By Russell Alexander
When you are working to get tight abs, you need to focus on all of the abdominal muscles. If you tighten the upper abs and neglect the lower abs, you will be unbalanced. Focusing on the lower abs and neglecting the upper abs can also cause you to be unbalanced.
There are no real exercises that work all of the muscle groups at one time, but there are some exercises that do work a set at a time throughout the movement. Pilates is a type of exercise that does this.
Working one set of muscles at a time gives you a little more freedom to sculpt your body the way that you want.
To get tight abs and achieve a tight, toned midsection you need to work all of the muscle groups. However, when you work one set at a time, you need to make sure that you don’t overwork one group and under work another.
Leg lifts and pelvic lifts work the lower abs while crunches work the upper abs. When you perform these exercises, there are dozens of variations that work to give you all over tight abs.
This is particularly important with women because the lower abs are often neglected, but pregnancy and child birth can stretch out these muscles. When you work to tighten your ab muscles, pay close attention to your lower abs area, especially if you have experienced a pregnancy.
Pilates works sets of muscles in one movement. Because Pilates focuses on strengthening the core, you can certainly get tight abs. Many of the exercises were designed by dancers for dancers so the movements promote long, lean contractions and stretches. You can get toned, tight abs with Pilates and work lower as well as upper abs.
Cardio should be incorporated into your workout as well. Most cardio exercises work many muscle groups at once while burning fat. While this is not specifically targeting your abs, it is included as you complete the movements. Cardio also burns the fat that covers and conceals the muscle in your body so that your tight abs are more evident and defined.
Ideally, your workout should consist of exercises that work each individual muscle group. This could be free weights or floor work. It should also include exercises that work all the muscle groups such as with Pilates and cardio.
This is the most productive route to tight abs. You will probably want to do cardio every day because of its fat burning properties, but you can do floor work on one day and Pilates the next.
A good weekly workout for tight abs would consist of cardio every day. Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be your days to do floor work while Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday would be your days to do Pilates.
You can add some free weight exercises in there as well, but whether you are doing floor work, Pilates or free weights, make sure that you work all of the abdominal muscle groups. Work the upper abs as well as the lower abs and you will see defined, rock hard tight abs in no time.
About the author
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