Do you consistently pump up your abs during training, but instead of perfectly square abs, you see something crooked and asymmetrical on your stomach? You are not alone in this problem: only 3 out of 10 professional athletes have perfect abs. And you shouldn’t scold your coach for choosing the wrong program - he has nothing to do with it.
Blame it all on the structure of the press
To solve the mystery of the asymmetrical abdominal press, you first need to study its structure. The area that forms the cubes consists of three parts:
- the rectus superficialis muscle, located from the sternum down;
- a dense strip of tendon 2 cm wide, which divides the rectus muscle lengthwise into two parts;
- 3-4 bundles of tendons dividing the muscle crosswise into several parts.
We’ve figured out the basic structure, now we’ll answer the most frequently asked questions from athletes about their abs.
Why are the cubes asymmetrical or crooked?
Tendon bundles cannot always be located symmetrically. In some people, they are attached to the bone in a checkerboard pattern or are randomly displaced. As the muscle grows and begins to bulge into cubes, this asymmetry becomes noticeable. Therefore, the structure of the body is to blame.
What determines the number of cubes?
The ubiquitous bundles of tendons affect not only symmetry, but also the number of cubes. It's all about genetic characteristics. The number of cubes is laid down in the body even before birth, like hair color or body structure. The abs can consist of 4, 6 or 8 cubes, and in some individuals even 10 or 12.
Why are the cubes far apart from each other?
Here, too, everything depends on the tendons. If the bundles are wide and the muscle bellies are small, the gap between the cubes will be large. If it’s the other way around, the cubes are located close to each other. With very short tendons, the athlete has enormous opportunities for hypertrophy: the cubes will protrude very forward.
Why did the cubes appear only in the upper abdomen?
There may be two reasons:
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- Too thick fold of subcutaneous fat that covers the lower part of the abs.
- Genetically determined form of abs.
Subcutaneous fat content can be determined using a test. If he shows that the thickness of the fold on the abdomen is about 10 mm, for the sake of the long-awaited cubes you will have to undergo drying. If there is almost no fat in the lower abdomen, you will not be able to gain cubes due to the shape of your abs.
There are cubes, but they are flat. What to do?
Some athletes have almost no belly fat, but the six-pack is not visible because they are flat. This is also a genetic feature, but you can work with it. To do this, do abdominal exercises with weights: for example, crunches with a weight behind the head or lifting the legs towards the body with a weight between the legs. In addition, it is worth gaining more muscle mass with the help of a special nutrition system and training program. Then after drying the cubes will look very attractive.
What does it feel like to have 6-pack abs?
If you have asymmetrical abs or crooked abs, you just have to accept it. It's all about a certain structure of muscles and tendons, which cannot be corrected by any exercise. There is nothing terrible about this - thousands of bodybuilders from all over the world have asymmetrical abs, but this does not upset them at all. They continue to enjoy sports, win competitions and look great.
How to achieve results?
The press is a specific group of abdominal muscles that can produce varying amounts of pressure on the abdominal organs through its contraction. In fact, it is a “corset” for internal organs. Not only appearance, but also health depends on muscle strength.
It is worth noting that a person can only get 12 pack abs with great effort. And, of course, you will have to limit yourself in nutrition. When a man or woman performs abdominal exercises frequently and diligently, the result will be spectacular 12-pack abs. But achieving such a result is incredibly difficult.
How many abs should you really have?
Many people, both men and women, look with admiration and envy at the happy owners of toned, flat abs with beautiful raised “cubes” of pumped up muscles.
However, this effect is the result of systematic training and a certain lifestyle, and therefore, in people with a weak will or insufficient motivation to systematically play sports, the coveted “cubes” on the stomach are often not visible at all, since the muscle tissue is securely hidden under the fat layer.
But if you take your physical fitness seriously, how many “packs” of abs can appear on your stomach and what are these “packs” anyway?
Anatomy lessons
As Astrid Swan, a personal trainer at the American National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), explains, the so-called abs are actually a single rectus abdominis muscle that runs from top to bottom, from the bottom of the ribs to the pubic bone.
This muscle is crossed by three tendon bridges, two of which are located above the navel, and the third tendon is located approximately at its level.
Thus, four isolated areas are formed on the rectus abdominis muscle, which, under the influence of training and a certain diet, develop and begin to protrude above the tendons, visually appearing in the form of those long-awaited abs. Thus, a person normally has eight abs that can be “pumped up.”
However, as professional trainers explain, with regular training for six months, the six upper “cubes” of the press are developed quite effectively, but only super-persistent applicants can make the two lower “cubes” appear.
The problem is that in the upper part of the abs there is much more muscle tissue concentrated, which is trained during exercise, and downward the muscle tissue becomes thinner, remaining in its original state much longer. In addition, in some cases, no amount of training will help pump up abs of more than six, and sometimes even four, due to individual structural features, in which the number of tendons crossing the rectus abdominis muscle may be less than the average norm.
Can you do more?
However, the NASM representative explains, there are cases when the number of muscle “cubes” on the abdomen grows to ten.
This is explained by the fact that in some people another tendon passes through the rectus muscle below the navel, which, however, in most such cases is very weakly expressed.
Nevertheless, this feature of the anatomical structure allows some zealous bodybuilders to achieve the number of abs in excess of the usual norm.
Checkerboard
In addition to the different number of “packs,” the practical result of hard training may differ from the expected “ideal” in other respects.
For example, if in pictures of glossy magazines the abs are always presented as smooth and symmetrical, then in reality for some people they may appear not quite symmetrically and even in a checkerboard pattern.
This has nothing to do with improper training, as one might think, but is determined by the same individual genetic characteristics of the location of the tendon jumpers, due to which the longitudinal abdominal muscle takes the shape of “cubes”.
It is impossible to change the genetically determined muscle structure with any special exercises. However, experts reassure, neither the number of tendon bridges nor the peculiarities of their location affect muscle strength in any way and cannot interfere with the desire to engage in professional sports or bodybuilding.
Scientific approach
The dream of an ideal body without much effort haunts many. Our genetics also play some role in this matter. People with thicker abdominal muscles and a low percentage of body fat may have more defined abs. But no matter the body structure, the “cubes” will appear “at the command of a pike.”
Pumped up abs are always the result of long and hard work on yourself.
To determine the most effective abdominal exercises, scientists at the University of San Diego conducted a study with the participation of 30 healthy men and women aged 20-45 years, in whom the load in the upper, lower and lateral abdominal muscles was measured during training using electromyography and special equipment. as well as the degree of involvement of the muscles of the front of the thighs to ensure that the exercises are performed correctly. As a result, the “Bicycle” exercise was recognized as the most effective, followed by hanging leg raises, various types of twists and a stand on the elbows, called the “plank”.
How to properly and effectively pump up your abs at home?
Crunches
- Lie on your back: your lower back is pressed to the floor, your legs are bent at the knees, your hands are behind your head, your chin is pressed to your chest.
- Slowly lift your shoulders off the floor using your abdominal muscles a few centimeters. The amplitude is minimal. Try holding for 1-2 seconds. ...
- Slowly lower your upper back. And again.
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Cubes on the stomach: why are they crooked, not symmetrical and what determines their number?
Beautiful, sculpted abs with prominent six-packs have become an almost indispensable attribute if a person wants to have a beautiful and athletic figure.
But different people's abs sometimes look so different that the question of how many six packs should be can be seriously puzzling.
Comparing beautiful photos of professional athletes and models with the reflection in the mirror, many wonder why they cannot get the same result and what is the reason - poor-quality training, physiology or the dominance of Photoshop.
Is it true that it is more difficult for women to get 12 pack abs?
Undoubtedly, anyone who thinks so is absolutely right. The reason for this is simple physiology, since women have significantly less testosterone than men. But it is he who is responsible for burning fat and building muscle mass.
As you know, males should contain approximately 15% subcutaneous fat of their total body weight.
In turn, among the fair sex, the subcutaneous fat content is about 18-20% of body weight. In addition, the abdominal muscles in women are designed for bearing a child, this affects the anatomy.
Therefore, in a photo with 12-pack abs you can often see a man, not a woman. The exception is professional athletes.
Misconceptions that will not help you make cubes
In order to achieve results, you do not need to trust conflicting advice from magazines, but rely on the opinion of practitioners.
Myth No. 1 - Repeated body lifts
In fact, to quickly burn subcutaneous fat, there is no need to perform several hundred lifts. It’s better to ask bodybuilders how long it takes to pump up your abs to get six-packs.
They know that an exercise is beneficial if the total number of repetitions does not exceed 60 times (20 x 3). With repeated contraction of the abdominal muscles and rounding of the back, problems with posture will arise. In addition, lifting weakly stimulates hypertrophy.
If your goal is to develop abdominal muscle endurance , then this method is acceptable.
Myth No. 2 – exercising on a home gym
Myth No. 3 – Drying your abs by fasting
This is another misconception that stimulates weight gain. You can actually pump up your abs to six-pack size if you feed the muscles correctly, supplying them with amino acids, vitamins and providing them with intensive blood supply.
If the body is limited in food, it will turn on the defense mechanism and go into survival mode, extracting resources not only from adipose tissue, but also muscle tissue. At the same time, the rate of metabolic processes decreases.
After starvation, the body begins to accumulate reserves, which is fraught with uncontrolled weight gain.
Myth No. 4 - taking fat-burning drugs
It makes no sense to replace exercises for abs with pills that stimulate weight loss. They will make your wallet thinner, but not the subcutaneous fat layer. The principle of their action is based on eliminating the consequences, not the causes. At best, they provide a temporary effect, at worst, they seriously harm your health.
Myth No. 5: You can pump up your abs in a week.
The abdominal muscles, like all others, are trained according to the same regimen and during this time they will only begin to adapt to the load.
Find out if you can pump up your abs in a week in this article →
Salon treatments
- Cost in Moscow:
- from 10,000 rubles per month.
- Result:
- in about 1.5 months.
A less expensive method in terms of your own efforts, but more expensive, is hardware procedures in the salon. Today the choice is quite large: endosphere, LPG massage, laser liposuction, lipolytic injections. You can choose what suits you.
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Most procedures are aimed at working with subcutaneous adipose tissue. For example, with laser liposuction, fat deposits are destroyed using laser flashes. And special lipolytic preparations raise the level of a natural enzyme that accelerates fat metabolism and generally improve the condition of the skin.
No to cellulite: why else do you need cupping massage and how to do it at home
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Some useful tips
What you need to know about pumping up your abs:
- First, you need to remember that in the process of building muscle mass, fat does not go anywhere. You will have to go on a diet to get rid of fat - it will hide even the most beautiful muscles.
- Secondly, you cannot exercise in such a way that excess weight disappears only from a certain place on your body. Abdominal exercises burn calories, but not locally. Locally you strengthen muscles, this is not directly related to weight loss. When losing weight, it doesn’t matter what kind of exercises you do—press exercises, squats, or pull-ups. Fat either leaves proportionally from everywhere, or does not leave at all.
Blame it all on the structure of the press
To solve the mystery of the asymmetrical abdominal press, you first need to study its structure. The area that forms the cubes consists of three parts:
- the rectus superficialis muscle, located from the sternum down;
- a dense strip of tendon 2 cm wide, which divides the rectus muscle lengthwise into two parts;
- 3-4 bundles of tendons dividing the muscle crosswise into several parts.
We’ve figured out the basic structure, now we’ll answer the most frequently asked questions from athletes about their abs.
Still don't know how to pump up your abs for summer?
Rule one
Reduce the number of abdominal workouts. In order to pump up beautiful abs, it is enough to choose one, but very effective exercise for each muscle. The most common mistake of all exercisers: we do a lot of exercises (which are not entirely effective) and, as a rule, we use only one abdominal muscle.
Rule two
Master the correct technique for the exercises you choose. When performing them, the muscle that is being worked should work.
Rule three
Add weight with each workout. It is irrational to pump up your abs relying only on your own body weight; you don’t have to work them out at all.
It turns out that the press, like all other muscles, needs to be pumped with additional weight, and it must constantly increase.
The mistake 99 percent of people (including me) who try to get abs is that everyone is trying to get a six-pack without using extra weight.
Well, it’s true guys, I didn’t even think about it before, when we do the bench press, in order to pump up the chest, we grab the bar, and don’t just lower our arms in the hope that the muscles will start to grow.
And with each new workout we add more plates, add weight, and over time our muscles begin to become larger, relief appears. Rostik told me that it’s exactly the same with the press. The mistake of all beginners in the gym (and mine too): don’t add reps to your abs, add weight.
At home, you can use weights from barbells and dumbbells, or use your imagination (bricks, sandbags, etc.).
Fourth rule
Reduce the number of approaches. Incredibly, it was this rule that helped me achieve the desired results. The cubes do not appear from the number of repetitions and approaches, they appear from a small number of correctly selected exercises. All you need to do is perform a couple of correct approaches that will make your muscles grow.
Fifth rule
Now I will completely dispel your idea of the press. According to my new trainer, the most common myth about the press is that it can and should be exercised often. This is the stupidest mistake that all beginners make. As you know, muscles grow not at the moment when you contract them, but at the moment of rest. And you don’t need to pump up your abs all day long, it won’t make them appear.
It will appear only when you start to rest after training. Abdominal muscles do not recover quickly and in order for them to grow they need to be given a lot of time to recover. Rostik recommends training your abs once a week. He says the more often you work your abs, the more often they contract in an unrepaired state. With every new workout, you destroy your abdominal muscles.
Sixth rule
Normalize your diet and do not forget to drink plenty of clean water throughout the day. This works for girls, but for men this rule is very difficult. But, according to my observations and the trainer’s recommendations, this rule is very important and failure to comply with it will never lead you to your goal.
Do I need to list all my work experience on my resume?
It is necessary to indicate all work experience. This is an exclusive story of your professional development: self-discovery, formation, deepening into the profession, results, achievements, forecast of future directions in work activity.
Do I need to list all my jobs on my resume?
First, be sure to indicate your goal: what position you are applying for. ... You shouldn’t write down all the jobs that life has taken you to, leave only targeted ones that are similar in function to the position you are applying for.
How to correctly indicate work experience on a resume?
If you were promoted while working at a company, be sure to reflect this on your resume. To do this, add a new place of work, enter the previous company name and, in the appropriate fields, indicate the name of the new position, period of work and a list of changed responsibilities and achievements. Avoid abbreviations and inaccuracies.
In what order should I list my place of work on my resume?
Description of your work activity. Previous jobs are usually listed in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent.
What period of work should I include on my resume?
Work.ua recommends indicating the period of work accurate to the nearest month so that the employer can accurately assess your length of service in this position in a particular company. For example, the period “2012-2013” can be interpreted in different ways - depending on the month of employment, you could work for almost 2 years, or even 2 months.
Do I need to indicate my place of practice on my resume?
Ivan, yes, practice, whether industrial, educational or pedagogical, should be indicated in the resume, since the resume gives the employer an idea of your real work experience.
Is it necessary to indicate work experience outside of your specialty on your resume?
If during your studies you worked completely outside your specialty (for example, you were a salesperson, a waiter, a call center operator), and now you are looking for your first job in your specialty, this is not a reason to hide your experience. ... This should be indicated in the window immediately after Fr.
What must be included in a resume?
Rules for writing a resume
- Personal information. Must contain last name, first name and patronymic, date of birth, contact information. ...
- Career objective. ...
- Basic education. ...
- Experience. ...
- Additional information. ...
- Personal qualities. ...
- Recommendations. ...
- Eliminate irrelevant information.
What to write in the work experience column on your resume if you don’t have any?
So, in the “work experience” column you should write:
– The scope of the company’s activities. – Approximate number of employees. – Detailed description of the company’s activities. – If the company has its own website, be sure to indicate it.
What skills can be listed on a resume?
Key skills on a resume
- Ability to prioritize.
- Skill to work in team.
- Organizational awareness.
- Effective problem solving.
- Self-awareness.
- Proactivity.
- Ability to influence.
- Effective decision making.
How to indicate an unofficial place of work on your resume?
There are unspoken rules about how to indicate an unofficial place of work on your resume.
- Indicate only experience that is relevant to your current position.
- Don't lie or make things up.
- Try not to leave empty spaces when filling out the “experience” block.
13 Jun 2022
How is this in reverse chronological order?
The reverse chronological resume format displays all of your professional experience and education in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent job. … The chronological resume format is the most common and is very popular among recruiters and employers.
How to get a new job without quitting your old one?
Do I need to include my middle name on my resume?
Surname. Surname? In a Russian-language resume, both direct and reverse order of indicating the applicant's first and last name are allowed. In an English-language resume, firstly, there is no need to indicate the middle name, and secondly, the first name should always come before the last name.
