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newsletters
Get Ready For Summer – Part 3 – Great Abs Are Made in the Kitchen (June 2008)
Welcome to the 3D PTS Edge June 2008 newsletter. For us in the Northern Hemisphere summer is around the corner and shedding the layers of clothes has begun. But for many it's also a case of extra winter baggage still hanging on, which sees a lot of people taking drastic measures like semi-starving themselves to fit into their bathing suits and summer outfits.
Last month we talked about how to tone up and change your body shape. This month, we’re going to discuss how to flatten that stomach.
‘Great abs are made in the kitchen’ is the backbone of the 3D PTS flat stomach program. So what does that mean? Some people think you need to get up at 5am and do 100 stomach crunches to get a flat stomach.
So do I just need to cut the fat out of my diet? At 3D PTS we know that once you’re in the right frame of mind to succeed, the second most important thing to know is that what you eat has a huge affect on the shape of your abdominal wall – but maybe not for the reasons you’ve heard elsewhere.
So, if ‘Great abs start in the kitchen’, what we need to talk about are the kitchen criminals: food intolerances. If left unaddressed, intolerance to a food or foods will blow your lower abdominals up like a balloon.
Food intolerances
Food intolerances can lead to a bloating effect through the body’s response to inflammation, especially around the lower abdominal area, making it much harder to get a flat stomach. When the spinal nerves that are linked with the colon (T9-L3) sense inflammation and pain, lower abdominal function (the muscles these nerves feed) is impaired and they lose their tone giving a ‘pouch belly’ appearance.
Intolerances can easily be spotted and avoided though, by removing foods that you have difficulty digesting: gluten (like that found in wheat), cow’s milk and soy are often the big offenders. If you want a flat stomach, follow an elimination diet like the one you can pick up FREE here – and use the free 3D PTS food diary too so you can record food responses and review them later. It can be tough cutting so many foods out, but for a short term sacrifice in following a strict diet, the long term benefits for your new flat stomach and for your all round health can be quite radical.
And now you’re going to tell me that the way I think can have a direct affect on my not-so-flat abs?
Yes. Stress affects your hormones – and your waistline.
The hormone cortisol is involved in your body’s response to stress, and is often called ‘the stress hormone’. The thickness of your umbilical skin fold (belly) is a reflection of your cortisol output, so for a flat stomach you need to curb the negative stress levels, both mental and physical. Common stresses include relationships, work, poor diet, too much cardio and not enough sleep.
So great abs might be made in the kitchen, but there must be an exercise component?
For sure, and knowing how your abdominal muscles work is a vital ingredient to knowing how to shape them. We don’t want to overwhelm you with anatomy and biomechanics (the study of function), so here’s a brief description of the abdominal complex and the four major abdominal muscles:
Rectus abdominis – the 6 pack (actually an 8 pack) flexes the trunk forwards. Often divided into lower abdominals (lower fibers work more during leg raises) and upper abdominals (upper fibers work more when upper body is flexing).
Transverse abdominis – the inner most muscle. Gained a lot of attention lately for its role in creating core stability, as it’s action is to compress the abdominal contents when contracted, like a girdle.
External oblique – as the name suggests, this is the outer layer of muscles which run diagonally. Used unilaterally (one side only) it flexes the trunk to the same side (ipsi laterally) and rotates the trunk to the opposite side (contra laterally). Used bilaterally (both sides together) they work to flex the trunk (just like the rectus abdominis does) and compress the abdominal contents (same as the transverse abdominis).
Internal oblique – lies beneath the external obliques. Unilaterally it flexes the trunk to the same side and rotates the trunk to the same side. Bilaterally it flexes the trunk (same as the rectus abdominis) and compresses the abdominal contents (just like the transverse abdominis does).
So why is knowing that important again?
Just doing 100 stomach crunches (sit ups) a day is not enough to maintain a functionally balanced abdominal complex, or a symmetrically looking one, on its own. By overworking your upper abdominals (which too many sit ups do) you just create a postural imbalance which can then throw the rest of your body out when you move it, risking injury and muscular stress.
Think about it. Those muscles are designed perfectly to move you in 3 dimensions:
When you just pump away one dimensionally doing sit ups (flexing and extending your body backwards and forwards), you cut out all the muscles that want to get some exercise moving you from side to side, and those that want to rotate (twist) you. That’s not going to get you where you want to go fast. In fact, it might get you where you want to go at all!
Your muscles are also designed to contract in 3 dimensions, not one:
In the same amount of time it takes to perform 100 sit ups, you could do an abdominal workout that challenges all your muscles in the right way, instead of just a few in the wrong way.
To get your FREE exclusive ‘3D Abdominal Master Class’ on what to do for a true abdominal complex workout, with pictures and descriptions to help you, just click here.
And before we go, a quick word about posture…
Did you know that poor posture can give the appearance of a pot belly? The muscles that flex the hips are renowned for being very ‘greedy’ muscles - meaning they always want to be a part of the action and take over. They get short and tight, and tilt the pelvis forward (causing numerous problems including those of the lower back), restricting and inhibiting your bum muscles, which are our main movers. They need to be stretched very regularly!
That brings us to the end of our 3 part Get Ready for Summer Special, we hope you gained some useful hints and tips. We’ll be putting all three parts on the website under the free tools/newsletters tab shortly.
What will we be talking about next month? Join us to find out…
Until then, we wish you all the very best in health and fitness.
Craig, Matt and the 3D PTS team.
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