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Ab Training
Functional Anatomy
When we discuss the abdominals, we're essentially discussing four muscle groups: the rectus abdominus, external obliques, internal obliques, and transverse abdominus. Each has specific individual roles, but let's keep things brutally simple here:
Rectus abdominus – Trunk flexion, posterior tilting of pelvis
External obliques – Contralateral rotation (unilateral), ipsilateral side bending, trunk flexion or posterior tilting of pelvis (bilateral)
Internal obliques – Ipsilateral rotation, ipsilateral side bending, trunk flexion
Transverse abdominus – Abdominal "hollowing"
Our current way of thinking about the ab muscles is geared toward producing motion (e.g. rectus abdominus contraction leads to trunk flexion). However, research has shown that a significant role of the lower rectus abdominus and external obliques is actually preventing motion, or promoting stability of the lumbo-pelvic region.
So, while many of you are focusing the majority of your ab training on trunk flexion movements (e.g. crunches), you should be working on the opposite movement: posterior tilting of the pelvis. This allows us to function from a more efficient position biomechanically.
So now that we are familiar with functional anatomy, we need to take a look at how most athletes are performing their ab work. I bet that quite a few of you are still doing a few sets of bent-knee crunches and calling it a day! Simply put, if you have a traditional athletic or powerlifting posture (APT/excessive lumbar lordosis), you need to get cracking on strengthening your external obliques and lower rectus abdominus.
First off, we're not talking about simple abdominal hollowing; what we want here is posterior tilting of the pelvis. The transverse abdominus (TVA) hollows; the external obliques and lower rectus produce posterior tilt.
Yes, it's true whenever you perform one you get the other to some extent, but there's a difference. Just keep the end goal in mind: improved posture and better performance.
The goal is to improve your static posture so that you produce better movement. Sucking in before you squat or deadlift not only puts you at an increased risk for injury, but is fundamentally wrong.
Why would you want to correct static posture in a dynamic movement? It makes much more sense to approach it the other way, e.g. fix the static posture and then allow dynamic movement to occur naturally.
Implications on Physique and Performance
Why do the exercises I've outlined below? I'll give you three reasons:
1) Improved recruitment
The goal here is to decrease the anterior pelvic tilt/lordosis in static posture so that when you take that posture into dynamic movement, you get better glute activation. Better glute activation very simply means more weight when you squat or deadlift. Whether you're a athlete, powerlifter, or just an average Joe who wants a better physique, those things alone should convince you to try out some of these exercises.
2) Improved physique
Simply put, training the external obliques and lower RA will not only strengthen your abs, but give you a more aesthetically pleasing look to boot.
3) Decreased risk of injury
A huge lordosis can lead to a number of injuries: low back pain, strained hamstrings, anterior knee pain, etc. This very simple aspect of your training can go a long way to preventing these injuries.
The Test
Many of you may be thinking, "My lower abs and obliques are super strong. I don't need this program!"
Okay, tough guy, time to put your money where your mouth is. Take this one simple test. If you pass with flying colors, I won't harp on you any more about proper core training. But, if you fail miserably (which I'm betting you will), you have to give some of these exercises a solid go. Fair enough?
The leg lowering test is probably the single best test of lower abdominal and external oblique function when it comes to stability. Here's what I want you to do:
Lie on the ground (ideally with your shoes off) and fold your arms in front of your body in the "genie" position. Flex the knees and hips to 90 degrees, and then roll your legs up in the air and straighten them (extend the knees) so your legs are perpendicular to your upper body.
Leg Lowering Test
Posteriorly tilt the pelvis and flatten your spine to the ground. While holding this posteriorly tilted position, slowly lower your legs and feet with a tempo that allows them to reach the ground after 10 seconds. If you feel any rounding whatsoever (your low back starts to arch or come off the ground), that's the cutoff point of the test.
The best way to judge how well you do is to have someone place their hand under your low back and feel when the pressure of your low back comes off of their hand. A leg angle of 45 º or lower would be considered fair, under 30 º would be considered excellent.
We've had a number of athletes take this test and you'd be surprised at the number who fail or score very poorly.
If you didn't get below 45 º , you've got some work to do; try some of the exercises outlined below and see what kind of effects they have.
Lower Rectus Exercises
The Dead Bug Series
While you likely want to know the most difficult exercises possible, humor me by starting off with the most basic of exercises and building your way up to the most difficult ones, okay? If you need any incentive, remember how the leg lowering test just kicked your butt!
The first exercise is the dead bug. There are four variations, here is the first one, once you get good at it the rest of the pictures should describe the progressions.
To perform the dead bug, start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Instead of simply hollowing the stomach, think about posteriorly tilting your pelvis by activating the lower rectus abdominus and external obliques. (It may help to place your fingertips on your obliques to get them to fire.)
While maintaining the flat back/posterior tilt position, extend one leg out until it hovers just above the ground, then return to the starting position. Alternate legs for the necessary number of reps.
Now, believe it or not, some of you won't even be able to perform this first movement correctly! If so, follow the same steps, but instead of taking your leg/foot down toward the ground, just lower the foot to the point where you feel like your back is going to come off the ground, then return to the starting position. As you get stronger, you'll be able to improve your range of motion (ROM).
Dead Bug 1
Dead Bug 2 (arm movement with legs)
Dead Bug 3 (knees/feet start in air at 90 degrees)
Dead Bug 4 (same as 3, arms move with legs)
Single-Leg Lowering
This exercise is a little tougher than the original dead bug, but not by too much. Start in the same position (supine with hips/knees flexed and feet flat on the floor). Extend one leg so it's straight up and perpendicular to the body, and then posterior tilt and lower the leg all the way to the ground.
Much like unilateral work for the upper or lower body, if you have one side that's weaker than the other, perform all the repetitions on that side first before switching.
Single-leg lowering
Double-Leg Lowering
While I'm typically not a fan of training simply to beat the test, this is a pretty good exception because it's a functional and hard movement!
All you're going to do is set-up just like you're taking the leg lowering test and perform repetitions, maintaining that posterior tilt for as far down as you can go. I'd start off with low rep sets (3-5) until you get those abs up to par!
Double-leg lowering
Tips
Now that we've talked about the lower rectus exercise menu, let's discuss some tips to get the most out of these exercises.
First and foremost, keep in mind that proper execution of these exercises is absolutely critical! If you aren't able to maintain a posterior tilt throughout the movement, you need to get your ego in check and try an easier exercise. Once you get the basics down, then start challenging yourself with tougher variations.
Before you mindlessly blow through another set of old-school crunches, think about all the benefits of intelligent core training. Whether you want a better body or a better total, the exercises I've outlined here will get you there faster!
Full Article written by: Chris Schugart
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