It seems that no matter where you go and who you talk to, everyone is looking for the next best exercise or series of exercise for the abdominals. Something to really etch out the six pack look that everyone is after. It is an endless sea of abdominal training and most it comes with little rhyme or reason behind it.

It could be high reps, inclines, declines, with a ball, with weights, bands, working on uppers, lowers and sides. I always have chuckle when people tell me they can do 200 crunches. Most abdominal training programs have the same general vibe about them. Typically a greater number then the rest or the training program - If you typically train with 8 reps, your ab training is usually 12 - 15; if you typically training with 12 -15 reps, your ab training is usually 15 - 20 reps.

Structure

We'll get into the X's and O's in a bit, but first we need to take a closer look at the abdominal muscles, find out what it is exactly that they do so we can understand how to train them more effectively. The 'Abdominals' as we like to refer to them are comprised of 4 different muscles:

• External Abdominis Oblique
• Internal Abdominis Oblique
• Rectus Abdominis
• Transversus Abdominis

These four muscle work together in opposition. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but here me out. The abdomen is the section of the torso that doesn't have any form of a bony structure to protect major organs.

It does, however, have a series of muscles to act as a strong barrier ( the abdominal muscles ). Now as you will see each of these muscles overlap each other and work in different directions. A 'web' of muscles if you will.

The external oblique muscle is a big sheet like muscle that starts from the sides of the ribs 4-12 and rundown to the Iliac Crest ( top of the hip ) and also connect to the heavy layer of connective tissue that runs down the middle of the torso called the rectus sheath.

It runs diagonally; from the top down which tells us it is primarily involved in rotation. However, also involved in trunk flexion ( like a crunch ) and to some extent lateral flexion ( a side bend ).

The internal oblique lays underneath the external oblique and runs in opposition, starting the Iliac Crest and connecting up to ribs 10-12 and a large portion of the rectus sheath.

A shorter, but more powerful muscle involved in the same actions as the external oblique. So here you can see these two muscle are situated in opposition - One runs from the top down and the other from the bottom up as well as being angled differently. However, they work together to achieve the same movements.

T he rectus abdominis is the glory hog of the abdomen. It is the one that everyone wants to uncover. It is a heavy band like muscle that runs from The crest or base of the pelvis and connects to ribs 5-7 as well as the xiphoid process - the bottom of the "Breast Bone". Interesting to note, it is one muscle and not 3 individual muscles.

This is important to remember when we get to the actual exercise programming. The divisions within the muscle are called tendonous intersections. They are primarily a functional strip of connective tissue that segments the muscle. Smaller segments allow for greater force to be applied across the joints.

Beneath all of those layers of muscle is the transversus abdominis muscle, another big sheet like muscle. It essentially wraps around your mid section a lot like a corset. It's primary job is to help provide compression for the abdominal wall as well as aid in rotations of the torso.

Function

Now that we have a better understanding of what muscles comprise the abdomen, who they are arranged and what they do, we can begin to take a look at what we need to do to gain the most from training them. From what we have gone over, three things stand out as training points, and they are:

1. Spinal Flexion
2. Torso Rotation
3. Compression ( Stabalization )

The abdominis rectus respond most to Spinal Flexion. This is important, so pay attention: Spinal Flexion involves shortening the distance between the pelvis and sternum. Imagine curling up into a ball, this is essentially Spinal Flexion.

This is why the conventional sit-up got tossed many years ago - it involved more hip flexion than spinal flexion making it an inferior abdominal exercise.

Before we continue I feel it very important to stress the fact that the muscle tissue and fibers found within the muscle of the abdominis group are the same the same muscle fibers as found in your chest, biceps or quads. In fact the majority of these fibers are of the

Type II variety; more IIa than IIb. These are the "fast twitch" and intermediate fibers.

When it comes to rotation, it is very simple. Any exercise that causes you to rotate your torso against a resistance in the opposite direction of the rotation. Keep this in mind because 90% of the oblique exercise people perform don't do this a all.

Compression or stabilization has gained popularity in recent history with the re-introduction of the Swiss Ball and the concept of "Core Stabilization".

I think the best way to think of this is the ability to maximally contract all four muscle groups to maintain correct body posture in an adverse condition - and still be able to breathe. A simple push-up is a great example. All of those muscles work together to keep your spine in its proper alignment.

Right From Wrong

So we know where the muscles are, and what they do based on how they act on the bones they are connected to. One would think that selecting effective exercises would be the easy part. However when it comes to training abdominals, the methodology has come close to what would resemble a circus!

Now, I'm a believer in functional training, but many people have confused function with unstable. People here 'function' and visions of balls, rollers, disks and things that shake come to mind.

When it comes down to it, your training should be geared toward your goals. In most cases people want to rid the fat from their mid section, become stronger and be able to actually see the six pack when it is all said in done. Some how, the mind set of high repetition training tacked on to the end of every workout has emerged as the 'standard' in abdominal training - Feel The Burn, as they say.

The only thing this style is good for is increasing muscular endurance in the abdominals. It will not make you much stronger, and it will never decrease the fat around this area. It never has and never will. I personally feel that it is a result of the 'Monkey See - Monkey Do' syndrome.

Another thing I would like to address is the frequency of training. Almost every trainer, expert and gym rat I have come across feels that you can train your abs as often as you want. The rationale being that they heal faster than other muscle groups. Where this idea came from, I have no idea, but there is no data to back this claim.

Now despite common beleif, training you abs with weights or resistance will not give you a potbelly or bloated look. The musclesof the abdominal group are reletively small muscles and do not have large bellies like a biceps muscle where it would gain a lot of mass in the center. So get these thoughts out of your head.

No, You can't work your lower abs!

The muscle fibers of the abdominal area are predominantly of the Type II class, which are the fibers that are larger, and stronger fibers which work during periods when they are subjected to high speeds and or high resistance. The standard low resistance, high rep - slow and controlled doesn't even tap into the working potential of the abdominal muscles.

One final note that I must touch on before getting into program design is that of the lower abs. Back in 2003 I reported on research that confirmed that the idea of lower abdominal training is a myth. Remember back to where I mentioned that the two rectus muscle were two individual band like muscles. Each of them 1 single band of muscle and not multiple muscle strung together. This means that when the rectus muscle contracts, the whole thing contracts and there is nothing we can do to get sections of it to work more than the other.

This means doing things like leg raises, knee lifts, knee tucks; All be it, difficult, do not train the abdominal muscles like many people think the do. Take another look at the pictures above and you will see that none of the muscle connect to the bones of the leg or even below the hip joints. Research has concluded that the crunch is still the kind of ab exercises. So why are those types of exercises so difficult? The abdominal muscle are involved in stabilizing the pelvis and keeping the spine in alignment.

Programming

Training the abdominals is so easy I am amazed at how many people don't do it correctly. I firmly believe that training within the Max-OT Training Principles is the most effective way to develop abdominal strength and a rock hard six pack.

This is probably going to be a complete 180 for most people - to train your abs only once per week, with a good amount of resistance so you are able to perform approximately 6 repetitions.

The Core

In recent history the focus has moved away from "abs" and gone on to core training. The core is considered to all of the muscle from the bottom of the rib cage to the top of the hips - including fronts sides and back. This concept has been a major reason behind the abdominal circus and its functional training side show.

As I said before functional training has it's place in a comprehensive training program, but some people just take it too far. There are groups of people that feel the need to "Up the Ante" without any real logic behind the exercise. If there were, the danger behind some of these exercises surely outweighs the potential benefit.

If you are really into the "Core" training, the you will need to make sure that you include these elements into your program:

1. A Crunching exercise - The weighted Crunch
2. A Rotational Exercise - Weighted Wood Chopper
3. Spinal Extension - Goodmornings, hyper extension, reverse hypers
4. A Stabilization exercise - Planks / pilars and the many variations

It may be difficult making the transition, but this will make your training much more effective. When you break down the components and what they do, it makes it much easier to weed through the false information and gimmicks out there. Hopefully, this has shed some light on the subject!