What's the purpose of tightening your abs while working out?
- Thread starter erikajune
- Start date
it depends. if it's to do something like bicep curls, you're wasting your time. pretty much same thing for most machine work. The act of tightening a muscle by and in itself holds no benifit....
However, tightening up your abs, tightens the core as a whole, which in turn supports and protects your lower back. To give an example of this in action, drop down into a plank. Then while planked, loosen your abs and feel your lower back get stabbed with ice picks right after. Same principle with doing heavy deadlifts and squats. Your core strength is critical, have to have your abs and core rock solid and tight, to the point where you don't breath, when doing the lift to protect your back.
However, tightening up your abs, tightens the core as a whole, which in turn supports and protects your lower back. To give an example of this in action, drop down into a plank. Then while planked, loosen your abs and feel your lower back get stabbed with ice picks right after. Same principle with doing heavy deadlifts and squats. Your core strength is critical, have to have your abs and core rock solid and tight, to the point where you don't breath, when doing the lift to protect your back.