Abdominal exercise

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Abdominal exercises are a type of strength exercise that affect the abdominal muscles (colloquially known as the stomach muscles or "abs"). Human abdominal consist of four muscles which are the rectus abdomens, internal oblique, external oblique, and transversus abdominis. [1] When performing abdominal exercises it is important to understand the effects, functions, the types of exercises, and think about how to perform this exercise safely.

Contents

Effects

Abdominal exercises are useful for building abdominal muscles. This is useful for improving performance with certain sports, back pain, and for withstanding abdominal impacts (e.g., taking punches). According to a 2011 study, abdominal muscle exercises are known to increase the strength and endurance of the abdominal muscles. [2]

It has been highly disputed whether or not abdominal exercises have any reducing effect on abdominal fat. The aforementioned 2011 study found that abdominal exercise does not reduce abdominal fat; to achieve that, a deficit in energy expenditure and caloric intake must be created—abdominal exercises alone are not enough to reduce abdominal fat and the girth of the abdomen. [2] Early results from a 2006 study found that walking exercise (not abdominal exercise specifically) reduced the size of subcutaneous abdominal fat cells; cell size predicts type 2 diabetes according to a lead author. Moderate exercise reduced cell size by about 18% in 45 obese women over 20 weeks; diet alone did not appear to affect cell size. [3]

Functions of abdominal muscles

Abdominal muscles have many important functions, including breathing, coughing, and sneezing, and maintaining posture and speech in a number of species. [4] Other abdominal functions are that it helps "in the function of support, containment of viscera, and help in the process of expiration, defecation, urination, vomiting, and also at the time of childbirth." [5] [6] The anterior abdominal wall is made up of four muscles—the rectus abdominis muscle, the internal and external obliques, and the transversus abdominis."The two internal muscles, the internal oblique, and the transverse abdominis, respond more to increases in chemical or volume-related drive than the two external muscles, the rectus abdominis and external oblique; the basis for this differential sensitivity is unknown". [4]

Core training

Not only can a one-sided preference for abdominal muscles (lack of exercise focused on other core muscles) result in creating muscle imbalances, but the effectiveness of exercise is also far from what could be achieved with a balanced workout planning. Core training frequently utilizes balance exercises, such as training of transverse abdomens and multifidus, training of diaphragm, and training of pelvic floor muscles. [7] Core strength exercises that are performed are to help influence core stability.

The goal of core training is definitely not to develop muscle hypertrophy but to improve functional predispositions of physical activity. This particularly involves improving intermuscular coordination or synchronization of participating muscles. [8]

The involvement of the core means more than just compressing abdominal muscles when in crouching or seated position. The role of the core muscles is to stabilize the spine. Resisting expansion or rotation is as important as the ability to execute the movement.

Abdominal exercises

This image shows an abdominal exercise crunch using a stability ball. Abdominal Exercise.jpg
This image shows an abdominal exercise crunch using a stability ball.

There are multiple ways to work on our abdominals but here are various abdominal exercises someone can do that are effective.

One of the most popular exercise is what is known as the abdominal crunch. It activates the four abdominal muscles because it flexes the spine while laying down with their feet on the ground while raising their upper body up and then back down. For those who are new to this exercise, it can help perform this exercise by crossing their arms and putting them crossed on their chest. Another effective exercise is an abdominal plank because it is used when strengthening their trunk and their inner and outer oblique of their core. This exercise is performed by being facedown, legs straight with their elbows bent, and holding the exercise in place by putting their weight on their forearms. [9]

Moving forward, another exercise people can begin doing is to lie on their back and putting their feet at a 45° angle while moving their legs as if they were riding a bicycle. In addition, people can lay down with their hands on their side of their body and position a book on their stomach while raising their stomach up and down to feel the burn in their core. People may also lay down and position their feet at a 45° angle and lift them straight and bend them back down to the 45° angle then repeat. Once people have completed those they can stand straight with both of their arms opened and straight and bend down to the left then to the right by using one hand at a time. While standing people can also stand straight and position their hands on their hips and rotate their bodies from right to left and vice versa while bending forward and backward. Another way someone can work on their abdominals is by sitting on top of their legs in a bed while bending their chest forward until it touches the bed then coming back up to their normal position. Also, people can sit down on a bed with their legs straight and they will lie back and come back up without using their hands. While using a chair they can place their arms on the side of a chair and with their legs backward they will push down until their abdominal touches the chair. Finally, people can lay down with their feet straight and raise their legs to a right angle and then back down. For a better visual understanding, all these exercises were obtained from an Abdominal Exercise Journal. [10]

Momentaneous activity

One way to estimate the effectiveness of any abdominal exercise is in measuring the momentaneous activity by electromyography (EMG), with the activity generally being compared to that of the traditional crunch. However, an exercise of lower activity performed during a long time can give at least as much exercise as a high-activity exercise, with the main difference being that a prolonged duration results in more in aerobic exercise than strength training.

The following tables rank abdominal exercises from highest to lowest in terms of activity as determined by the EMG measures: [11]

Activity in rectus abdominis
exercisemean
activity1
Bicycle crunch248%
Captain's chair212%
Exercise ball 139%
Vertical leg crunch129%
Torso track127%
Long arm crunch119%
Reverse crunch 109%
Crunch with heel push107%
Ab roller105%
Hover100%
Traditional crunch 100%
Exercise tubing pull92%
Ab rocker21%
Activity in obliques
exercisemean
activity1
Captain's chair310%
Bicycle crunch290%
Reverse crunch 240%
Hover230%
Vertical leg crunch216%
Exercise ball147%
Torso track145%
Crunch with heel push126%
Long arm crunch126%
Ab roller101%
Traditional crunch100%
Exercise tubing pull77%
Ab rocker74%

1Compared to traditional crunch (100%)

Bicycle crunch

The bicycle targets the rectus abdominals and the obliques. Also, the rectus abdominals can be worked out with the basic crunch, the vertical crunch, the reverse crunch, and the full vertical crunch, and when at a low enough body fat percentage (10-12% for males, 15-18% for females) the individual parts of the muscle become visible; many refer to this visible separation as a six-pack. By exercising the internal and external obliques the stomach can be flattened. [12] The long arm crunch, in which arms are straightened behind, adds a longer lever to the move and emphasizes the upper part of the abs. The plank exercise not only strengthens the abs but also the back and stabilizes the muscles. [13]

Gadgets

Abdominal exercises can also be performed with the help of some machines and the captain's chair is one of the most popular machines used in gyms and health clubs. Other machines are the Ab Roller, the Ab Rocket Twister, the Chin-up bar in conjunction with Ab Straps, and the Torso Track. An exercise ball is also a tool that helps strengthen the abs. It may be more effective than the crunches on the floor because the abs do more work as the legs are not involved in the exercise. [14] With respect to the Ab-Slide, the study performed by Bird et al. showed greater muscle activation in the upper rectus abdominis, lower rectus abdominis, and external oblique when compared to the standard abdominal crunch. The Ab-Slide has proven to be an effective tool in strengthening the abdominal muscles from a concentric muscle action perspective. However, this research does not support replacing the traditional crunch exercise with the Ab-Slide gadget due to the lack of proven effectiveness in the eccentric loading of the abdominal muscles and the greater postural control. [15] [16] Potentially the most effective equipment for abdominal strengthening is those that offer the least stability. Examples include the CoreFitnessRoller, bodyweight suspension training such as TRX, and stability balls with or without the Halo.

Safety of abdominal exercises

Abdominal exercises also put some degree of compressive force on the lumbar spine, putting unwanted stress on the lower back. In addition, exaggerated abdominal exercise can cause respiratory problems. [17] A study of twelve exercises concluded that no single exercise covered all abdominal muscles with high intensity and low compression. [18]

  • High challenge-to-compression ratio
    • Crunch with feet anchored
    • Crunch with feet free
    • Bicycle crunch
    • Hanging straight leg raise
  • Low compression, lower challenge
    • Crunch with feet anchored
    • Crunch with feet free
  • High challenge, higher compression
    • Straight-leg sit-up
    • Bent-leg sit-up
  • Low challenge-to-compression ratio
    (not recommended!)
    • Supine straight-leg raise
    • Supine bent-leg raise
    • Hanging bent-leg raise
    • Static cross-knee crunch

The benefit of focused training on the "deep core" muscles such as the transversus abdominis has been disputed, with some experts advocating a more comprehensive training regimen. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calisthenics</span> Form of strength training exercises

Calisthenics or callisthenics is a form of strength training that utilizes an individual's body weight as resistance to perform multi-joint, compound movements with little or no equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Push-up</span> Calisthenics exercise

The push-up is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids, with ancillary benefits to the rest of the deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis and the midsection as a whole. Push-ups are a basic exercise used in civilian athletic training or physical education and commonly in military physical training. They are also a common form of punishment used in the military, school sport, and some martial arts disciplines to humiliate and its absence of use for equipment. Variations of push-ups, such as wide-arm push-ups, diamond push-ups target specific muscle groups and provide further challenges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sit-up</span> Abdominal endurance training exercise

The sit-up is an abdominal endurance training exercise to strengthen, tighten and tone the abdominal muscles. It is similar to a curl-up, but sit-ups have a fuller range of motion and condition additional muscles.

Abdominal muscles cover the anterior and lateral abdominal region and meet at the anterior midline. These muscles of the anterolateral abdominal wall can be divided into four groups: the external obliques, the internal obliques, the transversus abdominis, and the rectus abdominis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rectus abdominis muscle</span> Paired straight muscle

The rectus abdominis muscle, also known as the "abdominal muscle" or simply the "abs", is a pair of segmented skeletal muscle on the ventral aspect of a person's abdomen. The paired muscle is separated at the midline by a band of dense connective tissue called the linea alba, and the connective tissue defining each lateral margin of the rectus abdominus is the linea semilunaris. The muscle extends from the pubic symphysis, pubic crest and pubic tubercle inferiorly, to the xiphoid process and costal cartilages of the 5th–7th ribs superiorly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunch (exercise)</span> Abdominal exercise

The crunch or curl-up is an abdominal exercise that works the rectus abdominis muscle. It enables both building and defining "six-pack" abs and tightening the belly. Crunches use the exerciser's own body weight to tone muscle and are recommended by some experts, despite negative research results, as a low-cost exercise that can be performed at home. Crunches are less effective than other exercises such as planks and carry risk of back injury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exercise ball</span> Type of ball

An exercise ball is a ball constructed of soft elastic, typically in 5 diameters of 10 cm increments, from 35 to 85 cm, and filled with air. The air pressure is changed by removing a valve stem and either filling with air or letting the ball deflate. It is most often used in physical therapy, athletic training and exercise. It can also be used for weight training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BOSU</span> Rubber half-sphere used for fitness training

A BOSU Balance Trainer is a fitness training device, invented in 1999 by David Weck. It consists of an inflated rubber hemisphere attached to a rigid platform. The device is often used for balance training. When the dome side faces up, the BOSU ball provides an unstable surface while the device remains stable. This combination of stable/unstable allows a wide range of users, from the young, elderly, or injured to the elite level athlete. With the dome side up, the device can be used for athletic drills and aerobic activities. The device can be flipped over so that the platform faces up. In this position, the device is highly unstable and can be used for other forms of exercise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transverse abdominal muscle</span> Muscle of the abdominal area

The transverse abdominal muscle (TVA), also known as the transverse abdominis, transversalis muscle and transversus abdominis muscle, is a muscle layer of the anterior and lateral abdominal wall, deep to the internal oblique muscle. It serves to compress and retain the contents of the abdomen as well as assist in exhalation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdomen</span> Part of the body between the chest and pelvis

The abdomen is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal cavity. In arthropods, it is the posterior tagma of the body; it follows the thorax or cephalothorax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdominal wall</span> Boundary of abdominal cavity

In anatomy, the abdominal wall represents the boundaries of the abdominal cavity. The abdominal wall is split into the anterolateral and posterior walls.

The vacuum exercise is an exercise which involves contracting some internal abdominal muscles, primarily the transverse abdominal muscle, and not as much the diaphragm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcuate line of rectus sheath</span> Line of demarcation in the human abdomen

The arcuate line of rectus sheath is a line of demarcation corresponding to the free inferior margin of the posterior layer of the rectus sheath inferior to which only the anterior layer of the rectus sheath is present and the rectus abdominis muscle is therefore in direct contact with the transversalis fascia. The arcuate line is concave inferior-wards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rectus sheath</span> Laminas around abdominal muscles

The rectus sheath is a tough fibrous compartment formed by the aponeuroses of the transverse abdominal muscle, and the internal and external oblique muscles. It contains the rectus abdominis and pyramidalis muscles, as well as vessels and nerves.

The core or trunk is the axial (central) part of an organism's body. In common parlance, the term is broadly considered to be synonymous with the torso, but academically it also includes the head and neck. Functional movements are highly dependent on this part of the body, and lack of core muscular development can result in a predisposition to injury. The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid- and lower back, and peripherally include the hips, the shoulders and the neck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diastasis recti</span> Medical condition

Diastasis recti, or rectus abdominis diastasis, is an increased gap between the right and left rectus abdominis muscles. The increased distance between the muscles is created by the stretching of the linea alba, a connective collagen sheath created by the aponeurosis insertions of the transverse abdominis, internal oblique, and external oblique. This condition has no associated morbidity or mortality. Physical therapy is often required to repair this separation and surgery is an option for more severe cases. Standard exercise rarely results in complete healing of the separated muscles.

In kinesiology, core stability is a person's ability to stabilize their core. Stability, in this context, should be considered as an ability to control the position and movement of the core. Thus, if a person has greater core stability, they have a greater level of control over the position and movement of this area of their body. The body's core is frequently involved in aiding other movements of the body, such as running; thus it is known that improving core stability also improves a person's ability to perform these other movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power tower (exercise)</span> Exercise device

A power tower, also known as a knee raise station, and as a captain's chair, is a piece of exercise equipment that allows one to build upper body and abdominal muscle strength. When only the forearm pads alone are used for performing abdominal exercises, the power tower requires minimal arm strength as it is stable and movement occurs in the hips and torso. The equipment commonly has a backrest and forearm rests that form the chair, with vertical handles at the ends of the arm rests. The word "power" comes from the addition of other powerful arm exercises such as parallel horizontal handles for performing dips, a pull-up bar attached to the top for chin-ups and pull-ups, and push-up handles that are usually found on the bottom for Atlas ("deep") push-ups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leg raise</span> Strength training exercise

The leg raise is a strength training exercise which targets the iliopsoas. Because the abdominal muscles are used isometrically to stabilize the body during the motion, leg raises are also often used to strengthen the rectus abdominis muscle and the internal and external oblique muscles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plank (exercise)</span> Isometric strength exercise

The plank is an isometric core strength exercise that involves maintaining a position similar to a push-up.

References

  1. ↑ Norris, C M (March 1993). "Abdominal muscle training in sport". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 27 (1): 19–27. doi:10.1136/bjsm.27.1.19. ISSN   0306-3674. PMC   1332101 . PMID   8457806.
  2. 1 2 Vispute, Sachin S; Smith, John D; Lecheminant, James D; Hurley, Kimberly S (2011). "The Effect of Abdominal Exercise on Abdominal Fat". Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 25 (9): 2559–64. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181fb4a46. PMID   21804427. S2CID   207503551.
  3. ↑ You, T; Murphy, K M; Lyles, M F; Demons, J L; Lenchik, L; Nicklas, B J (2006). "Addition of aerobic exercise to dietary weight loss preferentially reduces abdominal adipocyte size". International Journal of Obesity. 30 (8): 1211–6. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803245 . PMID   16446745.
  4. 1 2 Iscoe, S (1998). "Control of abdominal muscles". Progress in Neurobiology. 56 (4): 433–506. doi:10.1016/S0301-0082(98)00046-X. PMID   9775401. S2CID   34220852.
  5. ↑ Fidale, Thiago Montes; Borges, Felipe Farnesi Ribeiro; Roever, Leonardo; Souza, Gilmar da Cunha; Gonçalves, Alexandre; Chacur, Eduardo Paul; Pimenta, Cristhyano; Haddad, Eduardo Gasparetto; de Agostini, Guilherme Gularte; Gregório, Fábio Clemente; Guimarães, Fabrício Cardoso Ribeiro (2018-04-27). "Eletromyography of abdominal muscles in different physical exercises". Medicine. 97 (17): e0395. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000010395. ISSN   0025-7974. PMC   5944552 . PMID   29702987.
  6. ↑ Di Dio, Liberato John A. (September 1999). "The Importance of Anatomy". Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger. 181 (5): 455–465. doi:10.1016/s0940-9602(99)80024-7. ISSN   0940-9602. PMID   10560011.
  7. ↑ Hsu, Shih-Lin; Oda, Harumi; Shirahata, Saya; Watanabe, Mana; Sasaki, Makoto (August 2018). "Effects of core strength training on core stability". Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 30 (8): 1014–1018. doi: 10.1589/jpts.30.1014 . ISSN   0915-5287. PMC   6110226 . PMID   30154592.
  8. ↑ American College of Sports Medicine (2017). ACSM's Complete Guide to Fitness & Health, 2E. Human Kinetics. ISBN   978-1-4925-4888-1. OCLC   972290029.
  9. ↑ "Abdominal Exercises: A Review Study For Training Prescription". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  10. ↑ Mayers, May R. (1928). "Abdominal Exercises". The American Journal of Nursing. 28 (4): 363–364. doi:10.2307/3409357. ISSN   0002-936X. JSTOR   3409357.
  11. ↑ Anders, Mark (2001). "New Study Puts the Crunch on Ineffective Ab Exercises" (PDF). ACE Fitnessmatters: 9–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 15, 2007.
  12. ↑ "Abdominal Muscle Anatomy". Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  13. ↑ "Top 10 Most Effective Ab Exercises". Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  14. ↑ "Top 10 Most Effective Ab Exercises". Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  15. ↑ Michael Bird, Kate M. Fletcher, and Alex J. Koch. Electromyographic Comparison of the Ab-Slide and Crunch Exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 20(2), 436–440, 2006.
  16. ↑ "Top 10 Most Effective Ab Exercises". Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  17. ↑ Verges, Samuel; Lenherr, Oliver; Haner, Andrea C.; Schulz, Christian; Spengler, Christina M. (2006). "Increased fatigue resistance of respiratory muscles during exercise after respiratory muscle endurance training" (PDF). American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 292 (3): R1246–53. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00409.2006. PMID   17068160. INIST   18626671.
  18. ↑ CT Axler; SM McGill (1997). "Low back loads over a variety of abdominal exercises: Searching for the safest abdominal challenge". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 29 (6): 804–810. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199706000-00011 . PMID   9219209.
  19. ↑ Reynolds, Gretchen (2009-06-17). "Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back?". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
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