by Shaz Slaughter

Created on: November 27, 2008   Last Updated: January 08, 2009

One of the most sought after muscle groups to make better are the abs. Just about everyone wants that flat stomach, but not everyone knows how to get them. Contrary to popular believe you DO NOT need to do thousands of sit-ups or crunches to get a flat stomach. In fact you really don't need to do any crunches or sit-ups!

Let us first examine abdominal muscles. They are a group of muscles that support your upper framework. They are designed to be able to take a lot of abuse, more so that any other muscle group in your body. So why am I telling you this, well the long and short of it is, in order to see any change in your mid-section you need to work your abs all the time or as often as possible.

Now, I can almost hear you screaming at the computer screen "WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALL THE TIME!?"

As I said before your abs are meant to keep you upright and because of that you can work them a lot longer and harder that any of your other muscles. "But how do you work them all the time. I can't do sit-ups all day". Again like I said before you DO NOT need to do ANY sit-ups or crunches, but what will work, what will help you in your pursuit of flat abs is simply.... keeping your abs pulled in.

I know that sounds ridiculous because it sounds too simple, but the truth is that is what they (your abs) are supposed to do. Still sound silly? Let me explain it like this. Let's say you do 100 sit-ups every day Monday - Friday and it takes about an hour. Your mid-section feels all tight and nice. However you spend the other 23 hours of your day either slumped over or slouching and that tight feeling goes away in a few hours. Why? Because you body adapts to the one hour of sit ups you have done and they plateau a lot quicker than your other muscle groups. In affect what you are doing is taking 1 step forward and 23 steps back.

The hard part about getting flat abs by holding in your stomach is remembering to hold in your stomach. However if you can remember to sit up straight and hold in your abs while sitting at your desk at work, you are on you way to getting a firmer flatter mid-section. Of course I know that sounds so boring, that's why I have other ways to tighten that loose core.

While you are sitting or while you are walking you can contract and release your core. This is a lot more fun especially if you make a game out of it. For example while you are reading this stop for a second and see how many times you can pull in and let go of your stomach in let's say 30 seconds.

Alright Ready,

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