If you were under the impression that ab workouts were only important if you were looking to achieve a killer six-pack, then we are here to tell you that you were wrong. If you have not yet incorporated ab workouts into your regular fitness and exercise regime, then it may be time that you do. Why? There are various benefits you can gain from working out your abdominal muscles. In the following post, we are going to highlight 6.
It’s Not All About Six-Packs
Six-packs aren’t everything and your abdominal muscles have more important roles to play in your physical well-being beyond making you look like an Adonis or Goddess. The abs are crucial when it comes to stability, balance, spinal support and posture. They even play key roles in breathing and other respiratory functions. Therefore, if you want to feel the benefit, you need to start working on those abs in addition to the rest of your body.
Better Sports Performance
There are too many sports to mention that you need to have a strong core along with good stability and balance to succeed in. Abs workouts are designed to target all the most vital muscles to ensure you have that core strength as well as the ability to perform a particular sporting discipline. When you work on your abs and your core, you can better transfer energy from your core to other parts of your body and benefit from enhanced performance and better scores.
Less Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is an incredibly common complaint. There is a direct correlation to having weak and ineffective abdominal muscles and an increase in lower back pain. If you don’t work them out, the muscles in your lower back can become stiff and rigid around the joints and could even transform into full-blown chronic lower back pain. However, if you perform abdominal exercises, you can target the muscles at the back and your spine to make them less stiff and more flexible, and in turn, reduce the amount of pain you experience in your lower back.
Better Stability and Posture
We’ve already highlighted the fact that the abs are important for balance and posture. Whether you are involved in a sport or are elderly, stability is crucial for protecting you from slips and tumbles.
When executed properly, abs workouts help strengthen all the muscles located around the spine and help to give you better posture because your body weight is more evenly distributed. As well as ensuring your spine is in better condition, good posture can increase your confidence. Furthermore, core strengthening exercises like those you may do in abs workouts can help improve the relationship between al your muscles to aid stability, posture and balance.
Slimmer Profile
It should really go without saying, as most exercises can, but abs workouts will help to reduce the amount of body fat you are carrying around. When you increase the muscle mass in your abs, your body’s metabolic rate increases and as a result, more fat is burned off, eventually meaning you have a leaner and trimmer body.