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The oblique abdominal muscles are several groups of abdominal muscles on the sides of the core. The external oblique muscle lies on top and the internal oblique muscle - below it. Functional exercises for training them are bending, turning to the sides, and other rotating movements. However, in order to work your obliques properly, you must remember that most exercises for the oblique muscles involve the other abdominal muscles, the inner transverse muscles, in particular. That's why you need to be able to consciously engage certain areas of the abs during the workout. The oblique muscles represent the lateral part of the abdominal area. They act as the main rotators of the body. They are represented by two separate muscles, depending on depth and layer: The outer oblique abdominal muscle forms the superficial layer. It is usually the target of training. It ​anatomically begins from ribs 5-12. The internal muscle originates from the lumbosacral fascia, iliac crest, and inguinal ligament. It is attached to the area of the white line, cartilages of ribs 9-12, and pubic crest. The main task of the oblique abs is to rotate the torso. Although, in addition to the main one, the muscle performs a number of functions: Tilting of the torso. Flexion. Lowering the ribs. The tension of the anterior abdominal chest wall. Bilateral contraction. In general, in order to work your abs properly, it is necessary to follow simple recommendations: Eat lightly 2-2.5 hours before the exercise. If you train with an empty stomach, you will not work out to your full potential, which means that the workout will be ineffective. An overfilled stomach can also leave negative consequences, such as nausea and severe dizziness. Warm up your muscles by doing light exercises. Jump, run on the spot or on a machine, do simple tricks like turns, twists, and turns. Do not overdo it! You don't need to exhaust yourself every day. Try 2-4 times a week - that will be enough for a nice and shapely belly. Each exercise should stretch your muscles. You should feel how they are tensed. If this is not there, then you are doing something wrong. Do not eat immediately after the workout. If you feel very hungry, snack on an apple or drink a glass of water. Do not eat after one hour at the earliest.

Since ancient times, developed muscles have been one of the hallmarks of a harmoniously developed, athletic body. There is no such thing as 'abs' in anatomy. This is a conditional abdominal muscle. There are four of them: rectus; internal oblique; external oblique and transversus. The rectus abdominis muscle is the largest in area. It’s a popular fallacy that there is a 'lower' and 'upper' press, but the rectus muscle does not have such a division. The notorious 'six-pack' stands out because of the tendon bridges on the rectus abdominis muscle. The muscle bundles of the external abdominal muscle begin from the lower eight ribs and extend radially downward. The transverse muscle is located deeper than the other abdominal muscles. In this case, the tendon extension in the upper two-thirds passes behind the rectus muscle, and in the lower third - in front. Partly because of this, the lower abs are less workable than the upper ones. The abdominal muscles are referred to as the core muscles, the muscle complex responsible for stabilizing the spine, pelvis, and hips. Each of the abdominal muscles is responsible for its own functions. One of the most common fallacies in abdominal training is that the more reps we do in a set, the stronger and bigger the abs will be. In fact, the muscles of the abs are no different in terms of training from the biceps. To increase the biceps, you will do one hundred reps per set. However, you will reduce the number of sets and reps, but increase the load. By increasing the number of repetitions in the set, you will develop strength endurance, but the muscle will not get thicker from this. It is much more effective to increase the load, do sets with weights and reduce the number of repetitions in the set. Three factors affect the appearance of your abs: posture, body fat percentage, and muscle development. Posture.If a person pumps muscles but slouches, and he has excess fat, then the abs will not be visible. If a person does not pump the abs, but he has a good posture and a small percentage of body fat, then his belly will look flatter. That is why it makes no sense to start with the question of how to properly pump the abs. You need to start by working on your posture. The good news is that your core muscles are also responsible for correct posture. And they are usually used in workouts with an emphasis on the abs. Fat percentage.Measuring body composition on an analyzer scale will show the percentage of body fat, which explains why the abs are invisible. If the fat is more than 15-20%, then it’s hard to see your six-pack. At 15% or less, the abs begin to be seen. 8% is abs athletes have. But do not try to completely get rid of fat for beautiful abs. Fat is necessary for the proper functioning of the endocrine system and other processes in the body. To achieve tangible results, it is important to monitor the factors that affect the percentage of body fat like food, sleep, stress levels, and the amount of daily physical activity. Muscle development.You mustn’t focus only on abs exercises, you need to develop the body complexly and do a variety of activities. Strength training will strengthen your muscles, burn calories and build endurance with interval training. Recovery activities help with posture, flexibility, and muscle balance. The optimal training program can be selected after fitness testing, which takes into account how a person moves, what restrictions he has.

The hips are some of the strongest muscles in the human body. They keep the torso upright, control the hip and knee joints, and are engaged during various activities and even at rest. Their proper functioning is extremely important, and anyone should know how they function. The muscles located on the hip are involved in both hip and knee movements, providing different positions of the hip in space depending on the proximal or distal support. Topographically, the hipі are divided into three groups. The anterior group includes the flexors: the quadriceps and the tailor muscle. The medial group consists of the hip drive muscles: the comb, the long, short, big adductor, and the thin muscle. The posterior group includes the hip extensors: biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semi-perineal. The lateral outer and inner thigh muscles are considered antagonistic pairs: while one group is working, the other group relaxes. The abductors, including the middle gluteal, small gluteal, thigh broad fascia tensor, pear, and tail muscles are responsible for your leg movements from the middle of your body. Essentially, whenever you take a step to the side or turn your foot on the bed, you are activating the abductors. The inner thigh muscles, particularly the large adductor, small adductor, short adductor, and long adductor muscles perform the opposite task, working whenever you move your leg toward the center of your body. Strong and injury-resistant athletes have well-trained hip muscles. This is very important when it comes to fast sports with a lot of lateral movements, such as tennis or basketball, but also when you want to work out without pain. If your goal is to strengthen your hip muscles, which is really important, but you don't have your favorite leg workout, we will share some great exercises with you. Wide Squats. Every leg workout should include different variations of squats. This exercise targets the lower body, including the inner and outer thighs. But to really engage your thigh muscles, you should do deep squats with your legs turned outward. Sumo Deadlift. The Sumo deadlift is based on a similar leg position as in the wide squat. However, it is the external rotation of the thigh muscles that results in increased involvement of the inner and outer thighs. Side Leg Raises. A 2005 study published in the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy found that side leg raises without weights are just as effective as other weighted exercises. Side Leg Pull-Ups. The pull-up exercise can be done anywhere because you don't need anything but a comfortable mat. This is a great exercise that you can add to your daily home workout routine.

Building up the calf muscles and make your legs beautiful is quite difficult, but possible. It is difficult because the legs are used to constant strain (usually people walk a lot). And it becomes possible thanks to the proven exercises, which can effectively train this group of muscles. In this article, we will take a detailed look at the anatomy of calves, their functions, and exercises that you can do to help make them stronger. The calf muscle is the most superficially located muscle of the lower leg that crosses two joints: the knee and ankle. Like the biceps of the shoulder, it consists of two heads: medial (located closer to the inside of the tibia) and lateral (located closer to the outside of the tibia). It is interesting to note, that about 5.5% of Japanese and about 3% of people of other nationalities may have the 3rd head of the calf muscle, which attaches from above between the fixation sites of the medial and lateral heads, and may connect from below either to the lateral head (less often) or to the medial head (more often). The primary function of the calf muscle is to lift the supporting leg, which causes a person to move forward along with flexion of the knee and ankle joints. Running causes a lot of stress on the calf muscles that is why many sprinters face the problem of calf pain. There are also other functions of the calf muscle. The calf muscle is involved in the plantar flexion of the foot, which occurs during walking, running, or cycling; It is also activated during flexion of the leg at the knee joint; It participates in the supination of the foot (its outward rotation); The calf muscle takes part in the stabilization of the knee and ankle joints and also helps to keep the balance in the upright position of the body. There are many reasons that can cause calf pain. And to prevent this unpleasant situation, the following rules should be followed: running at a comfortable pace; warming up before running and stretching after training; comfortable shoes suitable for running; a smooth transition from running to stopping after a step; drinking plenty of water after the workout; a warm shower/bath and a massage to relax the muscles. The reasons why the calf muscles are not as developed as you would like them to be could be the following: too much training aimed at working out this muscle group; not enough exercise; the wrong set of exercises. It is necessary to choose the right exercises for the calf muscles. It must be noted that the surface muscle is worked out in a standing position, and the cambalic muscle in a sitting position. To train as effectively as possible, it is necessary to load both muscles. And the last, but not the least advice: do not try to achieve serious results by performing endless repetitions, such as deadlifts. The main secret of how to pump up the calf muscles is heavy training with weights. It is recommended to train your calves no more than 2 times a week.

The anatomy of the human foot is complex. This is a part of the leg with many muscular compartments that perform functions such as balancing, maintaining stability, softening the impact of steps, creating solid support. Its structure allows us to see how evolution has adapted our body to an efficient way of movement - upright walking. Anatomically, it is similar to the hand. The anatomical structure of the foot is quite complex, due to the need for a small support area to support the weight of the human body. There are two parts distinguished in the foot: a plantar surface (which is in direct contact with the ground) and an opposite - dorsiflexion. All parts of this very complex mechanism work together to provide us with balance when we walk and exercise. The lower part of the limb is built from bones of different sizes connected into a single structure. It allows the weight of the body to be supported when moving and is capable of bearing enormous loads. The bones of the fingers include fourteen phalanges and their connecting articulations. Each finger is formed of three phalanges, except for the thumb, which contains two. They are connected with the parts of the skeleton forming the metatarsus through the articular cartilage. The function of the toes is to distribute the weight of the body equally and to improve balance. The foot includes sesamoid bones. These are small formations of rounded shape, their number is individual. And there are people who do not have these bones. Their option is to increase the curvature of the transverse arch. The muscles on the dorsal side are responsible for extending the toes and foot. The plantar side muscles are responsible for their flexion. They play an important role in the formation of the correct arch and take on a huge load when moving and jumping. Everyone needs to take care of their feet, not just people who like to run. Problems can arise from a sedentary lifestyle, excessive weight, or constant work 'on your feet'. The most common problem is flat feet. It can be not only congenital but also acquired at any age. Because of changes in the arch of the foot loses cushioning, while walking, shock load is transferred to other joints, causing problems in the knees and lower back. You can avoid ankle pathologies and injuries if you do special exercises. We have collected the best, in our opinion, sets of exercises to strengthen the foot, its muscles, ligaments, and joints. You do not have to do everything just choose exercises that you like, make your own complexes. Training your feet even 1-2 times a week will help prevent injuries, become more athletic and run faster.