There are not many people that could tell me they have never dreamed about having washboard abs and the thin waist they see spread all over magazines and social media. Well I’m here to say it is possible but they do need to be worked for and there are a few keys points we will talk about in this article that will have you well on your way!

Anatomy

To train your abdominals you should actually understand what your core consists of. Our abdominals are made of 4 layers and we will outline each below.

Rectus Abdominals (RA): This is the 6 pack! The RA is the outer most layer of the abdominals and originates from the pelvis and inserts into the sternum and costal cartilages (part of ribs). Fibres in this muscle run straight up and down and therefore when they shorten/contract it causes flexion at the trunk.

External Oblique (EO): Next in line the EO. It originates from the lower 8 ribs and inserts into 2 points on the pelvis (iliac crest and pubic crest) and the linea alba. It’s fibres therefore run diagonally down and in (think putting hand in pockets). The movements it creates include flexing (forward and lateral) and rotating the trunk.

Internal Oblique (IO): The IO originates from the thoracolumbar fascia, pelvis and inguinal ligament and inserts into ribs 10-12, linea alba and pubic crest. Its fibres run in the opposite direction to the EO, so up and in but both work together to create trunk flexion (forward and lateral) and trunk rotation.

Transverse Abdominals (TA): Lastly in line is the TA which is the inner most layer. It originates from the ribs 7-12, thoracolumbar fascia, iliac crest of the pelvis and inguinal ligament. The insertion points include linea alba, pubic crest and pectan. The fibres run horizontally and its main function is to provide stability to the spine and pelvis. Think of it as your own weight belt.

Training

So what was with all that nonsense above about origins, insertions where the muscles fibres run blah blah blah that you have no interest in and probably skimmed over. You are here for wash board abs not a anatomy lesson right? Now ask yourself how those 100 sit ups a day are working for you? To train our core effectively we need to use a variety of movements. Why, because each layer has differences in structure which means you’ll need a variety of exercise to cover all of them. Look at it like this, when you train arms you don’t just do bicep curls and hope your triceps grow, you need to use a different set if exercises to train a different part of your arm. Let’s go through each layer below.

RA: As discussed the main action is trunk flexion so therefore exercises that require bending forward at the torso (loaded or body weight/gravity) will train this.Yes yes crunches are a way to train your RA but make sure that when you crunch you actually flex at the trunk not the hips! If your torso remains straight while you do a crunch then you are training your hip flexors and no one has ever said “Wow your hip flexors look great”. Our hip flexors are also generally tight as is so we definitely need to avoid doing crunches like this. Instead think about curving up by peeling your spine segment by segment form the ground. We can also flex the trunk by moving the hips up and keeping our upper body still. Leg raises do this but again don’t just lift your legs, curl your hips from the surface up and contract your abdominals.

Best exercises: cable crunch, handing leg raises, fit ball crunch, decline crunch

EO and IO: These two we will talk about together as they tend to work with each other to provide movement at the trunk. So in trunk rotation the direction of the fibres in each dictates which side of the muscle contributes to the movement. In an example, if we rotate the trunk to the left then the muscles working are the right EO and the left IO. If you go back to the insertion points and the direction of muscles fibres you’ll see how this makes sense. Pure lateral flexion uses the EO and IO on the same side of the body. So bending to your left uses the left EO and left IO. If all contract simultaneously then they are contributing to pure trunk flexion. It’s good to attack both these muscles from different angles as they are so diverse in the movements they create.

Best exercise: Kneeling woodchops, kneeling cable twist (low to high), Cable oblique crunch*, russian twist

*side note – Oblique crunches are great but please only load one side of your body. Holding weights in both hands and crunching side to side does nothing!!! They counter balance each other so you may as well just stand still.

TA: The TA is the silent achiever. You can’t see it, the exercises can be boring but when it’s strong, you’re strong. When is contracts it provides the spine and pelvis with stability so essentially it’s there to resist forces that are trying to move our body. In my opinion this is the most important layer for lifting and overall health. To train the TA we are looking for exercises that challenge us to hold a stable body position against load or unstable surfaces. Everyone knows the plank but not many do it correctly and basically all they will feel is a stiff back and burning shoulders. To properly plank you need a neutral pelvis (squeeze glutes) and to activate TA think ‘suck belly button into spine’. A great way to train your TA is through doing the big lifts (squats, deadlifts, presses, rows etc). Why? Because To provide a stable base and protect our spine during these movements the TA must be active. Anti rotation movements where we must again resist load are also great ways to train the TA (pallof press).

Best exercises: Compound resistance exercises, pallof press, roll outs, leg lowers, dead bug

Nutrition

Ever heard “Abs are made in the kitchen.”? Well it’s true. What you need to know is that everyone has abs, its what’s covering them that’s the biggest issue. Have you seen the dudes at the gym that post all their ab selfies on IG but would be lucky to weigh 50kg and hardly ever actually touch a dumbbell? Well it’s because they have hardly any body fat not because they have the secret formula to a ripped core. Don’t take this the wrong way and not train your abs just because I said everyone has them. Everyone has shoulders but you still train them. So how do we get those abs to pop? Drop body fat. Men will generally start to see abs at about 10-12% BF and women 15-17% BF. The good thing about these numbers is they they are sustainable. The diced athletes you see on magazines and competitions only look like that for a few days and the actual process of getting there is not only unsustainable but also not overly enjoyable and most of those athletes will attest to that. By all means go for that look if you like but take note when I say it’s only a short term thing.

To drop body fat you need to be consuming less energy than you are expending. The best way to do this is find your maintenance calorie intake by diet trackers (My Fitness Pal) or a basal metabolic rate calculator. Once you have that figure established you need to eat 200-400 calories under this figure focusing on high protein meals (1-2 servings each meal) with unrefined carbohydrates, vegetables and healthy fat sources. Start simple and once progress starts to slow then it may be time to get some help in terms of manipulating macro nutrients for further fat loss. It’s important to remember that carbs and fat don’t make you fat! Eating too much of them make you fat and for your everyday person you can absolutely lose fat by eating all the macronutrients.

Example Workout

Below is an example workout for your core. When you train your core focus on quality over quantity. Once your core fatigues it’s generally the lower back that takes the load which is absolutely counter productive to what we want. A good way to easily keep your core activated during a majority of movements is to squeeze your abs and glutes during the entire set. My recommendation is that you avoid training core at the start of any heavy resistance training days. Either do it post session, have it on a active recovery day or before training something like arms where a fatigued core may not be as detrimental to lifts. Going into deadlifts with a fatigued core is a terrible idea, trust me.

Complete 3-5 sets with 1 minute rest between rounds

Roll out – 10 reps

Bench single leg lowers – 8 reps each leg

Pallof Press – 8 each side

Cable crunch – 12 reps

Woodchops – 10 reps each side

The Hip Hinge

Any good program for any goal will involve movements that require a hip hinge pattern. The hip hinge when performed correctly forms the basis for building a strong and stable posterior chain, something that is often neglected in your everyday gym goer.

What Is It?

muscles must contract and shorten. The glutes form the junction between our upper and lower body. Weaknesses in the glutes leads to a multitude of performance and postural problems therefore being able to stimulate them effectively during training is vital. When we say hip hinge we are talking about the ability to maintain a stable spinal and pelvic position whilst moving our hips into flexion and then taking them back to neutral through hip extension. The prime movers of this movement are the glutes and hamstrings. The glutes have attachments at the pelvis and femur whilst the hamstrings attach from the pelvis, cross the back of the knee joint and attach again to the lower leg. What this means is that as we flex at the hips these muscles lengthen. To return to the starting position the glutes and hamstrings must contract and shorten to extend the hips.

Hip hinge movements in terms of athletic performance are great for developing overall lean muscle mass, strength and power as they are compound movements which means they require many different muscle groups to perform the action. An increase in lean muscle mass will boost your metabolism and decrease your body fat percentage so when training to improve body composition hip hinge variations are a fantastic movement. For sports that require a high amount of strength and power the glutes are vital as they are the power house of the lower body and will also generate force that can be translated through the upper body.

When talking posture, a strong posterior chain will hold you in a more favourable position (neutral pelvis, chest up, shoulders back) which prevents a host of tissue related and structural issues, a common one being a sore lower back. The everyday worker who sits behind a computer all day will more than likely have a weak posterior chain (rounded shoulders, forward head position, anterior pelvic tilt) and properly programmed training is vital for an improved quality of life.

By now you should be pretty convinced that the hip hinge movements are a must have in any training program. Well there’s more! Most of the exercises involve the ability to be able to keep the torso rigid. This requires strong isometric contractions of essentially all the musculature through the back. Think lats, rhomboids, traps, rotator cuffs all of which are being activated to allow for our shoulders and scapula to be locked in position and stabilised during the movement. This, along with the larger back extensors and abdominal muscles which help support our spine, means that these movements should be thought of as a whole body movement.

Hip Hinge Variations

There are many different movements that are based of this hinge pattern which means we

can program for the beginner all the way up to the more experienced client. These range from a basic glute bridge all the way to more advanced olympic lifts.

Arguably the most well known hip hinge movement is the deadlift which in itself has different variations such as the RDL and sumo deadlift, both of which give muscles a slightly different stimulus. The most basic form of hip hinge will be learning the actual pattern, for example getting the client to hold a stick up their back and cueing them to maintain 3 points of contact (head, upper back, hips) whilst they flex at the hips teaches how to maintain spinal position during a hinge. Another easy to master hip hinge is the basic glute bridge which requires less control through the upper body. More advanced movements like the clean and jerk or the clean and snatch are great hip hinge variations for athletes looking to develop power.

When programming for the hip hinge movements you can’t just blindly pick one and throw it in. There is no one best movement for everyone but some will be more suited to the individual than others. For example, a beginner being placed straight into a barbell RDL may struggle with the concepts of the hip hinge. Instead let’s begin with a cable RDL which helps pull the individual into hip flexion but then still allows for loading of the glutes and hamstrings through the extension phase. Another factor that may need to be considered is injuries/limitations to exercises. For example, I have coached a lot of people that come to me with impingement in the shoulder and loading them with a barbell using a pronated grip can potentially exaggerate the problem through loaded internal rotation at the joint. To work

around this a really effective piece of equipment is the trap bar which allows the client to keep the shoulders in a neutral position. We can also perform loaded hip thrusts which completely eliminates the need for holding weight with the upper body. Limitations in mobility may lead to an inability to hold a neutral spine at the bottom of some movements, most commonly a conventional deadlift. A sumo deadlift or trap bar deadlift (high handles) can help compensate for this lack of mobility if you’re set on having your client pull from the floor otherwise the RDL which requires a smaller total change in position in body should work well.

Cues for the hip hinge

• Set feet and start with a neutral pelvis and load heels

• Squeeze from the bottom up (contract glutes, core, lats and retract scapula)

• Movement should begin with a hip break

• Maintain neutral spine during movement (imagine a stick with three points of contact hips, upper back and back of head)

• From the hip flexed position drive heels into the ground and contract hard through glutes and hamstrings

• Finish in the exact same position as the start, squeezing again from the bottom up

Learn it then use it (lots!)

Movements arising from the hip hinge are programmed into a majority if not ALL of our clients programs . The benefits are endless and unless it is physically dangerous for an individual, the movements should be trained regularly. There are many different variations and my advice would be to pick 1 or 2 and become proficient at them over a period of time. Allow yourself to become strong at just a couple before moving on to other variations and you’ll find that improvements made in these movements will translate into increased performance in the other variations. For example, during a training block we will generally program 2 lower body sessions a week. In session 1 the client will complete a conventional deadlift for designated sets and reps. In the second lower body session in the week the client may complete an RDL. We will progressively overload these two movements for a training block and then assess and decide on what other hip hinge movements will be effective for the client for the next block. If you’re looking for one of, if not the most effective movement patterns in weight training, then learn to hinge, apply it to movements and then use it EXTENSIVELY!

The Office Posture

Do you dread the working week because you know you’re in for 5 days of an aching neck and stiff lower back? Not only are these aches and pains causing you grief but its also decreasing your productivity meaning works piling up, and the boss is getting snappy but all you can think about right now is how to become a millionaire over night so you don’t ever have to deal with this s**t again.

If you’re fortunate enough to actually pull off the million dollar idea and never have to spend hours behind a desk again then cograts, you no longer need this article. If you know you’re waking up to head to work the next day then pay attention. The ‘office posture’ is very common in today’s day and age purely because of how the workplace and technology has evolved over time. This is not the issue, we have to move with the times. The issue is how we conduct ourselves during and outside work. The office posture is characterised by a few key features:

– Rounded shoulders

– Forward head position

– Excess low back extension

– Protruding stomach

Think about how you sit at work and the amount of time spend in that position. I’d imagine 80% of the people (if not more) reading this are slouched over looking down at a computer, phone etc for hours on end. So how the hell does just sitting cause so much discomfort you ask? Well lets go through the two main areas of discomfort, upper back/neck and low back.

Upper back/neck/shoulders

Basically what the office posture does is cause some muscles to switch off and others to become over active. What happens is that excessive amounts of time in this position tighten muscles through the anterior part of our upper body (pec major, pec minor, anterior deltoids) as they are held in a shortened position. Muscles that are under active as they are sitting lengthened and switched off include mid and lower traps and rhomboids all of which retract and depress our scapula. This imbalance causes a decrease in space of the glenohumoral joint which results in pain during certain movements the shoulder. The discomfort in your neck is your upper traps trying to support your forward head posture which again generally arises form the imbalances just explained ( where your shoulders go, your head tends to follow).

Low Back

Again we have a case of over active and under active muscles causing imbalances. The sitting position has most of its movement at the hips and therefore muscles associated with the pelvis are the areas of concern. The hip flexors are left in a shortened position therefore are over active and the glutes and hamstrings are lengthened and switched off. Another element of this slouched sitting position is that our core muscles are not needed to hold us up. What all this results in is something known as anterior pelvic tilt. When we stand up what we have is a pelvis that is rotated forward leaving the glutes, hamstrings and abdominals switched off meaning the only area left to support the torso and rest of the upper body is the lower back!

What Can You Do?

How do we go about trying alleviate these issues? First of all I want to stress the best treatment is regular weight training with a properly designed program (posterior chain dominant) but there are simple exercises that EVERYONE can do during a work day to keep these imbalances at bay. I’d recommend you do some of these every hour or two and they will literally take you less than 5 mins so please don’t tell me you can’t because you’re too busy!

Upper body

Stretches

• Chest stretch – Stand side on to a doorway and place your hand on it with a straight arm. Rotate your body outwards and away to stretch your chest, hold for 30 seconds each side.

• Trap stretch – Put one hand behind you back, the other will gently pull your head to the side and slightly forward to stretch your neck. Stretch both sides for 30 seconds.

Activation

• Scapula retraction – Bring shoulders back and down, squeeze your shoulder blades together. Repeat 10 times.

• Thoracic rotation -Sitting upright, cross your hands over and touch your shoulders. Keep your head still and rotate your upper back (thoracic spine) whilst keeping you lower body still. Perform 10 each way.

• Band pull apart (if you have a Thera band) -Hold Thera band at each end and pull it apart keeping your arms straight. Try get your hands as far away from each other as possible. Perform 15 times.

Lower body

Stretches

• Hip flexor stretch – Kneeling on one knee place the other leg out in front resting on your foot. Sit up tall and squeeze your glutes. 30 seconds each side.

• Leg crossover – Laying on your back, keep shoulders on the ground and role one leg over your body and touch the ground. Repeat 5 per side.

Activation

• Standing glute squeeze – Stand up tall and squeeze glutes for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times.

• Glute bridge – Lay on your back feet at 90 degrees. Lift your hips up creating a bridge by squeezing your glutes and then hold for 3 seconds. Repeat 10 times

Another thing you need to do is just be conscious of how you’re holding yourself during the day. Try as best you can told hold a good posture during your entire day and eventually it will become natural. I’ll stress again, these exercises don’t take much effort at all when you think about how it could potentially help minimise discomfort, therefore increase workout out put and decrease stress as well as save you expensive trips to massage therapists etc its probably worth the 5 minutes it takes you to complete. Combine this with and effective exercise program and see for yourself.