Brace yourself - here come the abdominals! 

The abdominals are often the hot topic of conversation for most athletes, fitness enthusiasts or those keen to generally look in good shape. Acting as a brace by providing core stability for the spine, keeping our abdominal contents in place and all the while showing off a six-pack - there’s definitely more to the ‘abs’ than meets the eye. Peeling back the layers is the best way to understand the abdominals. So let’s get started! 

From inside out 

The deepest abdominal muscle positioned horizontally like a corset around our core is the transversus abdominis. Largely responsible for maintaining spinal stability it provides a base from which to move our arms and legs, it is the unsung hero of the abs and we really shouldn’t neglect it just because we can’t see it! While acting as a support girdle it also prevents our viscera from escaping! Overall, the transversus is the critical muscle for sports people and couch potatoes alike, as it is essential in driving any and all movement. 

Overlying the transversus are the internal obliques, which in turn are covered by the external obliques – together these muscles allow us to bend to the side and twist our torso (think diagonal crunches here). Also important for core stability, the obliques provide tone to the waist and are a fundamental muscle group for golfers, swimmers, and players of all ball sports. So what’s left? Well, the all-important six-pack muscle of course! The Rectus abdominis is the ultimate crunch muscle. Divided into two sides, and segmented into its 8 units, the rectus muscle provides the beautiful abs everyone strives for by flexing the spine forward from sternum to pelvis. Not only does the rectus dominate many training sessions, it signifies outwardly a sign of fitness, strength and good conditioning. But is this really the case?  

  

It’s what’s inside that counts 

Beauty is only skin deep, or so they say! While we spend all our efforts in developing that ever-demanding, very visible six-pack, what many of us do is neglect a fundamental ‘core’ purpose of our abs. Lumbar spine stability. If we have weak transverse and oblique abdominals, we shift additional stresses to our spine and also our pelvic floor, resulting in spinal instability and pelvic weakness. So outside of developing our six-pack, what should we be doing? 

Getting back to basics 

As we know you can’t run before you can walk, we also know you can’t place additional stresses through sport on the rest of your body if your core can’t cope! So how can diPulse help? Aside from the programs designed to develop superficial muscle definition for the six-pack (using the 31-minute Hypertrophy program for example), there are other options to maintain deep abdominal muscle integrity too. Using the diPulse SMARTBELT or SMARTSHIRT in your training will help ensure you don’t overload your lower back through your usual abs training, since you can target the deep core stabilizing abs directly, without placing stresses on the spine.

Why not integrate the 25 minute Core Stabilization program during your workout which targets those deep abdominal muscles promoting core support? Or follow this with the 13-minute Refinement program to improve waist (oblique) muscle tone? However, if in doubt, the 28-minute Abdominals program has been specifically designed to target core stability and strength, so you really can’t go wrong. This is why we are confident that with our diversity of NMES programs, diPulse will always have you covered, whatever your goals.

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References:  

Shian, B and Larson, S (2018), “Abdominal Wall Pain: Clinical Evaluation, Differential Diagnosis and Treatment”, American Family Physician, 1;98 (7):429-436 

Stacy Dockins at stacydockins.com 

Standring, S (2020) “Section 60 Anterior Abdominal Wall” in Grays Anatomy, 42 Ed, The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice, Elsevier, London