Complete Book of ABS - Kurt Brungardt - Paperback - 1st ed

Proper Training Technique, The Body by BRETT BRUNGARDT Proper training technique is essential for a successful workout program. It is important for two key reasons: It provides the best results in the least amount of time, and it decreases the chance of injury during training. This chapter will contain important training principles that are essential for complete AB development. The Complete ABs Philosophy To achieve these goals you need to train and condition all the major muscles in your abdomen. Incomplete abdominal training will cause a muscular imbalance or weakness. This can cause bad posture, lower-back pain, and increased chances of injuries. To achieve proper technique, you must look at the ABs as a system. The muscle groups of the abdominal area are synergistic-they act and react together. In most movements, one muscle group is a prime mover, another group is a secondary mover, and a third may be used as a stabilizer. If you don't work for balanced development, one or more of the muscle groups will not perform optimally. The Basic Principles STARTING OUT: One of the most frequently asked questions is "Where should I start?" or "Which exercises should I do and how many?" There is no one correct answer. Every person is different. You must experiment to find the correct starting point. Two principles will help you determine a place to begin. * When learning a new exercise, use minimal intensity (if possible) and perform it while you are fresh. * Once that exercise has been mastered with correct technique, increase the intensity very gradually, until you can no longer perform the movement for the prescribed number of repetitions or you have a breakdown in technique. This may sound tedious, but remember: technique is the key to success. Be patient-you will be able to perform more and more exercises with greater ease, and achieve better results when you concentrate on proper technique from the beginning. Full Range of Motion It is important to perform all exercises through a full range of motion. You must maintain resistance on the muscles throughout the entire movement. This is especially important for sports performance. Most sports skills are dynamic (in motion), therefore your muscles need to be strengthened throughout their full range of natural motion. Overload and Progression Your AB muscles are the same as any other. Training principles don't change. For a muscle to get stronger, it has to be overloaded. Overloading means placing a greater amount of stress on a muscle than it is used to. In simple terms this causes it to adapt and get stronger. Muscle enlargement develops out of necessity. When they are exposed to a greater resistance, they adapt to overcome it. In other words, they get bigger and stronger. Adaptation is synonymous with development. Overloading the AB muscles can be accomplished in two ways, both progressive: First, by either increasing the repetitions per set or adding an exercise to increase total exercise volume; second, by increasing the intensity of training, which can be accomplished by increasing the resistance (doing a more difficult exercise or adding weight) or by decreasing the rest time between sets and exercises. These two forms of overloading should be done separately (either increase volume or intensity to create adaptations). When both intensity and volume are increased simultaneously, you are in danger of overtraining. Speed of Movement The speed with which you do an exercise is an important part of successful AB training. Generally, the speed should be slow and controlled through both the raising and lowering phases. As you reach advanced levels of training, it is important to vary the speed of exercise movements to achieve a more complete development. Three basic movemenBrungardt, Kurt is the author of 'Complete Book of ABS - Kurt Brungardt - Paperback - 1st ed' with ISBN 9780679744351 and ISBN 0679744355.