Exercises for abdominal muscles and back

You dream of a slim figure. You dream of slim legs, flat belly and buttocks that underline your silhouette. It is not only the aesthetic feelings that should motivate you to train but also the fact that physical exercises are very beneficial to our health. One of the most important muscles, which importance is primarily aesthetic to us are our abdominal muscles. Beautifully carved abdominals are also very beneficial to your health. Systematic abdominal and back muscles training is the best prevention for the health of our spine. Not only to avoid the slow and systematic deformations of our spine caused by negative factors associated with our work and not so hygienic, concerning our spine, lifestyle but also to protect us from unfortunate events like car accidents. If we build a strong muscle corset, it will function as an armor protecting our spine.

Abdominal and back muscles training should be included in our daily hygiene and care for our good health.

Exercises on abdominal and back muscles

You dream of a slim figure. You dream of slim legs, flat belly and buttocks that underline your silhouette. It is not only the aesthetic feelings that should motivate you to train but also the fact that physical exercises are very beneficial to our health. One of the most important muscles, which importance is primarily aesthetic to us are our abdominal muscles. Beautifully carved abdominals are also very beneficial to your health. Systematic abdominal and back muscles training is the best prevention for the health of our spine. Not only to avoid the slow and systematic deformations of our spine caused by negative factors associated with our work and not so hygienic, concerning our spine, lifestyle but also to protect us from unfortunate events like car accidents. If we build a strong muscle corset, it will function as an armor protecting our spine.

Abdominal and back muscles training should be included in our daily hygiene and care for our good health.

Abdominals and back muscles: Their role and responsibilities

The bones of the spine are like a frame of the back. This frame is connected with a complex system of muscles and ligaments that increase the durability and stability of the spine, arms and legs. Abdominal muscles and back muscles are essential elements of this muscle network to keep the body in vertical position and allow for movement. When these torso muscles are in bad condition, they no longer fulfill their function for the spine and the risk of back pain or back injury is more probable.

The objectives of exercise on back and abdominal muscles

Exercise on abdominal and back muscles should be focused on muscles grouped in three categories:
- extensor muscles (back and buttocks). These muscles are used to straighten the back and buttocks.
- flexer muscles (abdominals and ilio-lumbar muscles). These muscles are used for the deflection and support of the spine. Flexer muscles also control the arch of lumbar spine.
- oblique muscles (lateral muscles). These muscles are used to stabilize the spine in the upright position. Abdominal oblique muscles take part in the rotation of the spine, help to keep the proper posture and curvature of the spine.

Some of these muscles are used in mundane actions of daily life. For example buttocks are used every time you walk or climb. To sum up, abdominal and back muscles are responsible for many important functions and they require conscious approach in their strengthening so that they could keep their role and function properly. If we neglect the condition of these muscles, they will disappear causing problems with back pain.

Benefits from abdominal and back muscles training

Muscles that are too weak or too tight do not provide the sufficient support for the spine. The lack of adequate support leads to abnormal posture and, as a consequence, may cause problems with the bone tissue of the spine, thus creating a highly increased risk of pain or injury of the back.

Physical exercises that increase the strength of abdominals and back muscles are the best possible remedy preventing these problems because of:
• Reduced probability of spinal injury occurrence like sciatica, which is connected with enormous and long-lasting pain.
• They help in reducing the severity of back pain.
• Efficient protection from spinal injuries occurred in unfortunate and sudden events.
• In some cases, where a spinal injury has already happen, helping to avoid difficult back surgery.
• Facilitated recovery from spinal injuries or after back surgeries.
• Improved body posture.

Abdominal and back training guidelines

While beginning your training on abdominal and back muscles :
• Do NOT start training for the first time while enduring a severe back pain without consulting your doctor or spine specialist.
• Do NOT stop or postpone your training because of pain or injury. Just decrease the intensity of the exercise.
• Try to implement abdominal and back muscles exercises into your daily routine.
• Perform exercises that strengthen your abdominals and back symmetrically.
• Perform your abdominal and back muscles exercises at least 4 times per week.
• Be patient! Building up tangible and visible effects can last 6 or more weeks.
• Consult a physiotherapist or physical exercise specialist what exercises on abdominals and back muscles you should perform. It is essential to learn the proper technique and know the best suitable weights you may use while your training. It is very important, especially when you start to do these exercises for the first time.

Abdominal muscle training

To keep your abdominal muscle training effective you should focus on the exercises on the following muscle groups:
• upper part of rectus abdominus
• lower part of rectus abdominus
• external oblique muscles
NG1 FITNESS provides you with a lot of abdominal muscle exercises. Some of them can be performed without additional weights. A person who has not trained or had a long break should start with this exact exercises.

The following links present example abdominal muscle exercises without additional weights.

exercise 19

exercise 36

exercise 39

After a short time we can start to perform exercises with the extra weights.
Following links present few examples of such exercises performed on G1 FITNESS:

exercise 10

exercise 22

exercise 23

The third step in increasing the strength of abdomen will be the implementation of exercises where body is overhang and the spine remains stretched, yet without the extra weight.
Here are the examples of such exercises performed on G1 FITNESS:

exercise 35

exercise 80

exercise 84

After completing the previous 3 steps you can proceed to the final stage of strengthening your abdominal muscles. Now you can start training in the most effective way namely, in the position with overhang body and with extra weights.

Begin with an exercise that requires a slightly stretched torso.
This is:

exercise 61

In this particular exercise’s mechanics forces the trunk to be stretch. By pushing the roll with our knees we rotate the lever that is rotating in the same axis as our hip-joint. The movement strengthens our upper and lower parts of abdominal muscle. The roll makes our torso stretched under its pressure on our knees, with a specified force depending on the weight we apply.

Advanced version of exercise #22 is:

exercise 81

The mechanics of exercise #133 is the same as in exercise #22, but it implements an additional force of stretching , which is gravity. With G1 FITNESS, the amount of extra friction can be easily adjusted.

Back muscles training

The back muscle training should be balanced and combine stretching exercises without an additional weight and exercises with an extra weight.

Stretching exercises are essential because they help to relax our muscles from tension caused by, for instance, wrong body position during our work time or over night while sleeping. The stretching part should include large muscle groups, ligaments and tendons. It should be carried out in numerous of repetitions and even with a slight but controllable pain.

Exercises strengthening back muscles

Exercises strengthening our back muscles can be divided in the same way as exercises on abdominal muscle – with or without the additional weight. Of course, the person who has never trained or had a longer break in doing exercises, should start their training program focused on the back muscles with the exercises without any additional weight.

These are the examples of exercises without extra weight provided by G1 FITNESS:

exercise 27

After some time, we may increase the difficulty of our training by doing the exercises with additional weight. Such exercises are more effective because they force our back to do repetitions with more effort.
Here are the examples of such exercises presented on G1 FITNESS:

exercise 9

exercise 24

Strong neck muscles are essential for our our health

While training the back muscles we cannot forget about our neck muscles. The training on the neck muscles should combine stretching and strengthening exercises. The stretching exercises of the neck can be carried out ever few times a day because they do not require any additional equipment. The exercises strengthening our neck, however, should be done with an extra but very small load.
Here are the examples of such exercises provided by G1 FITNESS machine:

exercise 73

exercise 74

exercise 75

exercise 76