Summer is just around the corner. Along with it comes the time to get in your bathing suits, go to the beach and show off your abs. In this article, I cover what needs to be done in order to ensure that your abdominal training is as effective and efficient as possible, thereby enabling you to develop these highly admired muscles in the shortest amount of time.

However, keep in mind that the greatest looking abdominals are doomed to eternal hiding if your diet, weight training and cardiovascular exercise are not dialed in. The secret to great abs lies in performing an effective routine that will stimulate them from all angles by using the correct set and repetition schemes in order to develop these muscles and by lowering your body fat enough through diet and training in order to be able to show this development.

If you want great abdominals and have the determination necessary to do what it takes to get them, in this article I describe the path that will lead to success.

Abdominals' Anatomy

Well-defined and tight abs are the most sougt-after body part as a hard midsection is associated with being in good shape. In order to design a program that will properly stimulate the abs, we first need to take a small anatomy lesson.

I Break The Abdominals Down Into Four Main Muscle Groups:

The Rectus Abdominis (composed of upper and lower abdominals) The Oblique Muscles The Intercostal Muscles The Serratus Anterior

Rectus Abdominis Function & Exercises

The muscle that extends from the top of the pelvis to the sternum is called the rectus abdominis. This is the primary abdominal muscle, which when properly developed (assuming that the person has low enough body fat levels) will give the illusion of a six-pack. Its function is to pull the upper torso towards the hips when the body is only slightly flexed at the waist.

This is the reason why if you are doing a sit-up, any additional torso movement done past the initial 30 degrees from the floor will not stimulate the abs; instead the hips will be the ones that will complete the movement. Because of this, partial sit-ups performed with the torso moving up to 30 degrees and crunches are great allies in our quest to achieve great abs.

However, if you really want to maximally stimulate the abdominals, prevent lower back problems and get the most "bang for your buck" so to speak, then you need to also consider the fact that the anatomy of the rectus abdominis is such that if you do not bend your torso backwards by around 15 to 20 degrees then you won't be able to accomplish these things.

Since the floor only provides a flat surface, not only your abs will not get maximal stimulation, but also they will not learn how to properly contract and protect your back when your body is bent backwards (as is often the case when advanced bodybuilders perform exercises like standing military presses).

The only way to get around this is by investing on a swiss ball (also known as exercise ball or medicine ball). A swiss ball is a great small investment (they run for about $13-$15) as this apparatus will allow you to get the necessary backwards bend that your torso needs in order to maximally stimulate your abs. So because of this, crunches performed on an exercise ball are the way in which I recommend you perform this exercise.

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