Working Your Abdominal Muscles

Why are your abdominal muscles so important?

Abdominal muscles are important in providing support and movement to the trunk. These muscles also provide protection to the inner abdominal organs and assists your body in breathing. Your abdominal muscles, along with your back muscles, also provides your body with posturalsupport.

How do you exercise these core muscles?

Here are three great exercises that you can do at home to strengthen your abdominal muscles, the body’s support system:

1) Abdominal Crunch

- Lie on your back, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, about shoulder widthapart.

- Place your hands across your chest. Push your lower back into the floor and tighten your abdominal muscles.

- Slowly curl your head and shoulders a few inches off of the floor. Pause for a few seconds andthen slowly lower your head and shoulders back to the starting position.

- Repeat until exhaustion.

2) Abdominal Twist Crunch

- Lie on your back, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, about shoulder widthapart.

- Place your hands across your chest. Push your lower back into the floor and tighten your abdominal muscles.

- Slowly curl your head and shoulders a few inches off of the floor toward your right knee. Pausefor a few seconds and then slowly lower your head and shoulders back to the starting position.

- Slowly curl your head and shoulders a few inches off the floor toward your left knee. Pause fora few seconds and then slowly lower your head and shoulders back to the starting position.

- Continue to alternate your crunches from right to left.

- Repeat until exhaustion.

3) Leg Raise

- Lie on your back and place your arms to the side of your body, with your plams facing down. Rest your shoulders and head on the floor and contract your abdominal muscles.

- Straighten your legs and keep them together. Lift your legs so that they are several inches off ofthe floor.

- Slowly raise your legs until they are no more than 40 degrees off of the floor.

- Pause for a few moments and then slowing lower your legs back so that they are back to beingseveral inches off of the floor.

- Repeat until exhaustion.

What is Overtraining?

Overtraining is typically the case when athletes train extensively without adequate rest time. In addition to this, all athletes are different and respond differently to certain training routines and stressors. Mental fatigue can also compound the stresses of training, as training and everyday activities involve a functional mind. If you do play many sports and train on top of that, you may encountour overtraining. Realize; however, that overtraining is difficult to diagnose.

If overtraining is a concern to you, you may want to familiarize yourself with some of the symptoms:

tired
drained
lack of energy
general aches and pains
sudden drop in performance
insomnia
headaches
increased susceptibility to colds
decrease in training capacity and intensity
moodiness and irritability
depression
loss of appetite
increase in injury susceptibility


If you are experiencing a wide range of these symptoms, you can further investigate this issue by doing am orthostatic heart rate test. Here is a link that will guide you through the test. http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrtest.htm

You are the best person to gauge how your body feels. If you do feel these symptoms and are overtraining, you are best to either reduce the amount of exercise, or stop it completely for a few days to allow your body to rest.