If you want to get a six-pack, lose the fat covering the muscles. This can be achieved by incorporating a healthy diet and active lifestyle (for example, do more aerobic-based training). Photo by Pte Simone Heyer, 1JPAU(P)

Summer tone-up

By Sgt Rob Orr

Well it’s coming up to summer again which means that the layers of clothing are reduced and on many occasions little but swimwear will be called for.

This change of season is also the time where fitness centres record their highest increase in membership and military gymnasiums see lunchtime class numbers and entries in the sign-in registers skyrocket.

Unfortunately, most people limit their training to ‘what hangs out of the singlet’ or the famous five muscle groups (being pectorals, stomach, lats, biceps and shoulders) with little thought given to the overall impact of this purely aesthetic training regime.

Consider the skeletal system as an antenna-like structure, with the muscles the ‘guy’ wires that hold the system upright.

By only tightening (training) specific wires (muscles), the structure is pulled out of alignment.

The consequence of this misalignment will be damage to the structure, either chronically (over time) or acutely (over a short period).

With this in mind, training needs to take a holistic approach.

Exercises that are selected to train these ‘mirror muscles’ should be those that also train other muscles and importantly movement patterns.

Here are several points to consider:

• Biomechanically the gluteals are to the legs what the deltoids (shoulder) are to the arms and are found to be one of the more popular parts of the body for visual scrutiny (I suggest this may be due to human nature … after all, as you walk towards someone who catches your eye, once they pass you, you turn for a better look).
• The greater the amount of muscles trained in a single exercise, for example push up versus pec flye, the greater the hormonal and neurological response from the body or ‘buff’ factor.
• You cannot spot reduce … if you want to get a six-pack lose the fat covering the muscles. This can be achieved by incorporating a healthy diet and active lifestyle (for example, do more aerobic-based training).
• ‘Beach muscles’ may be good when standing still, but I assume you may want to move at some stage, therefore train for show and for go. Train the movement mechanics of the body as opposed to the famous five.

So train all 640 + muscles in your body rather than limiting your potential by only training the famous five.

.