When performing gym exercises, tightening your abdominal muscles is a common movement, present in almost all exercises. Therefore, knowing how to tighten your abdominal muscles correctly will help increase your daily workout efficiency. This article will share with you the correct way to tighten your abdominal muscles at the gym, as well as some safe and effective exercises for strengthening your abdominal muscles. Let’s explore!
What is Abdominal Muscle Tightening?
Muscle tightening is defined as the action of contracting the muscles, tensing the muscles, and stiffening the body. This is a common movement when practicing physical exercises. Each part of the body has different types of muscles. Abdominal muscle tightening focuses only on the abdominal muscle group. At this time, the abdominal muscles will be contracted and tightened together. Abdominal muscle tightening is commonly seen in gym exercises such as the plank, push-up, crunch, squat, weightlifting, etc.
• Step 1: Take a deep breath until your abdomen is fully expanded. At this point, air should fill your entire abdominal cavity.
• Step 2: Exhale and push out all the air from your abdominal cavity. At the same time, tighten your abdominal and back muscles as much as possible. To feel your abdominal muscles more clearly, you can lower your shoulders, keeping them away from your ears.
• Step 3: Keep your abdominal muscles engaged and slowly breathe normally.
However, during training, you should also pay attention to your diet. Animal fats, sugar, starch, and fried or stir-fried fast food should be limited. Instead, supplement your diet with foods rich in protein, fiber, water, healthy fats, etc.
Effective Abdominal Muscle Tightening Exercises
After learning how to tighten your abdominal muscles correctly, you can practice additional physical exercises that help with weight loss. Below are some popular abdominal muscle tightening exercises you can refer to:
Air Cycling Exercise
Air cycling is a simple, easy exercise that you can do at home or at the gym. To perform the exercise, you need to follow these steps:
• First, start in a supine position with your hands behind your head.
• Slowly raise both legs alternately to an angle of about 45 degrees. At the same time, raise your head and shoulders slightly off the floor.
• Begin the cycling motion, bend your right leg, and simultaneously lean to the right so that your left elbow touches your right knee. Keep your left leg straight, tighten your abdominal muscles for about 2 seconds, then repeat with the other side.
• Perform the movement 20 times in one set. Rest for about 5 seconds between each set.
Abdominal Muscle Tightening Exercise with Arm and Leg Raises
The abdominal muscle tightening exercise with arm and leg raises is also one of the exercises favored by many “sports enthusiasts. The way to tighten your abdominal muscles when performing this technique is not too difficult, including the steps below:
• Lie on your back on a training mat.
• Lift a dumbbell with a weight suitable for your strength. If you don’t have dumbbells at home, you can use other heavy objects of similar weight as a substitute, such as water bottles. Slowly straighten both arms upwards.
• Raise both legs 20-30 cm off the ground. Keep your legs parallel to each other.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles and exhale. Then, raise both shoulders and keep your legs at a right angle to the ground.
• Return to the starting position and repeat the movement 10-20 times to increase the effectiveness of the workout.
High Leg Raises
When mentioning effective ways to tighten abdominal muscles, the high leg raise exercise cannot be overlooked. This is also one of the favorite waist-tightening exercises because the movement is not too difficult, does not require many complicated techniques, but delivers results beyond expectations.
• First, lie on your back on a mat.
• Slowly raise both legs until they are perpendicular to the floor. Keep your knees slightly bent.
• Continue to keep your lower back pressed against the floor, knees still bent. At this time, try to tighten your abdominal muscles to stabilize your upper body on the floor. Spend 3-5 seconds lowering your legs as close to the floor as possible.
• Repeat the movement 10-20 times to maintain the training effect.
T-Side Plank Exercise
If you’re looking for a simple yet effective way to tone your abdominal muscles, the T-Side Plank is the perfect solution. This exercise doesn’t require advanced technique or equipment, so you can do it at home. The steps for performing the T-Side Plank are as follows:
• To begin, lie in a side-sitting position on a mat. Place your right hand on the floor.
• Keep your legs straight and raise your hips until they are almost level with your shoulders. Your hips, shoulders, and ankles should be in a straight line.
• Position your right arm perpendicular to your shoulder and perpendicular to the floor. Place your left arm perpendicular to the floor.
• Try to tighten your abdominal muscles and maintain a steady, gentle breathing rhythm. Hold this position for about 30 seconds. Lower yourself down slowly, then relax your entire body and switch arms. Above is information related to ways to tighten abdominal muscles to increase the effectiveness of your workouts. Hopefully, after reading this article, you will quickly find exercises suitable for your physical condition to create an appropriate training plan.
Tightening abdominal muscles isn’t too difficult; you can choose to train at home if you are sure you have enough experience to perform the technique correctly. If you are a beginner or new to gym training, it’s best to choose a sports or fitness center to receive guidance on how to tighten abdominal muscles properly.
Benefits of Proper Abdominal Muscle Tightening
Tightening abdominal muscles is much more challenging than tightening the muscles in the thighs, glutes, or back, because the abdominal muscles are covered by a thick layer of fat. However, if you know how to tighten your abdominal muscles correctly, you will receive the following benefits:
• Rapid improvement in physique and increased training effectiveness.
• Clearly visible abdominal muscles: 11-pack abs in women and 6-pack abs in men. This helps you possess a slim, attractive physique that attracts attention.
Instructions on how to tighten abdominal muscles correctly
Some gym-goers easily confuse the two concepts of tightening abdominal muscles and sucking in the stomach. Tightening abdominal muscles is completely different from sucking in the stomach. When you suck in your stomach, your stomach will shrink. Tightening abdominal muscles will make the abdominal muscles more visible on the surface of your abdomen. Therefore, to quickly achieve your dream physique, follow these instructions for tightening your abdominal muscles:
