As you know, some exercises can work more than one muscle group. Typically when you work your arms, your abdominal muscles are working as well. This occurs for many reasons and we will explain a few of them here. Gaining the best results from your arm and ab exercises depends on a wide variety of factors and one of these factors is your body, which is the ultimate deciding factor in the way you respond to each exercise.
Anatomy
The anatomy of your shoulder makes it a very complex, very weak joint. Because of this, many of the muscles that wrap around your shoulder, extend into your arm, your back and your chest.
While none of the muscles from your arms are directly attached to muscles from your stomach, working your arms can in fact work your abs and create the ultimate 6-pack.
Your Core
Your abdominal muscles are considered your core for a reason. Any movement you make with your limbs, directly translates to your core as a method of stabilizing yourself. Every time you move from one side to another, or place more weight on one side of your body than the other, you are using your abdominal muscles to compensate and keep yourself upright.
Your abdominal muscles were nicknamed your “core” because they are the center of everything you do. Every movement you make affects them in some way. In order to obtain a perfect 6-pack, you must burn the fat that is covering your abdominal muscles, while building definition in the various muscle groups it contains.
Ensuring Your Abs Get The Best Workout From Your Arm Exercises
To ensure that your abs are getting the maximum work out from your arm exercises, tighten your ab muscles every time you contract your arms to perform the exercise. Even though you are working your abs, you need to tell your body where to focus the tension and where to focus the contractions.
It is important to train your body when to contract your abs. It is also important that you work with weights that challenge you to use your abs.
Burning Fat
When you are working out to burn fat, you may be centering your exercise in one location, but you have the potential to burn fat all over your body. Adding abdominal contractions causes more fat to burn in the abdominal area while you are building muscle.
Positioning
The position that your body is in when you are working your arms plays a huge role in how much focus is placed on your abs. Try completing your exercises where you are forced to lift upwards or using one side at a time in order to achieve optimum abdominal contractions.
Understanding Your Own Body
By understanding how your own body works, you can maximize how your arm workout affects your abs. Experiment with different positions and actions to determine what exercises work the areas you are focused on, whether these are problem areas, or they are just areas you would like to have more definition in.
The results you find will depend on your personal fitness level, the amount that you push yourself and your own personal endurance level.