Abdominal electrostimulation

Today in this article we are going to talk about how to electrostimulate the abdominals , that is, the so-called abdominal electrostimulation .

Abs, abs, abs … to have a flat stomach, to show off a “chocolate bar” , to protect the back …, for all those goals that come to mind in the face of bikini surgery or taking care of our health.

Why is it important to have strong abs?

For some years now, the abdominals have been associated with the training of the CORE , that is, of the trunk. But training this zone is about more than doing crunches or shrugs, or doing exercises for the lower, upper and oblique abs. It is about understanding why the central part of your body should be strong, but not visibly strong, but be able to use that force when it is needed.

The spine participates in the flexion, extension, inclination, and rotation of your trunk , engaging your abdominal muscles. But these are included in other actions, such as the flexion and extension of your hip, for example when you raise a knee. Your abdominal muscles do not participate alone in the movement, but they are helped by others, although they also work when there is no movement and what it is about is to stabilize and / or protect the structures.

Many of the most common exercises for the abdominal muscles abuse the movements of the spine, so we must bear in mind that in each area of ​​our back there are certain degrees of flexion, extension, rotation and inclination. If we go beyond these degrees, we increase the intradiscal pressure , and therefore increase the chances of degeneration of the vertebral discs, which can cause protrusions , and even hernias .

So how do we train the abdominal muscles correctly?

We have to take into account that on endless occasions our abdomen acts as a stabilizer, and its strength is executed in an isometric way , for example pushing, maintaining balance, or simply maintaining posture. In these actions there is no flexion of the spine, so we must ensure that the training of the abdomen is specific to the day-to-day tasks or the sport we practice. Therefore, on many occasions the abdomen will act as a support, a stabilizer .

Let’s imagine an exercise of those habitual for years in many sports facilities, the standing lateral inclination, with a pike behind the neck or with dumbbells on each side. The meaning of this exercise seems quite incoherent if we think of day-to-day actions that require an alternate repeated lateral tilt… Do you find any day-to-day action or any sport with this lateral spinal flexion?

What we can see on a day-to-day basis is the contralateral rebalancing in actions that require unilateral force. For example, take a shopping bag and rebalance ourselves to resume the upright posture, that is, we go from a lateral inclination to work the stabilizing muscles (among which are the muscles of the abdomen) to maintain a posture that protects the spine and decreases intradiscal pressure. So what would make sense would be to train with a dumbbell in one hand and walk upright without lateral bending or oscillations.

Other exercises that can prepare the muscles of the abdomen for those tasks that require the isometric strength of the abdomen, to also protect the back, are the planks . Also another way of working the CORE achieving greater activation in static positions is through external disturbances (someone pushes us and we try to maintain the position) or unstable conditions (on Bosu®, TRX® and more unstable platforms and suspension devices).

With  abdominal  electrostimulation we can also generate a useful and safe stimulus for the day to day (as long as it is integrated in an adequate progression) in terms of the abdominal muscles. One of the parameters that has been observed to improve with our specifically abdominal electrostimulation is the maximum voluntary isometric contraction .

Do you dare to train your abdomen with FastFitness?

References:

Rohlmannt et al. Comparison of intradiscal pressures and spinal fixator loads for different body positions and exercises. Ergonomics. 2001 Jun 20; 44 (8): 781-94.

Escamilla et al. Electromyographic Analysis of Traditional and Nontraditional Abdominal Exercises: Implications for Rehabilitation and Training.