This is a new addition to the newsletter where I can take time
to address in full detail questions which current clients
confront while in the process of making real changes to their
body, lifestyle and well being. TO DO OR NOT TO DO? … ABS TWO
WEEKS PRIOR TO WRITING ARTICLE: Jeanne is a client I have worked
with for a number of years, and through a couple of births with
very quick recoveries. She is naturally tall and thin with wide
hips and very flat abs. She has that perfect body for wearing
couture as you can see from her Vogue magazine write up in
October of 2003. She is the type that doesn’t want muscle
showing at all, just long sleek ‘feminine’ lines. We have
stepped up her workouts of late because she is getting stronger
and we do need to keep up the challenge to maintain that high
metabolic burn rate for caloric expenditure, without creating
muscle definition. Jeanne doesn’t like doing cardio so that's
not a solution. Recently when beginning our workout Jeanne
stops, pulls up her t-shirt and shows me her abs. Iam very
pleased with what I see, which is the definition of where the
lower obliques end and the rectus abdominus (your quadrants,
also known as ‘6 packs’) begin. There was strong deliniation
indicating the muscles beneath. Jeanne points to it and says " I
don’t want this." In my shock the only thing I can think to say
is "If there were a group of women in hear watching us, they’d
all groan at you." Everyone is different and has different
goals. So Jeanne now thinks that she should just not do
abdominal exercises and asks "Why do I need to do them, my abs
are fine the way they are? Can you write about this in your next
newsletter so I better understand why I need to do abs." I then
launch into an explanation of the importance of core work(abs).
About how your abs stabilize you and help prevent injury by
bracing and tightening. The brain sends a message to the
transverse abdominus (remember that girdle muscle we all spent
time on, with the breathing exercises) before it tells any other
muscle to move. For example, the mind tells the knee to lift but
before the quadricep muscles initiates the lifting response the
transverse abdominus recieves the message to react by tightening
for balance, control and strength. So essentially you brace
yourself from your abs and then you initiate the movement,
braced and centered. Which is why I constantly repeat "pull your
navel in and wrap it around your spine." The more this response
is practiced, the more proficient, balanced, coordinated,
centered and strong you are plus the flatter your abs are. There
is a highly credentialed school of thought that advocates:
"Every exercise, every movement and every activity you do is an
abdominal exercise if you draw your belly button in and brace
your abdominal muscles. Sit-ups and crunches waste your time and
do not produce results." I personally believe that there is not
one formula for all bodies. For those that have no lower back
problems, ever, plus perfect balance, coordination and that
conditioned response to pull the navel in to the spine, I say
yes, you don’t need to do abs. But for us mere mortals who at
times twist, bend and pull things (or children!)and forget to
brace…well you still need to do your abs. Remember practice
makes perfect and that bracing response at varying resistances
and degrees is not innate but practiced. So based on this
article I will let Jeanne be her own judge and in an informed
way let her decide whether she needs to do her abs or not. PS.
If she decides to not do them I will monitor carefully her
balance, strength , coordination and lower back response and if
I do see any signs of weakness I will discuss with her the need
to suffuse an ab workout intermittently. TWO WEEKS LATER Jeanne
has since clarified that she doesn’t want the muscle definition
but most of all she doesn’t want any roundness of the belly. So,
we entirely ommitted crunches. By eliminating the crunches and
working the abs through whole body movements and engaging the
twisting and bending movements her abs have flattened out
entirely again. She has not lost balance, strength or
coordination and her conditioned response is now to pull navel
in and brace her abs. She will not have that 6 pack definition
that is so sought after, but that is her personal choice. For
myself personally and all clients who choose to do so I will
continue to do crunches, coming up and working only to the point
where the navel can stay in towards the center of
gravity(spine). If the abdominals pop out at all the belly will
develop roundness, and that conditioned response to pulling in
may be weakened. But isn’t it great to know that you can be
working your abs all day long, in whatever you are doing, just
brace them and pull in! Voila! Flat abs.
Deborah Caruana RN, AAHRFP, NASM, ACE, www.vitalsignsfitness.com
email deb@vitalsignsfitness.com
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