tight abs

Question: you've discussed "tight abs" when lifting. Can you please tell me again what exactly it is you mean?

Answer: when you take a deep breath and tighten your core, you create a pressure gradient throughout the mid-section of your body. As the pressure increases, so does the compression administered to the spine; this increased pressure helps (1) with back safety, and (2) with the transmission of force throughout the body.

When many people think tight abs, they think about contracting their six pack at the beach for a picture. That's not what I mean at all, though. Think of it like this: flexing your six-pack abs essentially fortifies part of a pillar, but not the whole thing; this leaves the remainder of the pillar susceptible to breakdown. We want the whole pillar, every part of the column, to be fortified. So instead of taking-a-picture-at-the-beach abs, think: brace-for-a-punch abs. There's a distinct difference. When following this approach, one contracts every fiber throughout his or her core in anticipation of the incoming fist. When the core is contracted in this manner, safety is optimized and force transmission is best obtained.

Here's one further example: if your car were suddenly stranded in the middle of an intersection, and you had to immediately push it out of the way to save precious cargo inside, how would you move the car to safety? Would you take half a breath and flex your six pack and then push, or would you take a big, deep breath and fortify your entire core and then push? You would do the latter. By taking the second approach, you're more likely to remain safe while accomplishing what must be done.

In this same manner we lift. When power is required, or extreme force is needed, bracing the entire pillar is always the way to go!

#dowork and #growstrong.