Ukelele optional

I spend a lot of time thinking about abdominal muscles.  (You are now feeling incredibly grateful that you don’t have to live in my brain!)  I also spend more time than most people talking about abdominal muscles.  This is because they are important and because I don’t know that many people who want to talk about football, comic books, poetry, and food.  Almost everyone is willing to talk about abdominals in the same way that everyone loves to discuss stress.  And the two are related!

I’m not talking about stressing out about what our abs look like.  That’s not useful.  Let’s agree not to do it.  We are where we are, we can do amazing things, and we can always improve.

Stress, in life and in the body, often occurs as a result of lack of balance.  It comes from Too Much:  too much work, too much food, too much debt, too much of everything.  Sometimes it comes from Too Little:  too little sleep, too little whiskey… (ok, maybe that one is all right…).  When we lose our center of gravity, we spin out of balance and can crash.  That’s where the abdominals come in.

The abdominals are some of the most important core muscles of the body.  They are responsible for stability.  Keeping them on the job keeps us centered and powerful, able to meet whatever weird stuff comes flying at us.

How to engage them?  Of course there are the usual suspects:  crunches and their cohorts.  Tired of those?  Try hula, swimming, ballet, boxing, or Pilates.  Jump up on the Bosu for your arm work.  Skateboard!  Rollerblade!  Even just let go of the handles on the elliptical trainer or treadmill and notice that you need to keep those abs working.

Also, don’t forget to breathe!