Best and Worst Abdominal Exercises

Double pole no kick and with kick not included in study.

I just a bad abdominal exercise- ate a lamb shank and drank a beer.

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY
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Best and Worst Abdominal Exercises
From Elizabeth Quinn,Your Guide to Sports Medicine.

A recent study lead by Peter Francis, PhD, director of the Biomechanics Lab
at San Diego State University, looked at a variety of common abdominal
exercises in order to determine what really works. The study looked at 13
abdominal exercises, ranging from the traditional crunch to more complicated
activities, using at-home and gym equipment.

Each of the 13 exercises was ranked for muscle stimulation (measured with
EMG) in the rectus abdominus (the long, flat muscle extending the length of
the front of the abdomen) and the internal and external obliques (the long,
flat muscles extending along the sides of the abdomen at an angle).


The top three abdominal exercises we

Bicycle maneuver
Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your
hands beside your head. Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and
slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion. Touch your left elbow to your
right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee. Breath evenly
throughout the exercise.

Captain's chair
This was one of the few on the "most effective" list that involves gym
equipment. Start with legs dangling and slowly lift your knees in toward
your chest. The motion should be controlled and deliberate as you bring your
knees up and return them back to the starting position.

Crunch on an exercise ball
Sit on the exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll
back slowly and lie back until your thighs and torso are parallel with the
floor. Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45
degrees. To work the oblique muscles, make the exercise less stable by
moving your feet closer together.


Among the equipment studied, the Ab Rocker, by Body by Jake, was the worst
piece of equipment tested. The Ab Roller and the Torso Track were better
than the Ab Rocker, but statistically they were not much better than the
basic crunch. The best piece of equipment was a large exercise ball.


Full Study Results:

Best to worst exercises for strengthening the rectus abdominus:
Bicycle maneuver

Captain’s chair

Crunches on exercise ball

Vertical leg crunch

Torso Track

Long arm crunch

Reverse crunch

Crunch with heel push

Ab Roller

Hover

Traditional crunch

Exercise tubing pull

Ab Rocker


Best to worst exercises for strengthening the obliques:

Captain’s chair

Bicycle maneuver

Reverse crunch

Hover

Vertical leg crunch

Crunch on exercise ball

Torso Track

Crunch with heel push

Long arm crunch

Ab Roller

Traditional crunch

Exercise tubing pull

Ab Rocker

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 03:01:13 GMT, "Gary Jacobson"
wrote:



Crunch on an exercise ball
Sit on the exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll
back slowly and lie back until your thighs and torso are parallel with the
floor. Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45
degrees. To work the oblique muscles, make the exercise less stable by
moving your feet closer together.

I do this a little and it is quite good.




Among the equipment studied, the Ab
Rocker, by Body by Jake, was the worst
piece of equipment tested.

Any product marketed by someone whose motto is "Don't quit" has got to
be lame.

Thanks for this info.

JT

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"Gary Jacobson" wrote in message
...
| Double pole no kick and with kick not included in study.
|
| I just a bad abdominal exercise- ate a lamb shank and drank a beer.
|
| Gary Jacobson
| Rosendale, NY
| ================================================== ========
|
| Best and Worst Abdominal Exercises
| From Elizabeth Quinn,Your Guide to Sports Medicine.
|
| A recent study lead by Peter Francis, PhD, director of the Biomechanics
Lab
| at San Diego State University, looked at a variety of common abdominal
| exercises in order to determine what really works. The study looked at 13
| abdominal exercises, ranging from the traditional crunch to more
complicated
| activities, using at-home and gym equipment.
|
| Each of the 13 exercises was ranked for muscle stimulation (measured with
| EMG) in the rectus abdominus (the long, flat muscle extending the length
of
| the front of the abdomen) and the internal and external obliques (the
long,
| flat muscles extending along the sides of the abdomen at an angle).


"Best and Worst ..."
at accomplishing what?

High strength?
Core stability?
a flat washboard 6-pack?

Marty Hall's physique comes to mind in this discussion....

What can we determine from measured EMG responses?

What was discussed (currently believed)in terms of reps, sets, frequency/
recovery time?
Thanks,

ED3