of weeks.
Caution: Many ab machines are even less effective than regular sit-ups on the floor. It’s worth mentioning the case when in 2014, the manufacturer of the Ab Circle Pro device had to recall its product and reimburse nearly 200,000 consumers $9.3 million.
