You never even knew that your abs were always well-developed.
ABS
You never even knew that your abs were always well-developed.
Currently, I see a vast amount of information on social media that is supposed to encourage and help people be healthy, active, and physically developed. But something went wrong.
In this article, we will talk about the development of the physical body, specifically about our core muscles. I decided to start with this because many people, especially bloggers, post photos showing off their lean and ripped abs, and sell workout programs that are not worth even half the price. I am not talking about everyone, but there are truly many of them. And as someone with a bachelor's degree in physical education, what annoys me the most are videos like "abs in 5 minutes," "do these exercises and you'll have great abs in 30 days," and things of that nature. This is the worst thing possible. It is a lie presented to people as a magic pill, while very few tell the truth. So, moving forward, we will discover where the truth lies together.
If we think logically, we must have muscles that help us live, exist, and move through space. And as you might have guessed, the abdominal muscles perform part of this work. In most cases, the abdominal muscles are actively engaged when we walk, lie down, sit, run, and so on. From this, we can conclude that the abdominal muscles are developed in all people and do not necessarily need to be trained with specific exercises for you or others to see them. The entire reason whether you can see these muscles or not lies in your body fat percentage.
To make this article useful, well-founded, and more scientific, I suggest we start with anatomy. Our abdomen has five main muscles: the rectus abdominis, external obliques, internal obliques, transversus abdominis, and pyramidalis. Combined with the back muscles, they form the core muscles, which protect the spine and maintain body balance.
Of course, one could explain the functions and structure in more detail, but this article is about something else. We will talk about why you should not buy workout programs or magic methods to see your abdominal muscles.
It also bothers me that some people claim to have secret exercises that can burn fat specifically on the belly. Referencing science and experiments, we can learn from an article by Len Kravitz, Ph.D., that performing many abdominal exercises or some unique abdominal exercises does not affect additional fat loss in the abdominal area (Katch et al., 1984) [1].
Furthermore, in his article, Len Kravitz adds that you cannot isolate the upper and lower abdomen, and although the abdominal muscles have intersegmental nerve stimulation, you cannot contract one part independently of the other. However, when you stabilize the hips and lift only the torso, a relatively greater muscle contraction occurs in the upper abdomen, leading to greater muscle involvement in that area (Walters & Partridge, 1957) [1].
Additionally, research by American physiologists shows that basic daily movements (such as maintaining balance while standing, walking, or performing multi-joint movements like squats) activate the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles at a very high level, often even more strongly than isolated floor exercises (like the plank) [2].
Science also confirms that the abdominal muscles are covered by a layer of subcutaneous fat, which in the average person is over 2 cm thick. It cannot be removed locally with exercises—definition appears only when this layer is reduced to a minimum through overall weight loss [3].
Having discussed all these points, I did not want you to stop training your abdominal muscles. I wanted to focus your attention on the fact that you should not think anyone has miraculous exercises that you can perform for just 6 minutes a day to look amazing in 30 days. After all, your lifestyle and nutrition have a much greater impact.
Source
[1] https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/abdominal.html