A Flat Washboard Stomach Through Endurance Sports

For men and women, the six-pack is a sign of fitness, sportiness and active training. Many athletes train hard on their six-pack abs, adjust their diet and try to get more and more definition through targeted exercises.

But most people are aware that six-pack abs aren't just achieved through sit-ups and other abdominal exercises. In fact, a six-pack can also be purchased on the side. Through targeted endurance training during running, the abdominal muscles are automatically massively strengthened.

How Does Running Affect Your Six Pack abs?

Calorie Consumption Maximized

What will probably seem logical to most people is the fact that running burns a lot of fat. Finally the entire body is animated. Fat burning increases, which frees the stomach of fat deposits. This fact alone certainly has a very positive effect on the appearance of the abdominal muscles. After all, every muscle is much more visible when the fat content is reduced.

In addition, running is a sport in which a high afterburn effect is achieved. The afterburn effect or secondary burn effect occurs when the muscles are under a lot of strain over a certain period of time. To release energy, the body must oxidize carbohydrates or fats. For this purpose, oxygen is transported into the masks, which can then do work.

The higher the training session, the more oxygen the body needs to release further energy. However, the increased oxygen consumption does not decrease with the condition of training. In fact, it lasts a few hours after training. This means that even after training, the body still does a lot of work that leads to burning calories.

The Voltage Increases

But running itself also trains the abdominal muscles so that they appear stronger than before. In order for the human body to be able to run at all, the torso must be adapted. This primarily includes the back and the stomach. Both parts of the body must harmonize with each other as perfect counterparts. This stabilizes the back so that the body does not tip over backwards. The same applies to the stomach. It prevents you from falling forward through tension. Your stomach is particularly affected when you run on an incline.

 This causes the body to automatically bend further forward. The center of gravity is shifted forward, so that the stomach has to exert more tension to maintain balance.Another positive effect of running is the use of all abdominal muscles. There is often a misconception that sit-ups alone can lead to six-pack abs. But just training the front stomach does not create a defined, sexy stomach. The abdomen is made up of four different muscle groups.

First of all, the rectus abdominal muscle is formed in the middle. This begins directly below the breast and ends just above the intimate area. The external oblique muscle runs directly along the side of the rectus abdominal muscle. There are also the internal oblique abdominal muscles and the transverse abdominal muscle. All four muscle groups lie in a symmetrical arrangement on the left and right sides of the body. If you only do sit-ups, you train the rectus abdominis muscle and maximally the internal oblique abdominal muscle. When running, on the other hand, all four muscle groups are used equally.