Search    Browse 

 

Health Fitness Articles



What Are The Best Abdominal Exercises?

If you dream of owning a set of fabulous six pack abs and wondering what are the best exercises for your abdominal muscles, a team of California researchers may have the scientifically proven information which you are looking for.

However, first and foremost, although it is apparent to many people, exercising is just one part of the equation to get that awesome six pack abs. Losing the fat around your waist is the other part of the equation. It may surprise or even disappoint some of you to know that the traditional sit ups or even the crunches are not the best exercises for a stronger and flatter stomach.

Six pack abs hunk
best abs exercise image
Click here to get ripped 6 pack abs now!
A research team headed by Dr Peter Francis, Ph.D. at at San Diego State University put different abdominal exercises to the test and found out that sit-ups and crunches ranked close to the bottom of various abs exercises.

"The sit-up is ineffective." Dr Francis said. "In a typical situation, people do sit-ups by lying on the floor with their legs either straight or their knees bent. They then sit all the way up, relying on the strength of their hips and less on their abdominal muscles. Not only is a sit-up ineffective but it puts a tremendous strain the back and may cause back problems later in life." Dr Francis added.



Now brace yourself for another surprise. Despite all the advertising hype, many abdominal exercise equipment tested such as the Torso Track and the Ab Roller were found to be no more effective or only marginally more effective than the crunch exercise. This led Dr Francis to conclude that "You don't need to spend money on abs exercise equipment to strengthen your abs muscles".

So what are the most effective abdominal exercises

The San Diego research which was sponsored by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) studied thirteen common abdominal exercises and ranked them from most to the least effective.


The scientific experiment included 30 healthy men and women whose age ranged from 20 to 45 and who exercise occasionally or frequently. Each of the subject was put through a series of abdominal exercises, including the crunch, modified crunches, partial body-weight exercises and exercises using both home and gym equipment. Their muscular activities were monitored closely during each exercise using scientific electromyography equipment.


Every one of the exercises was ranked for muscle stimulation in the rectus abdominus (long, flat muscle on front of the abdomen) and the obliques (long, flat muscles along the sides of the abdomen).


And what are the results of the research? Drum roll…………

The Best To Worst Abs Exercises For Strengthening The Rectus Abdominis Are :-

Bicycle Crunch Exercise

Captain's Chair Exercise

Ab Crunch on Exercise Ball

Vertical Leg Crunch

Torso Track Long Arm Crunch

Reverse Crunch Crunch with Heel Push

Ab Roller Plank (Hover) Exercise

Traditional (Basic) Abdominal Crunch Exercise

Ab Rocker  


If you insist on crunching, the researchers have found out that you are better off doing a vertical crunch or a reverse crunch. Dr Francis further added that these crunches do not put as much stress on your back as the traditional sit up type of crunch.

Now that you know what the best scientifically proven abs exercises are, and as I have said at the beginning of this article, even though you may have the most awesome six pack abs in the entire universe, but if you have a layer of fat covering them up, your fabulous abs muscles will never show.

So the first thing to do for your well defined abs to show is to lose your abdominal fat quickly.



To your 6 pack abs training success

best abs exercise author image





Copyright © 2008 MyStore, Inc. All rights reserved. Everything about getting a beautiful body. Lose fat or gain weight, build muscles, health hypnosis, get tight round butt, certified gym instructor courses, get fitness model body etc