The Super Abs Controversy

Today, there is much confusion regarding proper use of the abdominal wall, especially during resistance training or heavy lifting activities. Currently, there are numerous organizations and elite coaches who instruct their students to push their abdominals out while passing through the sticking point of a lift. This is encouraged both with, and without the use of a weight belt. There is also a very well known spinal biomechanist who prescribes abdominal bracing. His evidence is very compelling from a clinical standpoint. This article will not address abdominal bracing but address activation of the abdominal wall.

The technique of pushing the abs out during a lift may be more founded in tradition than current anatomical knowledge. In this article, I will present an anatomically based explanation for proper abdominal wall function during resistance training and will use the squat to help demonstrate this.

ACTIVATION OF THE ABDOMINAL WALL

A deep diaphragmatic breath should be taken prior to initiation of the squat or any other heavy lift. This results in contraction and subsequent lowering of the diaphragm into the thoracic cavity which pushes the organs down and out onto the abdominal wall. As seen in Figure 1-A, inhalation causes the diaphragm to drop from its resting position (shown in blue) to a position representative of inhalation, which causes distention of the abdominal wall. This results in the umbilicus moving away from the spinal column. Figure 1-A &1-B

After a full inhalation is achieved, the transversus abdominis (TVA) should be activated. Because the fibers of the TVA are horizontal with respect to the spine (Figure 2 - A1), when activated, it causes the umbilicus to move toward the spine. This inward movement is critical the following reasons:
When the TVA is activated, the internal organs are compressed which creates intra-abdominal pressure (Figure 1-B). Although current research indicates that intra-abdominal pressure may not be as supportive as previously believed, TVA contraction creates what is referred to as hoop tension.

The hoop tension created by the TVA drawing inward against the relatively non-compressible viscera creates a segmental stabilizing effect on the lumbar spine. As seen in Figure 2 (A1 & A2), the TVA pulls laterally on the thoracolumbar fascia (TLF)(1) and because the TLF attaches to both the spinous process and the transverse processes of each lumbar vertebra, activation of the TVA serves to stabilize each vertebra.

The erector spinae musculature are housed in a fascial envelope which is stabilized when the umbilicus is drawn inward. When the erector spinae muscles contract within this relatively non-expansible envelope, pressure is exerted against the fascia, which produces an extension force on the forward bend or flexed spine. This is referred to as the Hydraulic Amplifier Mechanism (1,2). There is also speculation, that activation of the TVA in concert with the other stabilizer mechanisms mentioned here actually produces a slight extension effect on the spine, which has been called thoracolumbar fascia gain (1).

As you descend in the squat, the line of gravity relative to the load gradually moves forward which creates a progressively greater flexion moment on the lumbar spine. Something you may have experienced while squatting is that, as you progress toward the sticking point, there is greater load placed on your back. This requires a concomitant increase in stability to prevent unwanted compression, torsion and/or sheer of the spinal structures.

Up-regulation of the inner unit muscles (diaphragm, TVA, multifidus and pelvic floor) will be necessary to adequately stiffen the spinal column to protect the joint structures of the spine from injury. Based on extensive clinical observations, I propose that, when lifting at high intensities, the diaphragm (being a large, strong muscle) contracts with enough force to push the viscera downward. Because the viscera are relatively non-compressible, this will force the umbilicus outward (Figure 1-C).

THEORY OF ENERGY CONSERVATION
Many anatomists and biomechanics consider the body to be a highly efficient and energy-conserving organism for reasons of survival during developmental times. The body’s tendency to conserve energy can been seen while performing a heavy lift, such as the squat. As described above, when the powerful diaphragm contracts to meet the progressive demand for stabilization of the spinal column and rib cage, the viscera will be forced downward and outward. This would demonstrate why many coaches and athletes have observed the abs pushing out during a lift.

As the abs are being pushed outward under the force of contraction from the superincumbent diaphragm, the TVA will be forced to work eccentrically. Most of you know that a muscle is approximately 30-40% stronger eccentrically than concentrically. This mechanism would not only allow the body to better stabilize the spinal column, it would do it at a reduced energy cost!

SO ARE THE ABS OUT OR IN?
While initiating the squat, or during preparation for any heavy lift, the deep abdominal wall (inner unit) of a functional body will activate to provide segmental stabilization of the spine. This results in a visible inward motion of the umbilicus; the abs are going in. As you move through the sticking point, the relative load against the spinal column will be at a maximum and will therefore require a maximum contribution from both the inner and outer unit muscles. The inner unit muscles will act to stiffen the spinal column while the larger outer unit muscles will provide gross stability and motion.
To better appreciate this, one need only look at the line of gravity during the decent into a squat. The progressively larger lever arm against the spine will require an increasingly greater contraction of the erector spinae muscles to move the load in concert with the leg musculature. The massive contraction of the back muscles can not go unchecked by the large rectus abdominis and oblique muscles, or the spine would simply collapse into extension. Therefore we could say that there is co-contraction of the outer abdominal muscles against the back muscles to provide gross stability of the torso and move the load.

As this co-contraction takes place, there will be thickening of the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles, just as you would expect when contracting any skeletal muscle. Considering this along with the fact that the diaphragm can force the TVA into an eccentric contraction thus pushing the umbilicus away from the spine (while maintaining segmental stability), would make it appear to the observer or athlete looking in the mirror that the abs are moving out! However, what I have shown here is that in a properly functioning body, the inner unit musculature remains contracted (abs in) while the outer unit contracts to act as a gross stabilizer, pushing the abdominals progressively more outward as the load and need for gross stability increases.

CONCLUSION
What is critical, with regard to stability and longevity of the spine in anyone lifting heavy loads (or loads heavy enough to require natural interruption of the respiratory cycle) is the sequence of events. In the functional body, the umbilicus will move inward as an indicator that the segmental stabilizing mechanism is activated (3). As the demand for greater stiffness and stabilization of the torso increases, the diaphragm will force the TVA to contract eccentrically. In concert with this action there will be an increased activation of the rectus abdominis and oblique abdominal muscles, providing gross stability by the way of co-contraction against the spinal extensors. This will be recognized as the abs moving outward, during which time the inner unit muscles will continue to be active unless the lifter is wearing a lifting belt; belt wearing may completely alter the recruitment patterns of the core musculature.

References
Bogduk, N. Clinical Anatomy of the Lumbar Spine and Sacrum. (3rd. Ed.) New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1999.
Gracovetsky, S., Farfan HF, Lamay C (1997). A mathematical model of the lumbar spine using an optimal system to control muscles and ligaments. Orthopedic Clinics of North America 8: 135-153.
Chek, P. Scientific Core Conditioning. (correspondence course) Encinitas, CA: Chek Institute, 1993, 1999.

Fit with fat loss in 4 minutes

I came across an advertisement in one of those airplane magazines a while back that caught my attention. What I found was the answer to becoming fit and losing weight. The only problem, it cost $14,615. It was a machine called the ROM. It actually looked very strange and I couldn’t even come close to comprehending spending $14, 615 for a machine but it did leave me wondering how they could make that claim. Could I actually exercise only 4 minutes per day and get the results I was looking for, improved fitness and fat loss?

Well, I'm going to save you a lot of money today because I'm going to explain to you how to achieve higher levels of fitness without an extremely overpriced machine. This "top secret" training method may do more for you than all your other exercises classes combined and leave you with 23 hours and 56 minutes to live the rest of your day.
But there's a small price to pay. Done correctly, you reach new levels of fatigue and exhaustion. I have gotten physically sick, from this training technique from pushing my body as hard as absolutely possible.

There’s that old saying that the Japanese can do it cheaper and faster when it comes to producing goods to sell to the masses. Well, this is a great example of how accurate that really is. This method of training was discovered by a Japanese researcher who was looking to find a way to increase both the anaerobic (doesn’t utilize oxygen for energy production) & aerobic utilizes oxygen for energy production) metabolic pathways in elite athletes.

This method was discovered by Izumi Tabata at the National institutes of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. Tabata had two groups of elite athletes to use in this study. One group exercised on bikes for 5 days per week for 6 weeks with each session lasting 60 minutes. The other group exercised 5 days per week for 6 weeks with each session lasting 4 minutes. The results were amazing. The 4 minute Tabata workout produced a greater level of caloric burn, which leads to greater fat loss, over a 24 hour period. Also, another incredible finding was that the 4 minute workout resulted in improvements in both aerobic and anaerobic performance. The athletes improved their fitness by working out 56 minutes less each day. Wow!

This training method is so simple, yet so incredibly difficult, that athletes tend to try it once, acknowledge its greatness, and then rarely go back to do it again. What is it? It's simple: take one exercise and perform it in the following manner:
1) For twenty seconds, do as many repetitions as possible.
2) Rest for ten seconds
3) Repeat seven more times!

That's it! You're done in 240 seconds or four minutes! Oh, and that thing you're trying to brush off your face? That would be the floor.
Eight sets of "as many reps as you can get done," followed with a brief ten second rest— simple and effective. The best exercise for the beginner Tabata trainer is the body weight squat.
It helps to have someone record the reps of each set for you because, well, you won't remember as you get dizzy from exhaustion.

You should measure you lowest set of repetitions performed to compare workout to workout. You are starting with body weight squats to a close to parallel position if possible. For those of you that can, go slow and deep with your squats. If you have some challenges with your knees or are concerned about your form, squat down to a chair, like a dining room chair. The depth of your squat will directly relate to the level of muscular effort required to perform every rep in this brief 4 minute workout.

I have done this workout with three to four different exercises in a row. I have used the squat, pushup, crunch and pull-up. In this format I worked out for 16 minutes and was totally slammed! I would like to give you a few pointers to get started.
First, you need to be able to see a wall clock with a second hand during your four minutes of fun. Stop at twenty seconds, rest ten seconds and go again. Watching the clock seems to help with the focus.

And remember this: you really shouldn't consider doing much after the Tabata workout. Your lungs will be going like a locomotive engine. Go ahead and plan anything you like, but don't be surprised if it just doesn't happen. The hardest thing about this workout is staying focused for four minutes. But then again, you could have bought the $14, 615 ROM machine, which would look nice next to your Nordic track.

Benching and Bad Shoulders

Why all the fuss over a big bench-press? What does the sheer amount of weight that someone can push whilst lying flat on their back have to do with anything? If you’re sitting with a bunch of guys and someone strong walks in, it’s common to hear "I wonder what he can bench?" Or when discussing sport, the same question comes up, "How much can so-and-so bench?" This is given undue attention when average joe’s are trying to size up a persons athletic prowess.

The bench press exercise was never intended to be a benchmark of man (or woman!) hood. It is an exercise for improving the size and/or strength of the chest, anterior deltoids and triceps, nothing else. In fact, the star player on any team is rarely the one with the biggest bench press! Unfortunately, over-emphasis on the bench press often coupled with poor technique has led to a high incidence of shoulder injuries in both athletes and non-athletes. Additionally many people are not anatomically designed to perform the exercise as it is generally taught in most strength training texts, Personal Trainer certification courses and by many strength coaches.

THE PROBLEM WITH TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUE

The bar is lowered until it touches the chest and then pressed back up to the start position. Everyone is expected to lower the bar to the chest; anything less is considered poor form, sub-standard, and even wimpy by fellow lifters. However, to perform the exercise under such guidelines requires a greater range of motion (ROM) than is found in the shoulder joint of most people - particularly male athletes. Why is it so important to work within the ROM of your shoulder joint? Some simple anatomy will help to explain this.

The movement-restricting factor during a bench press is not the muscles of the shoulder; it is the special connective tissue casing around the shoulder joint called the "joint capsule." This highly specialized structure is anatomically designed to not only allow just the right amount of motion to prevent joint damage, but also contains thousands of specialized nerve endings called "proprioceptors." Proprioceptors are special nerve endings that communicate with the brain to inform it of joint position and speed of movement, as well as pressure, tension and pain in and around the joint. Loading the shoulder and forcing it beyond the functional ROM limit will stretch the shoulder joint capsule. In most people this will occur by letting the bench-press bar travel until it touches the chest.

Additionally, because the bench press is performed on a flat weight lifting bench, normal movement of the shoulder blades (scapulae) is disrupted. This demands that more movement must occur in the shoulder joint itself. As the bar is loaded with heavier and heavier weights, the shoulder blades are pressed into the bench harder and harder, further disrupting the normal mechanics of the shoulder girdle joints and overloading the shoulder.

HOW FAR SHOULD YOU LET THE BAR TRAVEL WHEN PERFORMING A BENCH PRESS?
To protect the shoulder joint capsule from being stretched out or injured the exerciser must determine how far to safely lower the bar. It is essential that each person determine optimal bench press range of motion for his or her own shoulders, as each person is different.

The Bench Press Range of Motion Test

Step 1 - Passive Range of Motion: Place your arm in the bench press position and allow your arm to lower to its passive end range of motion. This is the position where the arm naturally stops without being forced. At this point you have determined the exact point at which the shoulder joint capsule becomes the primary restraint to shoulder ROM.
Step 2 - Optimal Bottom Position: Once you have identified the end position of passive shoulder range of motion with the Bench Press Range of Motion Test, lift the arm 2-3cm to find your optimal bottom position for the bench press exercise. This creates a small buffer zone (10º - 15º) which will protect the joint capsule from overload when the weights get heavy or when you get tired.

Although many will argue that you must train through the "full range of motion" to be strong for sport, this concept is unfounded. It is well known among Physiotherapists and exercise scientists that there is approximately a 15º +/- carry-over of strength developed at any specific joint angle with strength training. i.e. if you train the shoulder from 15º to 75º, the strength gained will carryover from 0º to 90º. This is how sports medicine doctors improve strength in an injured shoulder or knee without actually ever moving the joint through the painful ROM.

What’s so important about training within your given ROM?
What most trainers, athletes and coaches don’t seem to respect is the fact that training beyond the shoulder’s passive barrier with heavy loads will stretch the shoulder joint capsule. Once stretched, the joint capsule can no longer stabilize the shoulder joint with common arm movements such as swimming, hitting a volley ball or netball, holding power tools over head or even swinging a hammer. If these arm movements are repeated without the stability provided by a functional shoulder joint capsule, an impingement syndrome develops, resulting in inflammation and pain in the shoulder joint. Bursitis and rotator cuff tendonitis commonly develop secondarily. Because the shoulder joint capsule provides critical information about arm position, those with a loose joint capsule often lose their ability to accurately sense joint position. This will result in a loss of accuracy in sports requiring precision placement of the arm.

In any sport, your arm rarely ever reaches a loaded end point in the same position twice in the same game or event. Because the loads in sport are both brief in duration and seldom as high as those encountered during a bench press session, the shoulder joint capsule can recover from intermittent exposure to end range loading. For those with insufficient range of motion to perform the traditional Bench Press, going to the gym and lowering heavy loads to your chest with slow speeds of movement, 30-100 repetitions or more per week is like repeatedly crashing your car into a brick wall at slow speeds just to prepare for the one day you may actually have an accident!

WHAT DO I DO IF MY SHOULDERS ARE TRASHED AND I STILL WANT TO BENCH PRESS?

If you have painful shoulders when bench pressing you may not need to stop. To safely return to bench pressing, follow these guidelines:

Spend 4-8 weeks performing a rotator cuff conditioning program. For more information on rotator cuff training I recommend contacting Advanced Fitness to schedule an assessment. If you meet the inclusion criteria, you can be admitted into a shoulder rehabilitation program.

Begin your return to the bench press from the floor, not a bench. The floor creates a range of motion barrier, protecting your shoulder joint capsules and tendons from excessive stretch.
Always start with dumbbells. Dumbbells allow your body the needed freedom of motion to find a new bench press pathway that does not stress the injured tissues.

Once you have performed 3-4 weeks of floor bench press, progress from the floor to a slightly deflated 55-65cm Swiss Ball. The Swiss Ball will allow a slightly greater range of motion than the floor and will increase stabilizer activation. After 3-4 weeks on a deflated Swiss Ball, progressively inflate your Swiss Ball. The firm ball will allow slightly more shoulder joint motion as well as increased shoulder blade motion.
Having performed the above steps, use the test described in Figure 2 to assure that you don’t exceed your shoulders safe bench press range of motion. Progress both volume and intensity slowly. If your shoulder(s) begin to show signs of discomfort with the traditional bench press, revert back to the previous steps in the progression and avoid the traditional bench press all together!

Let us know what you think about this article. Email your comments to info@fit224.com.

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