Abs exercises in the gym

The abs are a relatively small muscle group. For this reason, it can be trained almost anywhere: at home, on the sports ground, in the gym. There are a lot of exercises for this: from simple hanging leg raises, which everyone remembers from physical education lessons at school, to technically complex isolated movements like twisting from the upper block. Each exercise is slightly different in biomechanics and has its own specifics of performance. It is possible to carry out both strength and more multi-repetitive work aimed at increased blood circulation in the abdominal muscles. All load options take place in your training process.

In our article today, we will look at the best abdominal exercises in the gym that are most relevant for CrossFit athletes and tell you how to do them correctly.

Abs anatomy

Contrary to popular misconception, the press does not consist of separate "cubes" that can be pumped up separately at any time. The abdominal muscles are usually understood as the rectus, oblique and transverse abdominal muscles.

Rectus abdominis muscle

The rectus abdominis muscle is quite large and makes up about 80% of the abdominal volume. Tendons are crossed across it, due to which "cubes" are visually created. We swing the press, the rectus abdominis muscle hypertrophies, the tendons are "pressed" inward. Due to this, the relief appears. Of course, all this is permissible only with a small percentage of adipose tissue in the body.

The rectus abdominis muscle performs a number of important anatomical functions: supporting the back in an upright position, bending forward, supporting internal organs. In a fitness environment, it is customary to conventionally divide the rectus abdominis muscle into two parts: the upper and lower. This is not entirely medically correct, but it works. The upper part is loaded with various options for twisting and lifting the body, the lower one - lifting the legs. Together, this provides a good impetus for progress.

Oblique muscles

The external oblique muscles of the abdomen are located on the sides, in the lower part of the waist. These are two small, symmetrically located muscles that you shouldn't forget about when training the press. They are very important for maintaining abdominal control, as they take away some of the load when doing basic exercises like deadlifts or squats. In these movements, the oblique muscles act as stabilizers. Their anatomical function is to rotate and turn the body.

They train with side bends with additional weights. However, you should be careful with this exercise and not overdo it. There are two reasons for this: a large axial load on the lumbar spine and an increase in the waist. Too hypertrophied oblique abdominal muscles visually make the waist wider, this is especially true for girls.

Transverse abdominal muscle

The transverse abdominis muscle lies under the rectus abdominis muscle. Visually, it is not visible in any way, but it is imperative to train it. There is only one exercise for her - vacuum (retraction and retention of the abdomen). With its help, in the long term, you will make the volume of the abdomen and waist narrower, the abdomen will stop "falling out" forward. In addition, the transverse abdominal muscles are needed to regulate intra-abdominal pressure. Also, training the transverse abdominal muscle has a positive effect on the work of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

The largest of these muscles is straight. She needs to be given special attention in her training. The oblique muscles can be finished off after the main volume of work has been completed, but the load must be strictly dosed. There is no clear schedule in training the transverse abdominal muscle: someone trains it after strength training or at home, someone makes a vacuum while sitting in a car or public transport, at work or school ... anywhere. To achieve optimal results, regular training is essential.

It's worth noting that if your goal is terrain, abdominal training is not that important. It is enough just to give a moderate load at different angles. More importantly, what percentage of body fat you have. This is the main condition for creating a beautiful and embossed press.

Without it, all your countless workouts and time spent in the gym does not make sense. The press will become stronger, but there will be practically no visually noticeable result. No wonder many professional athletes say that the relief is created not in the gym, but in the kitchen.

Effective gym exercises

We all know how to do basic ab exercises like hanging leg raises or lying on the floor curls. Everyone or almost everyone does them, as they are truly effective. They can be done both on the sports ground in the yard and in your gym, there is no fundamental difference. But the equipment in a good fitness club gives us the opportunity to go beyond free weight exercises and work out the abdominal muscles from different angles using simulators. Almost every gym nowadays is equipped with equipment in which you can do the following exercises:

Exercise "Prayer"

Twisting from the upper block with a rope handle (because of the specific posture, the exercise is also called "prayer") allows you to effectively work out the upper abs. The main thing is not to overdo it with the working weight and correctly round the spine so that it “curls” rather than bends, then the contraction of the abdominal muscles will be maximum.

Raising legs with a fitball lying on the floor

This exercise for the lower abs in the gym is especially popular among girls. Squeezing the fitball between your legs, you accentuate the load on the lower abdomen more. You need to raise your legs to approximately a right angle with the floor, but in no case should you round your tailbone. Make sure that your back is evenly pressed to the floor when lifting your legs.

Twisting in the simulator

Anatomically, this exercise is similar to the first on our list, but here the back is in a fixed position. This minimizes the possibility of cheating, but still allows the use of more working weight, which leads to more stress on the muscles.

Lifting the body on the bench

Each gym has an incline bench for abs workouts. Body lifts in different variations are great abs exercises in the gym that are suitable for both beginners and experienced athletes. You can add a load on the abdominal muscles using a dumbbell. Taking a dumbbell in your hands and holding it at chest level will make the exercise even more productive. The abs will get stronger. A more advanced option is to hold the dumbbell overhead with straight arms. Also on this bench you can do any kind of twisting or leg raises if you sit upside down.

Exercise "Corner"

The corner is a static exercise that is great for developing abdominal strength. To complete it, you only need a horizontal bar. You need to raise your legs to a right angle and lock in this position for the longest possible period. If you want to kill two birds with one stone and at the same time load the lats of the back, perform pull-ups in this position.

Exercise "Lumberjack"

To complete this exercise, you will need a block trainer. Place the handle at the very top of the simulator and start "chopping" left and right alternately. The work falls on the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles. The burning sensation in the muscles will be incomparable with anything. With this exercise, you can not only build abs, but also increase endurance, as well as strengthen your shoulders, arms and back. A similar exercise can be done from the lower block, but the movement will more resemble swinging an ax than blows.

Pulling the knees to the chest on a fitball

Pulling the knees to the chest on a fitball is not the most common exercise for the press in the gym among fitness club goers, but it is damn effective for the lower abdominal muscles. Biomechanically, it resembles running in a lying position, but due to the fact that we need to constantly fix the fitball with our feet, the lower part of the press works much more.

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You can also do this exercise in TRX loops, where the load on the stabilizing muscles will be even stronger, and you will have to spend more energy on maintaining balance. If your gym does not have either one or the other, replace this exercise with jumping back and forth or running in a lying position.

A set of exercises for girls

For most girls, a flat belly and embossed cubes on it are almost the ultimate dream. In their attempts to achieve their goal, they begin to literally go crazy, training the press every day (sometimes several times), performing a huge number of exercises. There is no need to do this; there should be rationality in everything. The press is the same muscle group as any other in our body. The principle “the more often the better” is not applicable to it, it will not lead to progress. After a load, she needs time to recover. If you give a load every day, there can be no talk of any recovery. Overtraining will come, and you can forget about further progress.

The optimal frequency of abs workouts for girls is no more than twice a week. In most cases, one is enough.

You can perform as a separate workout, or combine it with strength, cardio or functional exercise. Most girls will do better isolated exercises in the middle rep range. You don't need to strive to conquer huge working weights, you just don't need it.

Your workouts should be intense enough. Remember that you need a low percentage of subcutaneous fat for your sculpted abs. During a press workout, a fairly large calorie consumption occurs, comparable to medium-intensity cardio load. The logical chain is simple:

1. spend more calories than you get;
2. exercise abs and burn fat;
3. you get the relief press you've been dreaming of for a long time.

It's that simple! So, we bring to your attention a set of exercises for the press for girls in the gym, which includes two workouts per week.

First workout of the week:

Second workout of the week:

Training programs for men

For men, one or two ab workouts a week will also be enough. However, for men, everything is somewhat more complicated. If you train hard and do, for example, deadlifts and heavy squats in one week, you need to put your abs workout as far away from them as possible so that the muscles have time to recover. If you still feel a soreness in the abdominal muscles, you should not work with heavy weights - it will be more difficult for you to maintain balance, the axial load on the spine will increase, and injury is possible. Most often, an athlete gets a spinal extensor strain, this injury goes away for at least several weeks.

For most men, one abs workout per week is enough. But it's okay to use abdominal exercises as a warm-up for every workout.

Many people do this: they start each of their workouts with the press. This warms up well, since the rectus abdominis muscle contains a large number of nerve endings, the body quickly becomes alert.

During the period of gaining muscle mass, many men generally ignore the workout of the press, citing the fact that he already receives enough load while performing basic exercises. There is a certain rationale in this, but even while you are gaining mass, abdominal training will benefit: your core will become stronger, you will be able to lift more weight in all strength basic movements, improve posture and prevent yourself from developing an umbilical hernia.

Men tend to combine abs workouts with a larger muscle group such as chest, shoulders, or back. It is not recommended to swing the abs after training legs. Below are two options for training the press, the first is more strength, the second is more functional, developing strength endurance. If you train your abs twice a week, do both workouts, if once, alternate.

So, a press workout program in a gym for men may look like this.

First workout

Second workout

Watch the video: 4 BEST Ab Exercises To Get Your Abs To Show. My Go-To Ab Routine (November 2024).