05:10
Faizan
It may not seem like an abdominal exercise, but running requires virtually every muscle in your body to fire in concert in order to keep you upright and stabilized throughout your workout. Running on an incline increases the effort of the exercise and can assist you in building up your abdominal muscles as part of a rounded fitness and nutrition program.
Muscle Activation
Although running doesn't specifically target your abdominal muscles, they are essential stabilizers that allow you to maintain posture as you run. The rectus abdominis and obliques muscles in the front of your torso act in concert with the erector spinae, which runs down the length of your spine, to keep you from dipping forward or backward as you run. The twisting motion you simulate when you pump your arms targets your obliques.
Increased Effort
Running on an incline increases the effort of the exercise dramatically by forcing you to work against the resisting force of gravity. According to U.K. track coach Brian Mackenzie, incline training can cause your body to recruit up to three times the number of muscle fibers during your run. The more work your muscles perform, the stronger and larger they will become.
Caloric Expenditure
You can do as many ab workouts as you want, but you won't see any visible progress until you burn the fat that encases your torso. Cardio exercises burn calories efficiently, and increasing the effort by running on an incline will increase the caloric expenditure of your workout. While a 155-pound person can expect to burn 230 calories running two miles on level ground, he can increase that burn to 291 calories on a 5-percent incline.
Disadvantages
All of the components that make incline training so effective for burning calories and building muscle mass can also be regarded as disadvantages for some. Running on an incline is more difficult than running on level ground. To keep up with the work rate of your muscles, you heart rate will increase dramatically with an incline. Additionally, since your muscles will need time to rest and recover following a workout, you should avoid running uphill on consecutive days.
Muscle Activation
Although running doesn't specifically target your abdominal muscles, they are essential stabilizers that allow you to maintain posture as you run. The rectus abdominis and obliques muscles in the front of your torso act in concert with the erector spinae, which runs down the length of your spine, to keep you from dipping forward or backward as you run. The twisting motion you simulate when you pump your arms targets your obliques.
Increased Effort
Running on an incline increases the effort of the exercise dramatically by forcing you to work against the resisting force of gravity. According to U.K. track coach Brian Mackenzie, incline training can cause your body to recruit up to three times the number of muscle fibers during your run. The more work your muscles perform, the stronger and larger they will become.
Caloric Expenditure
You can do as many ab workouts as you want, but you won't see any visible progress until you burn the fat that encases your torso. Cardio exercises burn calories efficiently, and increasing the effort by running on an incline will increase the caloric expenditure of your workout. While a 155-pound person can expect to burn 230 calories running two miles on level ground, he can increase that burn to 291 calories on a 5-percent incline.
Disadvantages
All of the components that make incline training so effective for burning calories and building muscle mass can also be regarded as disadvantages for some. Running on an incline is more difficult than running on level ground. To keep up with the work rate of your muscles, you heart rate will increase dramatically with an incline. Additionally, since your muscles will need time to rest and recover following a workout, you should avoid running uphill on consecutive days.
Posted in: Running
