Abdominal exercise

Abdominal exercises are those that affect the abdominal muscles (colloquially known as the stomach muscles or "abs").

Usage

Abdominal exercises are useful for building the abdominal muscles. This is useful for improving performance with certain sports, back pain, taking punches, but it has little effect on decreasing fat in that area of the body (belly fat), or on the body's distribution of body fat.^[1]

Breakdowns

The anterior abdominal wall is made up of 4 muscles—the rectus abdominis muscle, the internal and external obliques, and the transversus abdominis.

Types of abdominal exercises and effectiveness

The abdominal muscles can be worked out by practicing disciplines of general body strength such as Pilates, yoga, T'ai chi, and jogging among others. There are also specific routines to target each of these muscles.

Momentaneous activity

One way to estimate the effectiveness of abdominal exercise is in measuring the momentaneous activity by electromyography (EMG), with the activity generally being compared to that of the traditional crunch. However, an exercise of lower activity performed during a longer time can give at least as much exercise as a high-activity exercise, with the main difference being that a prolonged duration results more in aerobic exercise than strength training.

The following ranks abdominal exercises from highest to lowest in terms of activity as determined by the EMG measures:^[2]

Activity in rectus abdominis exercise mean activity1 Bicycle crunch 248% Captain's chair 212% Exercise ball 139% Vertical leg crunch 129% Torso track 127% Long arm crunch 119% Reverse crunch 109% Crunch with heel push 107% Ab roller 105% Hover 100% Traditional crunch 100% Exercise tubing pull 92% Ab rocker 21% Pilates (Plank) 14%

Activity in obliques exercise mean activity1 Captain's chair 310% Bicycle crunch 290% Reverse crunch 240% Hover 230% Vertical leg crunch 216% Exercise ball 147% Torso track 145% Crunch with heel push 126% Long arm crunch 126% Ab roller 101% Traditional crunch 100% Exercise tubing pull 77% Ab rocker 74% Yoga 12%

¹Compared to traditional crunch (100%)

Bicycle crunch

The bicycle targets the rectus abdominals and the obliques. Also, the rectus abdominals can be worked out with the basic crunch, the vertical crunch, the reverse crunch, and the full vertical crunch, and when very fit the individual parts of the muscle become visible; many refer to this visible separation as a six pack. By exercising the internal and external obliques the stomach can be flattened while the waist line can be reduced.^[3] The long arm crunch, in which arms are straighten behind you, adds a longer level to the move and emphasizes the upper part of the abs. The plank exercise not only strengthens the abs but also the back and stabilizes the muscles.^[4]

Gadgets

Abdominal exercises can also be performed with the help of some machines and the captain's chair is one of the most popular machines used in gyms and health clubs. Other machines are the Ab Roller and the Torso Track. The exercise ball is also a tool that helps strengthen the abs. It may be more effective than the crunches on the floor because the abs do more work as the legs are not involved in the exercise.^[5] Potentially the most effective equipment for abdominal strengthening are those that offer the least stability. Examples include the CoreFitnessRoller, bodyweight suspension training such as TRX and stability balls with or without the Halo.^[6]

Safety of abdominal exercises

Abdominal exercises also put some degree of compressive force on the lumbar spine, putting unwanted stress on the lower back. In addition, exaggerated abdominal exercise can cause respiratory problems.^[7] A study of twelve exercises concluded that no single exercise covered all abdominal muscles with high intensity and low compression.^[8]

High challenge-to-compression ratio Crunch with feet anchored Crunch with feet free Bicycle crunch Hanging straight leg raise	Low compression, lower challenge Crunch with feet anchored Crunch with feet free
High challenge, higher compression Straight-leg sit-up Bent-leg sit-up	Low challenge-to-compression ratio (not recommended!) Supine straight-leg raise Supine bent-leg raise Hanging bent-leg raise Static cross-knee crunch

The benefit of focused training on the "deep core" muscles such as the transversus abdominis has been disputed, with some experts advocating a more comprehensive training regimen.^[9]

See also

• Abdomenizer
• Abdominal fat
• Spot reduction

References

1. ^ Michael Jensen, M.D. (2007-01-19). "Belly fat in men: What you need to know". Mayoclinic.com. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/belly-fat/MC00054. Retrieved 2008-04-07. "Sit-ups will make your abdominal muscles stronger, sure. And, you may look thinner by building your abdominal muscles because you can hold in your belly fat better. But strengthening your stomach muscles alone will not specifically reduce belly fat." 
2. ^ Mark Anders; Peter Francis, Ph.D., Jennifer Davis, M.A (2001). "New Study Puts the Crunch on Ineffective Ab Exercises". ACE fitnessmatters. http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/BestWorstAbExercises.pdf. 
3. ^ "Abdominal Muscle Anatomy". http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/abdominal-muscle-anatomy.html. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
4. ^ "Top 10 Most Effective Ab Exercises". http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
5. ^ "Top 10 Most Effective Ab Exercises". http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
6. ^ best ab machine
7. ^ Respiratory problems from abdominal exercise
8. ^ CT Axler; SM McGill (1997). "Low back loads over a variety of abdominal exercises: Searching for the safest abdominal challenge". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 29 (6): 804–810. PMID 9219209. 
9. ^ Reynolds, Gretchen (2009-06-17). "Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back?". New York Times. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/core-myths/. Retrieved 2009-06-19. 

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