hard core

Ferocious abs can be a workout warrior’s mightiest asset.

› By Angelique Anacleto

You can tell a lot about a person based on abdominal muscles: health, strength, endurance level, ability, attractiveness, age, vanity. Located at the body’s core, you quickly assess whether to rely on a teammate during a grueling grudge match or size up if she’s boot camp material. To slay with abs of steel, there are no quick fixes beside the “eat clean, move more” mantra.

Straighten Up

Not only does good posture create a tall, confident demeanor, it enlists opposing back muscles to flatten and strengthen front abdominals.

For Brenden Ramsey, personal training coordinator at Ocala’s Frank DeLuca YMCA, proper posture creates the stable foundation for all other movement.

“Good posture consists of keeping the neck, shoulders and hips in a neutral position, and the core is responsible,” says Ramsey. “Abdominals keep hips in a neutral position by counteracting the posterior chain.”

Ramsey proposes tightly clenching the core while performing planks, squats, overhead presses, weight deadlifts, anti-rotation holds and presses (using arm cable tension from either side), and hollow rocks (tensing abs while rocking on back with outstretched arms overhead).

Laced With Hot Air

Celebrities buzz about corset training, but the cinch-an-inch obsession should stick to the

Victorian age, as genetics determines body shape. Sucking in to invent an exaggerated hourglass figure is useless because relatively quickly, the torso inevitably snaps back after removing.

The Doctors television medical panel cautions against tightly constricting your internal organs because it causes indigestion, chest pain and shortness of breath by crushing the diaphragm.

Ironically, corseting prevents developing bu musculature and only creates an illusion that redistributes fat and organs. To occasionally smooth out clothing lines, opt for flexible shapewear like Spanx.

More Fashion Faux Pas

There’s also no real evidence behind strapping on weight belts or compression wear. To prevent straining the abdominal wall or herniating spinal discs, focus on controlled motion. And rather than encouraging circulation, compression clothing only makes users sweatier.

Stomach Smoothing

Although cocoa butter has been renowned for smoothing stretch marks due to pregnancy, puberty, weight gain or weightlifting, a New York Times health report cites a double-blind study dubbing vitamin E (tocopherol) as the true champion of keeping lines at bay.

Belly Laughs

Start giggling, especially because this mimics a mini crunch by working the diaphragm, contracting abdominals and engaging shoulders. A case of hahas also releases stress, lowers blood pressure, boosts immunity, and improves respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Laughing 100 times a day is equivalent to 15 minutes of cardio exercise!