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To anyone feeling confused about the best ab exercises...

You might have seen lists of exercises, with movements such as the bicycle maneuver, or the captain's chair, cited as the best ab exercises.

Although this list is supposedly based on the "definitive study" of the best ab exercises, there is a large amount of individual variation in terms of abdominal activity during various ab exercises. In other words, the best ab exercises for one person might not work quite so well for someone else.

Best ab exercises

Scientists from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, for example, tested a series of abdominal exercises, including the trunk curl, reverse curl, v-sit, and twist curl (these animated demonstrations aren't exactly the same as the exercises used in the study, but they're close enough). Their study shows that abdominal activity varies from person to person, even when the same exercises are used.

• For 7 subjects in the study, the upper abdominals were most active during the trunk curl.

• For 8 other subjects, the reverse curl led to the greatest amount of muscle activity in the upper abdominals.

• The twist curl and v-sit produced the greatest upper abdominal activity for 8 and 2 of the subjects, respectively.

When the results were taken as a whole, different exercises were found to be more effective for certain areas of the abdominals than others.

• The reverse curl, for example, led to the greatest amount of activity in the lower abdominals.

• The v-sit and the reverse curl produced the greatest amount of activity in the external obliques (the muscles running down the side of your waist).

• The trunk curl, reverse curl, twist curl, and v-sit all resulted in similar amounts of upper abdominal activity.

Breathing

These findings show that different ab exercises emphasize rather than isolate different abdominal muscles. What the study didn't mention, however, is that different breathing patterns affect the degree of activity in some abdominal muscles.

According to conventional wisdom, you should exhale (breath out) as you contract your abdominals. Then, you inhale (breathe in) as you return to the starting position.

Although such advice is rarely questioned, Dr. Mel Siff, in his book Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, makes the point that exhaling while rising during the sit-up actually reduces muscle activity in the external obliques (the muscles running down the side of your waist).

"The recommended method of inhaling during trunk extension and exhaling naturally during flexion is undoubtedly safer for persons with hypertension or heart disease", writes Dr. Siff, "but it produces a much smaller training effect on all of the abdominal muscles."

Of course, this doesn't mean that you should hold your breath for the whole of the exercise. Instead, rather than focus on a fixed breathing pattern, allow your body to do what it does naturally, and hold your breath briefly while allowing your abdominals to tense.

Related Articles

Reference
Willett, G.M., Hyde, J.E., Uhrlaub, M.B., Wendel, C.L., & Karst, G.M. (2001). Relative activity of abdominal muscles during commonly prescribed strengthening exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 15, 480–485


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