This is Your Quick Training Tip, a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.
Months—perhaps even years—of dedicated work in the gym and kitchen have finally paid off. You’ve whittled your body fat down to almost single digits. You’ve pushed, pulled, curled, squatted, lunged, and crunched your way to a physique that looks like it was chiseled from marble. At its center is a set of abs so cut and defined that they cast six individual shadows in the sun. There’s only one problem: Those shadows don’t line up properly.
Much to your dismay, you realize that you have uneven abs—so now you’re searching for ways to get them a bit more balanced.
First the good news: You’ve achieved a goal that eludes most men—washboard abs—and exactly no one else on the planet but you cares that they don’t line up in two impeccably symmetrical columns. When you shed your shirt at the beach, you will turn heads. And you know what? You deserve the attention. You’ve earned it through dedication, sacrifice, and incredibly hard work.
Now the not-so-good-news: Odds are your unevenness is genetic, and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. The rectus abdominis, from which a six-pack is sculpted, is a sheet of muscle divided into sections by tendons. Those sections define your abs, and your genes determine how well they line up.
If those sections aren't Photoshop-perfect, you aren’t alone. Uneven abs are common even among physique athletes. Indeed, if you watch a bodybuilding competition, you’ll see plenty of staggered abs—and if those men and women can show them off without a worry on stage, you can certainly do the same at the beach (or in the bedroom).
Uneven abs can also be caused by certain medical conditions, such as scoliosis, which results in a sideways curvature of the spine. Athletes that predominantly use one side of their body (e.g., tennis players, golfers, pitchers) occasionally develop a bit of lopsidedness as well. But whatever’s causing your unevenness, you can minimize its appearance by making a few key changes to your routine.
Your move: Include more unilateral (single-sided) training and mobility work in your weekly workouts to iron out muscle and strength imbalances and to improve your posture and functional range of motion.
And if all of that doesn’t square up your abs, don’t sweat it. The fact that you can see them at all is an accomplishment that should make you proud.
