Abdominal Training
Losing Body Fat
train your abdominal and oblique muscles.
The midsection is made up of different muscles you'll want to train to improve your body's shape. These muscles are the upper abs, the lower abs, the obliques, and the intercostals. The upper and lower abs are simply the top and bottom muscles of the abdominals. The obliques are the muscles on the sides of your midsection that are covered up if you have love handles. The intercostal muscles are above the obliques and in front of the lats. They are only visible if you're extremely ripped and have a finger-like appearance.
The upper abdominals are relatively easy to work by doing regular, machine, ball, or cable crunches. Sit-ups are great for the upper abs as well, although you may be working the hip flexors more than the abs. Doing sit-ups on a declined bench will really work your upper abs and the rest of your midsection, especially if you twist your body on the way up.
The lower abdominal muscles will certainly get some work from your upper ab training, but you'll still want to do some exercises to focus on them more directly. Leg raises, whether you're lying on a bench or doing them upright will do wonders for your lower abs. If you do leg raises upright, try to do them on something with back support so you don't swing your body back and forth too much.
The oblique muscles can be trained by doing side bends with or without weight. You can do side bends standing upright or on a machine that allows you to lie sideways at an angle for a fuller range of motion. You can also lie sideways on a crunch machine to hit the obliques hard.
Since the intercostals are very small and rarely visible you don't have to do exercises specifically for them. Twisting your body during your ab exercises should be enough.
Since you want your midsection to be smaller you shouldn't use to much added weight, if any, while doing abdominal training. Too much weight may thicken your midsection. Do higher reps during your ab workout sets and make sure you contact your abs and other midsection muscles while working them. The abs are a fast healing muscle group so you should do them more often than other bodyparts. A few sets for your midsection every other day is a great way to start training abs. Switch your ab exercises regularly to keep your body guessing and you'll be on your way to a ripped midsection.
Eating right, doing cardiovascular workouts, and weight training will put you on the road to success in losing bodyfat and getting into better shape. However, when you lose the desired amount of fat from your body you'll want a smaller, tighter midsection to enhance your body's appearance. To do this you'll want to regularly
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