Six-pack midsection (First of two parts)

DURING my 20s and my competitive years as an athlete, I often show off my light abs to my friends, asking them to feel my tummy. Back  then people used to snicker: “Wait until you reach your mid 50s, then we’ll see how flat it is.” Well, I no longer compete in my weightlifting sports but guess what? I still have a flat tummy. I’m a living proof that any person can whip his/her abdominal area into shape. Now that I am in my senior years, I still ask people to feel my tummy. It seems that no matter where I go, people who know me tell me that I look the same, only the hair is no longer as thick as before. I can tell you, keeping my abs flat and firm in my sixties is not as simple as it was during in my twenties. Thirty years ago, I could occasionally slack off on my abdominal routine sometimes for as long as two weeks and not notice a difference.

Today, I have to stick with it. If I go as little as one week without working my abs I notice them starting to soften. You see, I’m no exception to those people with gifted abdominal. I do work at keeping my abs firm, and you can achieved the very same results by doing my favorite tummy tightening exercises. Before I get those mid section shrinking routines, However let’s take a look at the physiology behind tummy flab.

The anatomy

Your abdominal area can stretch out, lose strength and begin to bulge for numerous reasons. Simply lack of use allows your internal organs to press against your abdominal wall creating a rounded appearance even if you carry no extra fat in your abdomen. Few of us use our abs enough during delivery for women sometimes could have cut through abdominal muscle, overstretching it and weakening it even more. Also changing hormone levels at menopause cause women to store more fat in their mid sections than in their butts, hips, and thighs. Men too has no exemptions, overeating, too much drinking alcohol, no physical activities causes also to stretch their abdominal muscles no stored fats accumulated. My friends who are over age 50 and who used to have naturally flat tummies  in their youth, now tell me that they are noticing them getting poochy. They also noticed extra flab at the lower end of their backs like two unwanted fatty packages like marshmallows.

My mid section at routine will help you occur a toned, tight sexy midsection just as it has for me and the countless members of my clients who exercise regularly. Besides your abdomen, these mid section routines will also work your lower back muscles, helping to cinch your natural midsection a little tighter and shrink those love handles (bilbil in Cebuano dialect).

Here are the specific muscles that these workouts target and why?

• Upper and lower rectus abdominis. When most of us picture rock hard abs, we picture this muscle. Fibrous bands of tissue break up this large muscle that runs from your pubic bone to your ribs. Along the front center of your abdomen creating the “six pack” appearance. Though the rectus abdominis really one large muscle, I like to think of it as two distinct ones. One below the navel and one above it. Many of us especially women are much weaker in the lower end of this muscle, the part below the navel. Weakness

allows our internal organs to press out, creating a rounded appearance even if we have a little body fat. A lot of people use this section of the abdomen the least during daily life. Because the lower end of the muscle is weaker than the upper end, all of the fat zone workouts target the lower rectus abdominus first, allowing you to fully work that area so that you won’t feel too fatigued. Oftentimes, if you work the upper abs you might feel too tired by the time you get to the lower abs.

• Transverse abdominis. This deepest layer of the abdomen lies underneath your rectus abdominis. This muscle helps you contract your abdomen and draw your belly inward. Strengthening it creates a natural girdle for the front of your mid section. It also adds power and stability to everyday movements such as walking.

• Obliques. Internal and external obliques form your sides and waist. Your external obliques sit closest to the surface toward the front of your waist with the internal obliques sitting deeper and closer to your back. These muscles help you bend from side to side as well as rotate your trunk to look behind you. Toning them will help shrink your waist as well as any love handles.

• Lower back. Your lower back contains

numerous muscles. One group of muscle, called the erector spinae, contains a trio muscles. These muscles attach to your spinal column at different points along your back, allowing you to bend it forward and backward and from side to side. Toning these muscles helps prevent back pain as well as tightens and firms your entire lower back, shrinking love handles as well as any other back flab that may stick out when you wear bikini. (To be continued)