Your abdominal muscles are one of the most powerful, and
good-looking, muscle groups in your body....
They help support your entire body structure and provide power for
a variety of athletic movements.
Infact, one of the main reasons that athletes cannot jump very high
or run very fast is because of under-developed abdominal muscles.
By simply strengthening you abs, and training them in an athletic
manner, you can increase your speed, quickness and vertical jump.
You see, your abs form your "core", the center of your body where
all power originates and channels through. Imagine your body as a
chain, and your ab muscles as being the center of that chain. If
any part of the chain is weak, it will negatively effect the entire
chain.
Studies have shown that in quick, powerful movements, the 1st
muscle group that is activated is the abs. Its not your feet,
shoulders or arms that are activated first...its your abdominal
muscles. This proves that your abs truly are the starting point of
all explosive movements and the center through which all power
channels through.
So whats the best way to train your abs?
Well, as a basketball player, you need to train your abs in an
athletic fashion. Instead of focusing on looks, you need to focus
on increasing power. The good news is, even when training for
power, you can develop a great-looking set of 6-pack abs.
There are 5 "keys" to training your abdominal muscles:
1) Isolation vs. Holistic
2) Following the Proper Sequence
3) Training the Transverse Abdominus
4) Training the Lower Back
5) Diet & Nutrition
Briefly, let us give you a quick definition of each of these 5
keys...
- Isolation vs. Holistic: When training your abs, its best to start
by "isolating" the different ab regions and trainig them
separately, such as the upper abs, lower abs and obliques. Then,
after isolating the different groups, you should do a
couple of holistic exercises that hit all the regions in one
movement.
- Following the Proper Sequence: This means doing all the exercises
in the proper order. This is very important. Just by following the
right order of exercises during a workout, you can increase overall
performance.
- Training the Transverse Abdominus: This is a deep abdominal
muscle group that acts as the "supporting belt" for your body,
helping you maintain posture and absorbing a lot of high-impact
shock. Specific exercises must be done to train this muscle.
- Training the Lower Back: Your lower back also forms your "core",
and having a weak lower back can make you injury-prone while
reducing power. You must include exercises that strengthen your
lower back.
- Diet & Nutrition: Simple & straight-forward, if you want your abs
to show, you gotta eat right and drink plenty of water. Remember,
abs are trained in the gym, and built in the kitchen.
So now you have the "5 keys" to training your abs for maximum
athletic performance. The next step is to select the best exercises
and put together a killer workout routine based on these 5 keys...
They do say it's 10% skill and 90% what's between your ears so check out www.absorbinc.com if you wanna improve the mental side of your performance.
