Anatomy of the human body - musculus rectus abdominis / rectus abdominis muscle

Often we see that an article mentions a muscle, but not every reader knows what muscle it is. Based on this, we have decided to create a series of articles in which we will discuss the basic anatomy of the human body and introduce the muscles in more detail. Among other things, we will also show you which exercises to use to exercise a given muscle part correctly and, conversely, which exercises to avoid. The first two parts we decided to devote to perhaps the most famous muscles of all - triceps and biceps. Then followed the frontalis pilus, the pectoralis major, thedeltoid, the trapezius and in this article we will focus on the rectus abdominis!

Almost every exerciser would like to have a developed rectus abdominis muscle- this, when developed, gives a shape to the abdomen resembling a sixpack. However, to be visible, it is also necessary to achieve a low body fat percentage.

The number of "cubes" depends on genetics - most often there are 6 (hence the sixpack), but there can also be only 4 or even 8.

Function. The upper part bends the spine into a forward bend (by pulling on the chest). The function of the lower part is then more of a pelvic tuck. This muscle is also an auxiliary expiratory muscle.

The beginning of the muscle: Cartilaginous ends of the 5th-7th ribs

Tendon of the muscle: The pubic bone

What to avoid when exercising the direct abdominal muscles:

This is what we asked our supertrainer again.

There are a lot of myths surrounding abdominal exercises. I would highlight the main one:

Lots of repetitions when exercising your abs. The truth is that if we want to gain muscle mass and have a deep and muscular abdomen, then we need to strength train it like the other areas in the range of 8-12 reps. I don't need to strength train my abdomen because I strengthen it with basic exercises. Yes it's true, but I would still include abdominal exercises in my training so that a weak abdomen doesn't limit performance with strength exercises. There's no reason to leave any part out of our training, and besides, few people know how to properly engage it for core exercises.

I'll work out my abs every day and have a baker's dozen of buns. Wrong, we will only have visible abs with a lower body fat percentage, so food and diet are essential.

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I would definitely incorporate abs into your workouts. It's a part like any other, so 2-3 a week in the 8-12 rep range is sufficient. If the abs are a big weakness, I would include it more often. By weakness, however, I don't mean a layer of fat covering your abs, but weak and lackluster abdominal muscles with a low body fat percentage.

Basic exercises to strengthen the rectus abdominis:

Crunches - technique of execution

Lying leg raises - technique

Sources: image - Kenhub.com, Anatomy of Body and Movement (Theodore Dimon)