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Abs-olutely fabulousDate: 04.05.2003
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team Canada
Abs are the new Rolex.
Though a dramatically defined midsection is out of reach for most people, everybody wants one.
"Abs are a status symbol," says Shawn Phillips, author of ABSolution: The Practical Solution for Building Your Best Abs, who prides himself for having one of the most admired six-packs in the world. While they may be little more than a grid of small muscle groups on the surface of the abdomen, they have come to embody such estimable qualities as "determination, confidence, discipline and self-control," says Phillips.
University of Toronto anthropology professor Frances Burton agrees. Many of us know how difficult it is to develop a washboard stomach, so "we believe these people are more disciplined and self-aware than the rest of us." Culturally, it is the opposite of the way we feel about smokers and people who are overweight, she explains.
Not since ancient times, when Greek statues were finely chiselled, has there been so much attention paid to the well-defined stomach. We admire celebrities such as Janet Jackson, Geri Halliwell, Dennis Quaid and Brad Pitt as much for their miraculous midsections as for their abilities to entertain. We want to replicate the abs of Abercrombie & Fitch models, who languish on catalogue pages, displaying their six-packs while wearing low-slung khaki shorts and wide-open shirts.
Often considered a male thing, increasingly women are in hot pursuit of their own six packs. "Women want them as much as men do," says Ryan Hindmarsh, manager of Totum Life Science in Toronto.
Well, the good news is, everyone has a six-pack.
The bad news is, they are almost always concealed beneath a layer of flab.
And because they are so elusive, showy abdominal muscles have come to represent prestige and sex appeal. So gyms may be as busy as ever, but "big" is no longer the goal, says Hindmarsh.
Pumped is out, he says.
Ripped is in.
Many of Totum's clients are A-type personalities, explains Hindmarsh. "They are successful. They are achievers," he says. It stands to reason they set the bar a little higher. The men and women who work out with Totum trainers generally want a natural and lean silhouette. They want that six-pack.
On a higher level, look at this weekend's FAME: The Fitness and Model Expo, a convention celebrating beautiful bodies presented by the World Natural Sports Organization. The event, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, attracted body builders, industry experts, talent scouts, modelling agencies and photographers from across North America.
A much-anticipated segment of the two-day gathering was the Best Abs contest, which had contestants showing off their abdominal splendour.
The two-day event was a sort of model search, in which a killer torso was more important than a pretty face Ñ fitness models aren't necessarily out to snag the cover of Vogue or Gentleman's Quarterly. Rather, they're strutting their stuff to get into the pages of Men's Health or Shape magazines, perhaps starring in an advertising campaign for protein shakes or working as a spokesperson for exercise equipment.
A magnificent middle is central to their success.
"Professional bodybuilding is a dead sport," says Montreal fitness expert Harley Pasternak, who spoke Friday evening about the benefits of "functional" fitness. (Pasternak has trained such Hollywood hard bodies as Halle Berry and Angela Basset.)
We learned the hard way that exercise contraptions that target the midsection and promise a defined washboard stomach are not enough. Ab-Rollers brought us to our knees in the pursuit of the perfect ab workout. And electronic muscle stimulation systems like Ab-Energizers, Fast-Abs and The AbTronic delivered electric charges to make muscles contract and tighten "for the awesome abs" you dreamed of.
The infomercials claimed obtusely that it was the "technology" that makes these machines so effective and time-efficient. But, eventually, consumers complained, many suggesting they'd been burned, literally and figuratively.
But that didn't put an end to the quest for the quick fix.
Companies have recently introduced creams, such as Ab Rescue by Aramis, purporting to tighten, tone and smooth your belly.
While they dazzle the consumer with names such as Body Sculpting Gel, the fine print reveals optimum results will come only if combined with daily exercise and diet programs.
The bottom line is, when you take in more calories than your body burns, you store the extra calories as fat. Some people store it on their hips. Many more store it on their bellies.
Reluctantly, we are listening to the advice of qualified fitness experts, who insist the claims made by quick-fix companies are too good to be true. We've learned that reduced body fat is key; that a washboard tummy will only surface with proper diet and overall exercise. Now, while we're doing sit-ups and crunches with separate exercises for upper abs, lower abs and obliques, we're also eating properly for the nutritional edge and running marathons or sweating in spin classes for the aerobic benefits.
While an explosion of Web sites offer tips on the best ab workouts (Abdominaltips and Simple Fitness are just two), personal trainers are extolling the virtues of core body strength. They are the buzzwords suggesting that without a powerful middle, the strength of the extremities is irrelevant. And a six-pack is the visible indicator that you are doing the right thing, that you are dedicated to genuine fitness.
Phillips has spent the last two decades working with his brother, Bill Phillips, author of the New York Times bestseller Body-for-LIFE, developing the tools and techniques to help others build a better body.
Well-defined abdominal muscles have become the new measure of fitness, says Phillips, who is in Toronto this weekend for the fitness expo. "A lot of people can have big biceps but they are not necessarily in good shape. But odds are if you've got a well-defined midsection, you are committed to an overall exercise program and nutrition. They represent the reality and the pinnacle of fitness."
We've moved away from the looking-good paradigm and we're concentrating on actual fitness, he explains. The supportive benefits of core body strength, as illustrated by a six-pack, will be invaluable to an aging population increasingly at risk of suffering lower back pain.
Pasternak is convinced the "body building freak shows" of the '80s and '90s are being replaced by fitness competitions such as FAME, which celebrate healthy bodies that are attractive, flexible and strong. The massive physiques of Dolf Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are old fashioned, he argues. "These guys can't scratch their own asses," he says of such beefed-up bodybuilders.
Pasternak believes our fascination with tight abs is a backlash against the pumped-up look of the 1980s, when everything from our bodies to our economy was big and burly. Business was booming and the decade was defined by conspicuous consumption. Fitness was defined in terms of size. Men wanted their biceps bulging and their chests king-size.
Abs, for the most part, are not showy. While expanded chests and arms can be displayed by wearing tight clothing, abs are almost always concealed. They are not conspicuous.
As we've since learned, big, whether it's an economy supported by hype or a body bolstered by steroids, is often unsustainable. So now we're downsizing. We like our businesses lean and healthy. Likewise, we want our bodies tight and fit.
And abs have come to represent that paradigm shift.
"For anyone who has worked hard to develop an overall lean and muscular physique, a visible six-pack is the sign that they've arrived. They elevate you into an elite category," says Phillips.
They have cache and sex appeal. But they have nothing to do with money. They represent achievement through hard work. |
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