Learn the Best Abdominal Muscle Exercises

As a personal trainer, I get asked this question at least once a day, "Which are the best abdominal muscle exercises?". It's not an easy question to address, since there are hundreds of abdominal exercises. It's my responsibility as a fitness professional to provide you with the right solution. I think I may have the answer, thanks to a recent study by the American Council on Exercise.

Here's the big secret - some abdominal muscle exercises work better than others. In fact, a few, like the traditional sit-up can be downright harmful if performed in the wrong manner.

The time for endless sit-ups is over. It's now time to train your abdominals in a smart and systematic manner. Register with your name and email address and I will send you a free, full colour routine of the best abdominal muscle exercises today!

A California study conducted by the American Council on Exercise has determined that the classic sit-up is not the best answer for stronger, flatter abdominals. This study was conducted by Dr. Peter Francis, Ph.D. at San Diego State University. Several abdominal muscle exercises were analyzed in a biomechanical setting. The exercises were evaluated for muscle contraction and effectiveness in recruiting (training) the abdominal muscles.

The conclusions were intriguing, to say the least.

The traditional sit-up was among the least effective abdominal muscle exercises.

The reason - sit-ups (in which you raise your trunk up from the floor with your knees straight or bent) involve the hip muscles disproportionately relative to the abdominals. This means the hip muscles work more and the abdominal muscles work less i.e they are not getting trained in the right manner. Further, there is an unnecessary (and potentially harmful) strain on the lower back.

This means that the sit-up is not only ineffective, but potentially harmful.

There's more, and it's equally surprising.

THE SECRET TO WELL TONED ABDOMINAL MUSCLES

Despite tons of advertizing claiming the contrary, the study indicated that several gadgets for abdominal muscle exercises including the Torso Track and Ab Roller were either ineffective or marginally more effective than a regular abdominal crunch, which doesn't cost you a penny.

I know many of my clients would be surprised.

Let's dig deeper into the study. It compared 13 of the most common abdominal muscle exercises, some involving equipment, and ranked them from most to least effective. The study involved 30 subjects, both healthy men and women, ages 20 to 45. They were put through a battery of exercises, including the traditional crunch, modified crunches, partial body-weight exercises and exercises using both home and gym exercise equipment. Muscle activity was monitored during each exercise using electromyography equipment.

Each of the 13 exercises was ranked for muscle stimulation in the abdominal and oblique muscles.

The top three abdominal muscle exercises were:

The Bicycle maneuver.

Also refered to as the 'twisting crunch'.
Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground.
Put your hands behind the head.
Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion (alternating the legs).
Twist the upper body and trunk as you pedal, touching your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee.
Breathe evenly throughout the exercise.
Perform the exercise in a slow and controlled manner.

Captain's chair.

This has been rated as one of the most effective abdominal muscle exercises.
However, it is also among the most difficult. Please do not try this exercise if you have lower back problems or are a beginner. Try the crunches instead. This is a gym exercise and involves sitting on a chair, holding on to handholds on either side.
This helps stabilize / anchor the upper body.
In the starting position, you are sitting upright with the legs dangling off the chair.
In a slow and controlled manner, lift your knees up and in toward your chest.
In a similiar controlled manner, lower your knees back to the starting position.

Crunch on exercise ball.

An exercise ball is a large ball filled with air. The right ball for your height is one where you can sit on it, with your knees bent at right angles and feet resting on the floor.
Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor.
Let the ball roll back slowly.
Now lie back on the ball until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor.
Cross your arms over your chest and slightly tuck your chin in toward your chest.
In a slow and controlled manner, contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees.
Your shoulders should roll up and in like the edge of a carpet rolling inwards.
To make the exercise easier, spread your feet wider apart.
To increase the difficulty level and involve the waist / oblique muscles, draw your feet closer together.

Breathing during abdominal muscle exercises.

With all abdominal muscle exercises, exhale as you contract / exert / come up / crunch your abdominals; inhale as you relax / lower / return to the starting position.

A crunch is safer for your lower back.

Since a crunch involves the rectus abdminis muscle and not the hips, there is minimal strain on the lower back. Abdominal muscle exercises involve variations of the crunch.
A crunch is a demonstration of the abdominal muscles in action, where you bring your ribs towards your pelvis as you roll your shoulders up (regular crunch). On the other hand, you can roll your pelvis up and in towards your ribs (reverse crunch).

This is different from a sit-up, where the motion is a flat-out raising of your torso, which tends to place an unnecessary amount of strain on the lower back.

The most effective types of crunches.

If you do a crunch, researchers favored the vertical crunch (number four on the list of most effective ab exercises for the rectus abdominus) and the reverse crunch (number three for strengthening the obliques).

Vertical Crunch:

Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground.
Put your hands behind your head for support.
Extend your legs straight up in the air, crossed at the ankles with a slight bend in the knee.
Contract your abdominal muscles by lifting your torso toward your knees.
Make sure to keep your chin off your chest with each contraction.

Reverse crunch:

Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground.
Put your hands beside your head or extend them out flat to your sides - whatever feels most comfortable.
Crossing your feet at the ankles, lift your feet off the ground to the point where your knees create a 90-degree angle.
Once in this position, press your lower back on the floor as you contract your abdominal muscles.
Your hips will slightly rotate and your legs will reach toward the ceiling with each contraction.