Abs

There are some weird spacing issues here and i am not sure why, so sorry about that.


I am not sure what made me want to write a short post about Ab's. I mean this in a functional way.While we all WANT to have Ab's like this : 

And yes I picked a great triathlete named Hillary Biscay instead of a souped up carb depleted body builder, but 
We all want to be able to show our midsections, even if you live in MN and your midrif is pale as a baby's
bottom. I call it my "cancer free zone!"  But what Ab's really matter the most??? If you had to grade which AB's 
you really need to be ON, and those that are just for SHOW, well here is my thought on that:




1) Transversus Adbominus. Pretty much the gate keeper to keeping your pelvis neutral. IF your pelvis isnt 


Stable well your legs and your hips are gonna be doing the jig to keep from overworking. Hamstring issues?


What is your TA Doing while you run? If you have no idea what i am talking about, then you need to figure that 


out. Do you have a little Buddha poking out? Then your TA is not participating today. Even on the bike....


IS your tummy tight And is your belly button pulled into your spine??? Keeping your tuck in Aero can be hard, 


but keep thinking about that while you are trying to hit your insanely high power numbers.





















This picture above shows how the TA cannot be seen when you are walking around after the race. The TA is 




hidden under that 6 pack we all think we want. 










And yes The RA is a great strength muscle it really does contribute to your overall core strength but i would not




put all your money on it in Vegas. 




2)Obliques, esp the internal obliques. Again think about pelvic control and controling the pelvic girdle. 





Look at the pic below. What happens when the IO is weak and elongated? Your pelvis drops forward into anterior 




tilt and your rib cage gets pulled down with it. Along with your rib cage your shoudlers now have a nice tug 




anteriorly contributing to the impingement you have from swimming 3-4000yds / 3-4x week. 




I rate the IO right up there with the TA. 









Ok my goal with this isnt to make you not want a great set of Ab's, or a 6 pack but to remember the most


important muscles for you to swim bike run and remain injury free are the ones that we cant see, for the most


part. Triathlon is surely and image sport. It's a lovely sport, fast bikes, fast people, well sculpted athletes. 




Dont get caught up on comparing yourself to everyone else's looks, bc I know as well as you do, that there are 


more than enough terrific athlete's that dont LOOK like they will be fast! 


Train safely.