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Rippling and still healthy
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Strong abs create strong foundation for spine and limbs
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Everything for abs Professional bodybuilders have a bunch of tricks to show their muscles
A six-pack belly requires more than just strong abs. A professional bodybuilder in the off season has pretty strong abs, but they aren’t visible underneath all that fat. In the weeks before a competition, bodybuilders do several things- good an
d harmful- to burn subcutaneous fat and make the muscles look rippling. They walk, use anabolic steroids and growth hormones, cut down on calories and even dehydrate themselves with diuretics to thin the fat covering the hard-won muscles.
Washboard abs require hard work and discipline. Eating fewer calories than you burn in a day will thin fat overlying ALL muscles.
Naturally, this will make your abs more visible. Calorie-watching is important, but not at the cost of good nutrition. Even a low-calorie meal should be balanced in terms of fat, carbohydrate and protein. Giving up any of these major blocks of nutrition is harmful to health.
Slow aerobic exercise like walking preferentially targets visceral and subcutaneous fat: more intense exercise burns muscle glycogen and is not very useful for a ripped look.
The fat/muscle ratio is more important than absolute body weight. Most men have around 15- 20 per cent of their bodyweight as fat, while most professional bodybuilders have fat percentages in the single digits. Even with normal body weight, it is possible to have a high percentage of body fat, and this hinders the chiselled look. On the other hand, most pro bodybuilders are “overweight” by regular standards, but they have such low fat/muscle ratio that they look lean and sculptured.
You do not need fancy equipment to work the abs. According to research, the humble large exercise ball is the best among all the equipment in the market. The rockers, rollers and torso jacks do not improve upon the basic abdominal crunch.
Lie on your back with hands behind your head; lift your knees to a 45-degreee angle and cycle in the air, touching your right elbow to your left knee, followed by your left elbow to your right knee. This is the best exercise for your abdominal muscles.
Even for those not interested in cosmetically perfect abs, abdominal exercise is important as part of core stability exercises.
This mean strengthening your abs, hips and lower back. Core stability exercises create a strong foundation for the spine and limbs.
RAJIV M.
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