Best Abs
Introduction
Article
Response
The
Captain's Chair
The Bicycle Crunch
Exercise
Ball Crunch - best of the lot
Click here for Gin's new streaming exercise video
clips, including a core/abs set!
Introduction
In 2003, ACE (American Council on Exercise) recruited
Dr. Peter Francis, Ph.D. and Jennifer Davis, M. A., at the San
Diego State University Bio mechanics Lab, to conduct a study
on which exercises were the most effective for the abs. The results
appeared in the ACE Fitness Matters magazine in an article, "New
Study Puts the Crunch on Abdominal Exercises".
The study examined a wide variety of abdominal
exercises, including standard and modified crunches, partial
body weight exercises, and both home and gym exercise equipment.
Thirty healthy men and women, both occasional and regular exercisers,
with an age range of 20 to 45, were recruited to participate
in the study. Muscle activity in the upper and lower rectus abdominus,
the external obliques, and the rectus femoris (hip flexors) were
measured using electromyography (EMG) equipment.
The results of the study indicated that the exercises
that required constant stabilization and rotation recruited the
most muscle activity in the obliques. At the top of the list
were the Bicycle Maneuver (#1) and the Captain's Chair (#2).
Stability Ball Crunches (#3),
which recruited somewhat less of the rectus abdominus and the
obliques, ALSO recruited LESS of the hip flexors, which reasonably
makes them one of the best exercises to target the abs specifically.
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Article Response
The publishing of the study was
followed by a flurry of magazine articles, including one by Cooking
Light, which featured these top exercises for the abs.
This prompted concerned fitness professionals,
like Kellie Hibberd, to write to us:
"I had to question the validity of some
of the exercises like the 'Captain's Chair' and the 'Bicycle
Crunch.' They seem real 'old school'... Does she (Gin) endorse
these types of ab exercises that involve more hip flexors than
abs?
There was no mention of 'core exercises' and, frankly, some
of the exercises demonstrated in the article I wouldn't recommend
to my clients."
So here's our 2 cents on the top two:
The Captain's Chair
This exercise first requires significant upper body strength
to support the full weight of the body, and the ability to stabilize
the shoulder girdle in a neutral position while the lower body
moves. Second, in the execution of the movement, the focus should
be on controlled muscular contraction rather than momentum.
What less skilled exercisers may tend to do ("old school" style)
is to swing the legs up and quickly allow them to drop, letting
gravity "assist", rather than "resisting" the
pull of gravity.
When executed slowly, the abs serve to stabilize the pelvis
and spine against both the lifting and lowering phase - and when
you resist the pull of gravity, this is indeed an effective and
challenging exercise.
See Gin's Modified Version of the Captain's Chair
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The Bicycle Crunch
This exercise was at one time considered "contraindicated" or
high risk, mainly because people tended to execute it quickly...
like they were trying to win the Tour de France!
The other tendency in the "old school" execution was
to pull excessively on the head with the chin into the chest
to get the elbows over to the knees, which can cause compression
of the cervical disks in the neck.
However, in the decades since this exercise was labeled as such,
we seem to have educated the exercising public about keeping
the chin a fist's distance from the chest, elbows wide, and "resting" the
head in the hands rather than pulling on the neck.
Of course novice exercisers, who have yet to develop adequate
strength of the torso and the neck, may still tend to drive the
chin to the chest in an attempt to execute this kind of advanced
exercise.
But when executed properly with control, as recommended in the
ACE article, the core serves to stabilize the pelvis and spine
as the legs extend and the upper abdominal region and obliques
contract to move the rib cage up and toward the opposite hip.
This example of proper execution is featured on Gin's Serious Strength workout:
While magazine articles may have failed to spell
it out, these two exercises DO require significant core stabilization
when properly executed with control. Both also DO
significantly recruit the hip flexors as the primary movers of
the legs, which is why the article suggests that the Exercise
Ball Crunch is
"arguably, the best overall exercise of the lot".
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Exercise Ball Crunch
- "best overall of the lot"
We agree with this conclusion. As
far as exercise equipment is concerned, you can get the most "bang
for your buck" with an Exercise
or Stability Ball. This inexpensive piece of exercise equipment
not only provides an effective means to target
the abs, but many other exercises can
also be done using the ball.
Download
Ball exercise cards from Cooking Light
The ACE on-line version of the article does not
provide the actual numbered rank list from "best" to "worst" -
perhaps in recognition of the fact that inexperienced exercisers
are more likely to jump right into performing the relatively
advanced top ranked exercises.
Recognizing that not all exercises are suitable
for everyone, in the bottom line conclusion
of the ACE article, Dr. Francis recommended selecting several
exercises from the top third of the list,
and if something does not feel right, select another exercise.
The list includes the following "Top
Abdominal Exercises":
Bicycle
Maneuver
Captain’s
Chair
Crunch
on Exercise Ball - supine position
Vertical
Leg Crunch - legs straight up, crunch upper and lower region at the
same time
Reverse
Crunch - knees bent at 90 degree angle, lower region crunch only
Some of the "other" exercises listed:
Hover
- forearm plank, prone position
Long
Arm Crunch - arms extended overhead
Traditional
Crunch - hands support head
Crunch
with Heel Push - the vertical leg double crunch with added hip lifts
Stability Ball exercises
Stability
Ball Kits
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