This post is all about them abs. Well, actually, even more than abs, mid section in general. So, how do you build it, how do you make sure that it is clearly visible and what about the muscular system in this particular region.
The Anatomy Of The Mid Section
There are quite a few interesting muscles in the lower part of your torso. Such as:
Rectus Abdominis - The external muscle of your belly. This is your abs.
Transverse Abdominis - An internal muscle of your belly. Right below your abs.
External Obliques - An external muscle on each side of your torso. This is your side abs.
Internal Obliques - An internal muscle on each side of your torso.
Serratus Anterior - A muscle right below your chest on top of your ribs.
The function of the muscles
Rectus Abdominis - It is a muscle responsible for flexing the lumbar spine, keeping the posture of the torso and crunching.
Transverse Abdominis - A muscle that helps to compress the ribs and viscera, providing thoracic and pelvic stability.
External Obliques - It's a muscle that pulls the chest downwards and compresses the abdominal cavity, which increases the intra-abdominal pressure as in a valsalva maneuver.
Internal Obliques - Rotates and side bends the trunk.
Serratus Anterior - Pulls the scapula forward around the thorax.
Notes
The large compound movements that involve basically your entire body, like: deadlifts, squats, over head presses, bent over rows, pull ups, for example, are great exercises for your entire core. If you do them you will work your mid section will grow and, over time, you will build your abs. Another thing is that when it comes to any muscle, but this is especially relevant with abs, is that there is fat covering it, obviously, and it doesn't let your abs show. So, if you want to have abs, you need to keep in mind that if you want to have clearly visible abs you have to keep your body fat levels low. And also, there are myths about training abs. Like, that you need to do high reps and make it burn. This is for the most part, nonsense. Abs, like pretty much any other muscle, needs to be trained in low to moderate reps (5-12 for example) and as long as you apply the principal of progressive overload you will keep developing them. Lastly, over developing (although that's shouldn't be a concern to most people) abs and especially, obliques, will make your waist thicker, therefore damaging your V taper and aesthetics. But one of the solutions is doing twisting exercises, because that usually allows you to build these muscles without really being bulky and therefore unaesthetic.
Exercises
Abdominal:
Crunches - good ol' crunches. A simple, yet effective exercise for your abs and lower back. Lay on the ground, preferably on a sit up bench and crunch. Now when it comes to the difficulty level, your hands on your thighs - easiest, your hands on your chest - moderate, your hands behind your head - the hardest difficulty.
Sit Ups - extended version of crunches. The set up is same as when it comes to the crunch, but you don't crunch but go from the same starting position to sitting up. It involves more core muscles than just simple crunches.
Dragonflys - an amazing core exercise. This one is for the advanced trainees. You lay on the ground, or sit up bench, hold onto something stable with your hands and lift your torso and legs keeping them both straight. Easier said than done, but personally, i love this exercise, it helps you create an extremely strong, functional and aesthetic core. Oh, and it was one of the Bruce Lee's favorite exercises.
Oblique:
Side Crunches - a variation of crunches designed for your obliques and done by crunching your sides. These require a more difficult set up than regular crunches. These ones need a special side crunch bench. And also they can be done standing, with a weight in one hand and crunching to that side.
Window Wipers - can be done lying, can be done hanging from a pull up bar. You get in the position and move your legs from side to side. Works your entire core, but the main focus is on your obliques.
Russian Twists - a good classic twisting exercise for your core, again, focusing on your obliques. You lay on a bench, make sure your legs are stable and holding a weight plate or dumbbell or something twist from side to side.
Landmine Oblique Twist - another twisting exercise, you hold a barbell with plates on the upper side and attachment to the floor on the other side and standing slightly leaned forward you twist that barbell from one side to the other.
Serratus Anterior:
Pull Over - i've talked about this in my post about chest. Serratus Anterior is being worked while you bench and punch, but the main exercise for your serratus is the pull over. Lay on the bench, hold the dumbbell over your head, lower it until your hands are parallel to your head and pull it up all the way over your head. Now, this muscle is very important because it makes your rib cage appear wider and your waist smaller and that help with your V taper and your aestheticism.
Conclusion
So, what do you need to do to have a well developed mid section? Do heavy compound movements like squats, deadlifts and standing over head presses, for example, and you will, over time build a nice, strong core. But after you do them, you might want to do some additional work for your midsection like, crunches and sittups for your abs and russian twists and side crunches for your obliques. The reason why you would want some additional work is if you are lagging in these ares or maybe you are a fighter and you need a strong core to take hits.