Men, here’s how to perfect your love line

A six-pack is no longer the Holy Grail for men who want a buffed physique – now it’s all about the inguinal crease.

THERE was a time when size mattered. When any man with upper arm bulk of similar diameter to a woman’s waist had huge sexual allure. It was the era of Stallone and Schwarzenegger and the more unfeasibly large your forearms, the better. But arms had their moment and the male ideal has shifted, our focus diverted to the new erogenous zone of preference, the inguinal crease, aptly nicknamed the ‘love line’. On the most athletic-looking bodies the V-shaped twin ligaments that extend below a six-pack are worked to sharp definition, so overtly suggestive that they draw the eye directly from the hips to the underwear department.

It has other names — the Sex-V, the Michelangelo Muscle — but whatever you call it, the inguinal crease is currently as coveted among men as Kylie Minogue’s pert bottom is among women.

The head-turning muscle is to be seen on the buff and bare-chested, like Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, on topless Abercrombie models and on any footballer at the World Cup who cares to rip off his shirt and show us.

It’s hardly surprising that personal trainers are inundated with requests from men desperate to locate and reveal their love line.

“That very big and bulky look is gone,” says Karl Henry, the Dublin-based celebrity trainer. “Now men are looking for better proportion and a defined middle area. They are not after 18-inch biceps, but a six-pack and more.”

In the 1990s male Hollywood stars could get away with ticking over at the gym. There was an expectation that they would be toned, but not overly pumped, an image that was not out of reach for anyone who displayed some diligence at the gym. Then came Brad Pitt’s role as Tyler Durden in the 1999 Fight Club and the bar was raised, the pressure to ramp up the training intensified. And the V-line began to emerge.

But Dominic Munnelly, another leading trainer, says that many men still get things wrong when trying to achieve it.

“Men have moved away from wanting the Arnie look and favour an athletic look and functional body,” Munnelly says. “But they make the mistake of training like a bodybuilder so still end up with the bigger shape.”

Unsurprisingly, the chiselled look is not something that is likely to appear with a few sit-ups and circuits. “Look at elite swimmers and footballers like Ronaldo,” Henry says. “They have the sort of bodies that men now want to achieve. That inguinal crease is so prominent through their years of training.”

So how do you find it on your own body? Genetics play a part and some men can achieve a love line through minimal effort. For most though, it requires more effort.

Ultimately, the emergence of the love line is, in part, an optical illusion. Your muscles will have more definition simply because they have less blubber covering them.

If you are truly to achieve the lean look of top athletes, then your body fat levels need to be reduced to 8%-10%, which reveals ligaments and musculature beneath the skin, says Munnelly. You also need to reduce cortisol levels — the stress hormone that is linked to the laying down of stomach fat — by cutting down on caffeine, sodium and sugar.

“You get leaner by changing your diet and cutting out processed and refined foods,” Henry says. “Then you need to add some high intensity interval training in the form of sprints when running, cycling or swimming.”

Changing what you eat is ultimately the most important first step to revealing you inguinal crease, says Munnelly.

“You can’t out-train a bad diet,” he says. “Nutrition dictates body fat results. Combine that with smart training around the basic compound movements for the abdominals and you’re winning.”

Specific exercises to target the Adonis belt (the inguinal ligament structure of which the V-lines are a highlight) are also essential. These work the six-pack muscles (rectus abdominis), the internal and external obliques that wrap around the sides of the trunk and the transversus abdominus (or TVA) that has the role of compressing the ribs and keeping the core area stabilised.

“Weights can be useful as you get fitter,” Henry says. “But general body weight moves are fine to get started.”

Whatever your baseline fitness, the stomach vacuum is hugely important. It’s a curious sucking in and hollowing out of the abdominal area that brings to mind images of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his most hulkish days.

Some experts recommend performing the stomach vacuum in isolation for at least a minute every day. Most suggest you take a big breath, suck your belly button in and then do an abdominal routine — by doing so you target the lower abdominals.

It takes time to master and it can be demoralising to suck in your stomach only to find it still protrudes in the early days, but it’s apparently worth the effort.

There is much to be said for attempting to find your Sex-V even if, ultimately, it is not unveiled in full definition. It is, I found, difficult to discuss the love line without encountering innuendo.

The inguinal crease is more of a suggestion than a bold statement and it flirts with a woman’s imagination like no other body part and, whatever its role as a muscle, it’s about as hot as it gets.

V-MUSCLE WORKOUT

The Love Line Workout

Perform a circuit of these exercises three times a week on non-consecutive days. Warm up for five minutes and take 30-45 seconds rest between each. On other days, perform short, intense bouts of cardiovascular exercise such as a 20-minute run or 30-minute cycle with 60-second sprints incorporated.

SWISS BALL CRUNCH

Lie on the exercise ball so that your back, neck, and head rest on top of it. Place your feet shoulder-width apart on the floor with your knees above your ankles and your hands at the sides of your head. Push down through your heels and curl your torso up as far as you can without moving your hips. Then slowly lower your body back over the curve.

Perform 20 repetitions, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat.

As you get stronger, hold a medicine ball or dumbbell with your arms above your chest.

OBLIQUE CRUNCHES

Lie on your back with feet close to your buttocks and hands lightly at the side of your head. Don’t anchor your feet as you will switch the focus to your hip flexor muscles rather than your abdominals. Twist your upper body so that you am to reach the right knee with your left elbow. Lower yourself back down and repeat on the other side.

Perform 16 repetitions in total.

PUSH UPS

Lie face down on the floor with the palms of your hands beneath your shoulders and legs extended behind you. Make sure the balls of your feet are touching the floor. Keep your body in a straight line. Push yourself up with your arms before slowly lowering your torso down by bending your elbows. When your elbows reach a 45-degree angle, push up again.

Repeat to failure (or as many as you can).

PLANK PUSH UP

Plank push-up: Assume a plank position by lying face down on the floor, placing your elbows on the ground and elevating your body so that weight is supported on balls of the feet and by the elbows (bent to 90 degrees). Your body should form a straight line. Don’t allow the hips to drop. Push up onto the right hand, then the left. Then lower the right hand back to the elbow and the left hand back down so that both elbows return to the floor.

KNEE CROSSOVERS

Lie face down with the palms of your hands under your shoulders and legs extended behind you, supported on the balls of your feet. Push yourself up using your arms. Slowly lift your right foot off the floor and bring the right knee forward and then across the upper body. Stop at the point your back feels as if it is twisting and return to the start position. Repeat eight times on each side.

REVERSE CURL

Lie on your back, hands by your sides and palms down. Raise your feet up into the air so that the soles are parallel to the ceiling. Using your abdominal muscles, lower your legs towards the floor until they reach a 45-degree angle. Return slowly to the start position. Repeat 16 times.