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Chiseled abs! (part 2 of 2)

© Matt Danielson

As we concluded last week, hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, knee-raises off the edge of a bench etc. simply don't work your abdominal muscles properly. We have to narrow it down to the one and only action the rectus abdominis can do - decreasing the distance between your rigcage and the pelvis.

Sounds like the good ol' sit-up, like you used to do in P.E. in school until you puked, doesn't it? You were lying on your back, wedging the toes underneath something, clutching your hands behind your neck, and off you were in squeezing the crap out of the abs, right?

The idea still holds true, but there's a few important points where correction is needed. First, forget about wedging your foot under something. Instead, you should lie down on a mat, so that you can put your heels against the edge of it. Your knees should be 90 degrees and your hips approx. 45 degrees bent. Now, the trick is to lightly press downwards/backwards with your heels (hence the edge of the mat, as resistance). The reason for this is that damn hip-flexor again - if you brace yourself against something, you are doomed to use the Ilio-psoas to some degree, whereas you're sure to get it out of the action by activating your hamstrings (when pressing the heels against the mat/floor).

Secondly, forget about those cool all-the-way-up situps you always see in the Van Damme-movies. The abs can only do this small, tiny range of motion, so why would you bother to continue raising your upper body until your elbows hit the knees? I mean, really? The abs are contracted to the max when your shoulders are 1-2 inches above the ground, so just what do you expect to accomplish after that? Concentrate on going from a pretty stretched out position with your head hovering just an inch or two over the ground, shoulders flat against the ground, to the point where you cease to get any closer to the pelvis. Put your hands on the abs to feel them work. A good trick to make sure that you're training your abs correctly is to have your training partner put his/her fingertips under the small of your back, and as you crunch the fingers should be pressed deeply into the mat. Thirdly and lastly, do NOT put your hands behind your neck. If doing so, you will be tempted to start pulling at your neck to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on

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