Copyright (c) 2008 Personal Fitness Development

Developing a great set of six-pack abs is really quite simple once you
understand the how to firm and flatten your abs with this information,
which includes two important components:

1. A workout program consisting of carefully selected, biomechanically
correct abdominal exercises, and

2. A nutrition program that optimizes fat loss and maintenance or
growth of lean muscle tissue.

As simple as this sounds, I'll be the first to admit that ab training
can be an extremely confusing subject at first because there is so
much conflicting information on the subject.

Opinions Are Just That! Opinions

Countless opinions, rumors, and theories about ab training are
continually being circulated by an endless parade of "experts"
including doctors, personal trainers, infomercial gurus, and even
friends, teachers, and parents. Some information is valid, but most of
it isn't. It's hard to sort through it all, let alone know what to
believe. Abdominal mythology abounds, and some myths never seem to
die.

To help you cut through the myths and lies and lead you straight to
the truth that will help you develop the type of body that you'll be
proud to show off the next time you hit the beach.

Before we discuss the anatomy and physiology of the abdominal muscles
or the actual training routines, the first thing to do is clear your
mind of the myths, lies, and misconceptions that have been polluting
your brain as a result of gym folklore, false advertising, and bad
advice from self-proclaimed experts.

More bad information is published and told about ab training than any
other health and fitness subject, and I've boiled it down to 14 myths
that are particularly damaging and pervasive. I will explain 3 of them
in this article.

Let's put them to rest permanently, shall we?

MYTH #1: If you train abs every day, you're guaranteed a six-pack. One
of the most common abdominal myths is that training your abdominals
every day is the best way to get a small waistline and develop the six-
pack look in your stomach. This misconception was probably funneled
through the bodybuilding world, because so many bodybuilders train
their abs daily prior to competitions. Despite the fact that
bodybuilders appear on stage with incredibly ripped abs, their abs
come from their diet, not just their daily ab workouts.

Daily training is not only a waste of time, it's an approach that
won't work for the average person who doesn't use performance-
enhancing substances or have a naturally high recovery capacity.

There are two reasons that daily abdominal training is unnecessary and
does not guarantee you a six-pack.

First, the muscle tissue of your abs is virtually the same as the
muscle tissue in the rest of your body. Abdominal muscles cannot
become stronger and more developed without time to rest and recover
after each workout, just like any other muscle group such as your
biceps or chest. You wouldn't do 100 barbell curls every day to "see
your biceps" or 100 bench presses every day to "see your pecs," so why
do the same for your abs?

Second, even if you could achieve excellent muscular development in
the abs with daily training, you won't be able to see your abs if
they're covered with a layer of fat. Daily abdominal training does not
burn the fat off your midsection! Fat is lost by creating a calorie
deficit through your diet. Build the muscle tissue with exercise; burn
the fat with diet.

During the initial phase of the Firm and Flatten Your Abs program
(Level 1), I recommend that you perform exercises daily for the first
two to three weeks. However, these Level 1 exercises are very basic
movements using only your body weight, and they are designed to
prepare, strengthen, and neurologically program your body for the more
advanced exercises to follow.

For the long term, you can get fantastic results training your abs
every other day (about four days a week), and once they're developed,
you can maintain your abs with even less frequent training.

MYTH #2: You can eat pizza and hamburgers and still maintain a six-
pack as long as you work out right after you eat them. The truth is
that developing your abs is achieved through exercise, but seeing your
abs is more a function your diet than any other factor. You could have
a great set of abs completely covered with fat. The secret to
uncovering the abdominal muscles is nutrition.

Theoretically, you could lose the fat covering your abs while eating
whatever you wanted, as long as you still had a caloric deficit.
However, eating calorie-dense junk food makes it much harder to
maintain the caloric deficit you need to burn body fat. Furthermore,
eating fast food and other nutritionally-void junk as regular daily
staples in your diet will eventually exact a serious toll on your
health.

You simply cannot expect exercise to cancel out poor eating habits. It
takes proper exercise and nutrition to get optimal results. Go into
your local fast food restaurant and look around. How many people do
you see that have an envious abdominal region? Chances are, you won't
see any!

MYTH #3: Sit-ups develop the abdominal muscles best. It's ironic, but
the sit-up, which is the most popular exercise in the world for the
abdominals, might be the absolute worst exercise and could even be
dangerous for some people under some circumstances.

What most people don't realize is that the sit-up is not a true
abdominal exercise. During a sit-up, your main trunk flexor, the
iliopsoas muscle, often does the majority of the work while the abs
are not optimally recruited.

Because the iliopsoas muscle originates on the lower back, the sit-up
literally pulls on the lower back with every repetition, especially if
your feet are held down or anchored, or the repetitions are performed
quickly in a jerky fashion. This is why too many sit-ups can lead to a
strength imbalance between the iliopsoas and abdominals, as well as
poor posture and lower back pain.

Some people who have very strong abs and lower backs may be able to
perform conventional sit-ups more safely than others. There are also
some safer and more effective ways to perform sit-ups. One is the
Janda sit-up. This exercise uses the law of reciprocal inhibition,
which means that if one muscle is working, its antagonist (the
opposing muscle) must relax.

During a Janda sit-up, instead of holding your feet down, your partner
reaches around and holds your calves. As you sit up, you contract your
hamstrings and glutes by pulling your calves back against your
partner's hands. (You can also press your lower legs back against
small dumbbells or a heavy weighted barbell.) When the hamstrings and
glutes contract, this shuts off the iliopsoas, making your abs do more
of the work.

If I prescribe sit-ups, I simply have my clients do Janda sit-ups.
However, Janda sit-ups can be difficult to perform on your own and
because of the injury potential from sit-ups in general, and since
there are so many other more effective exercises, I have left sit-ups
out of this course completely.

It's incredible, but true: You can develop amazing abs without ever
doing a single sit-up!

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About the Author

David Grisaffi is a Sports Conditioning Coach and holds multiple
certifications including three from the prestigious CHEK Institute.
Plus he is also the author of the popluar selling e book, "Firm and
Flatten Your Abs," which teaches you how to develop a ripped abdominal
region. Lean how to shead bodyfat and eliminate low back pain and
recieve his free newsletter by visiting: http://www.flattenyourabs.net

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