It is weird but there are conflicting claims when it comes to abdominal exercises. Some fitness experts or people who maintain they are experts profess that there should be two separate set of exercises for the two abdominals – the upper and lower abdominals. Others argue that creating distinct exercises for each abdominal part is a total waste of time since the rectus abdominis (the abdominal cuts is just a band of connective tissues) is only a single muscle.
Using EMG, short for electromyography, a study in the University of Nebraska has shown positive results on separate emphasis exercises for the upper and lower abdominals. It demonstrated that specific physical activities such as the reverse curl showed a great amount of agitation in the lower abdominals and the trunk curl and v-sit created the same effect on the upper abdominals. This study only suggests that extra stress can be applied on a specific abdominal part but it does not establish the fact that you can set up two different work outs for each abdominal. In fact, an expert in spine operations in the Waterloo University of Canada, Professor Stuart McGill that separate abdominals do not exist in most of us. For a very few number of individuals, there is a lower muscle called pyramidalius which is sometimes mistaken as the lower abdominal muscle but this muscle is only rare to a few people.
And since there is no sense in creating a separate exercise for a non-existent body part, whatever abdominal work out you put up is already good enough, provided it is done consistently. In fact, most fitness experts maintain that the secret to the six pack killer abs has very little to do with training and has everything to do with lowering body fat. The challenge lies on decreasing the body fat so low as to force the abs to manifest and the training only comes in secondary. The good thing about this is abdominal exercises should not be as grueling as what fitness videos show.
Try some of this amazingly easy work out suggestions:
• The captain’s chair leg raise has been proven to be a very effective ab training program for the obliques and the rectus abdominis. You can opt to buy this chair and/or most gyms and health clubs have this. First, grasp the handholds firmly and stand on the chair. And then raise your knees towards your chest while your back is hard up against the pad. Make sure you are not arching your back to help the knees reach your chest. And then make at least 12 repeats.
• No captain’s chair rack? Utilize the ball roll out instead. This training equipment is very effective in targeting the rectus abdominis and creating a stronger set of abs. First, use your lower back as your base and then cross your arms to your chest. You can also place your hands at the back of your head. Curl up your body by lifting the upper torso from the ball, but at the same time keep the ball in place. Repeat this exercise 12 times.
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