Becoming familiar with the muscles that make up your body has more benefits than only enabling you to talk shop with your work out partners. The more familiar that you’re with the muscles you are working, the better you will be able to judge what’s required to make improvements. In this article we’ll get to be familiar with the muscles that frame the mid-section.

The core muscles of the mid-section do a lot to stabilize and hold up the upper body so it’s well worth spending time to train this region properly. If you are trying to find ways to get those washboard abs that ladies adore on guys, then pay attention. The key muscles of the mid-section are as follows:

1. Rectus abdominis – this is the big flat muscle wall that covers most of the front mid-section from the lower chest to the pubic bone. Above the navel it consists of 3 pairs of rectangular sections stacked on top of one another and is better referred to as the six pack.

2. Obliquus abdominis – this muscle runs diagonally along the side of the mid-section from the lower ribcage to the pubic area. There are 2 muscles on each side, with internal obliques lying beneath the external obliques. The obliques help your torso to flex towards the side, twist at the waist and help in bending the torso forwards.

3. Transversus abdominis – this is the deepest of the abdominal muscles and consists of a thin strip that runs horizontally across the abdomen. It is also the one most people have problem with when they want to know how to get washboard abs. This muscle helps keep the internal organs in place, forces out the breath and stabilizes the spine.

4. Erector spinae – this massive muscle collection runs along the side of the lower spine. Consisting of a pair, the erector spinae retains the spinal column erect and helps twisting at the waist.

In a nutshell, that’s what makes up your abdominal muscles and what you have to concentrate on if you wish to get the ripped ab appearance that ladies love and men are just jealous of. Situps and crunches are truly not the most effective workouts to obtain the abs you desire, but it’s a great start.