Abdominal Muscle Exercises: The Basics:
Breathing During Abdominal Muscle Exercises:
Exhale as you lift off the ground (contraction) and inhale as you lower your body. Do not hold your breath when doing the exercises!
Repetitions and Speed during Abdominal Muscle Exercises:
The slower you do the abdominal muscle exercises, the more intensively you will be working your muscles. Trying to break speed and quantity records will not help you get washboard abs. Remember that it is the quality and not the quantity that is important.
Sets
Do 3 sets, each of as many repetitions as possible.
Please carry out all of the exercises very slowly. Lift: 5 sec.; lower: 5 sec. You do not need to count the number of repetitions. After a while, your muscles will let you know that they have worked enough. In spite of this, you should keep going until you cannot do anymore. The last repetitions are vital for muscle growth.
Please take a few minutes break now or do a different exercise. Afterwards, repeat the exercise until you completely exhaust the muscles. Take another short break before you do the third and final set.
How often should you do abdominal muscle exercises?
If you do not have well-trained abdominal muscles you should do the abdominal muscle exercises every second day for the first 8 weeks. Later on you can do the abdominal muscle exercises daily as abdominal muscles have a shorter regeneration phase than other muscles.
Warm-up before doing the abdominal muscle exercises!
Rope skipping for five minutes or running for ten minutes is enough!
Stretch after doing abdominal muscle exercises!
Stretch your abdominal muscles as well as the antagonist muscles after exercising.
Common mistakes made during abdominal muscle exercises
- The lower back should always lie flat on the mat.
- Place emphasis on carrying out the exercises very slowly. You will work your muscles a lot more and it will help prevent you from jerking.
- If you place your hands behind your head, do not push your head forward. Keep your focus on the ceiling. Keep a hand's distance between the chin and the breast bone!
- Concentrate on contracting the abdominal muscles during exercise.
Should you consult the doctor before beginning with abdominal muscle exercises?
Consult your doctor before beginning the abdominal muscle exercises if:
- you have had any previous problems with your spinal column
- you have had intervertebral disc or abdominal operations
- you have any cardiovascular diseases
- you have back pain
- other risk factors
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