In recent years, a host of infomercial products and exercise videos have preyed on people’s desire for a toned midsection. And many avid exercisers are quick to share their own favorite recipes for abdominal success. But what is the best, most efficient route to tighter abs? A recent study conducted by the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University reveals a unique look at 13 of the most common abdominal exercises, ranking them best to worst.
Led by Peter Francis, Ph.D., researchers recruited 30 healthy women and men to participate in the study. The subjects, ages 20 to 45, ranged from occasional exercisers to those who work out daily. Participants were put through a battery of exercises that target the midsection, including the traditional crunch, modified crunches, partial body weight exercises and exercises using both home and gym exercise equipment. All of the exercises were introduced in random order and participants were allowed to practice each exercise briefly. Subjects then completed 10 to 12 repetitions of each exercise, maintaining a two-count cadence throughout (two seconds at the concentric phase, two at the eccentric phase). Using electromyography (EMG) equipment, researchers monitored each participant’s muscle activity as they exercised. Activity was recorded in the upper and lower rectus abdominus and the external obliques. Researchers also measured activity in the rectus femoris to indicate activity in the hip flexors. These data are important because high levels of activity in this area suggest that an exercise is either done incorrectly or requires the body to recruit muscles other than the abdominals and obliques.
Using the EMG data, researchers established the mean muscle activity for each exercise and normalized it to that of a traditional crunch—the baseline for comparison (score of 100). Exercises were then ranked best to worst based on the average amount of EMG activity recorded in each of the muscle areas.
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After extensive data collection and analysis, Dr. Francis and his researchers found that exercises that require constant abdominal stabilization, as well as body rotation, generated the most muscle activity in the obliques. Topping the list of the most effective exercises was the bicycle maneuver, followed closely by the second ranked, hanging leg raises. As for home exercise equipment, crunches on an exercise ball ranked highest—coming in third overall. Although crunches on an exercise ball generated less activity in the obliques and rectus abdominus than the top two exercises, the exercise also generated significantly less activity in the rectus femoris—making it, arguably, the best overall exercise of the lot.
Not all of the variations of the crunch fared so well. Both the long arm crunch and the crunch with heel push were shown to be only slightly more effective than the traditional crunch.
The Ab Roller was proven to be virtually no more effective than the traditional crunch while the AB Rocker was shown to be up to 80 percent less effective. This begs the question, why spend €150 on a piece of exercise equipment that does less to work your abs than a crunch?
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Many of the exercises tested proved to be relatively effective at working the abdominal muscles—some are just more effective than others. The important thing to remember is that you don’t need to purchase a piece of exercise equipment to strengthen your abs. If, however, you find that an ab device inspires you to stick with your exercise program, then it may be valuable. It’s also important to remember that everybody does ab exercises differently, and people need to get out of the mindset that all exercises work for all people. As expected, the effectiveness of each exercise varied from subject to subject depending on factors such as athleticism, familiarization with the exercises and past injuries. For best results, Dr. Francis recommends choosing several of the exercises that landed in the top-third of the list and try doing a five-minute exercise session daily. If an exercise is uncomfortable or doesn’t feel right, try another one. This will help train different muscles and combat boredom. No matter which exercises you choose, take the time to train and strengthen your abdominal muscles. Strong abs help with good posture, alleviate lower back pain and are essential for long-term health and well being.A lot of people start working out to get those nice abs that are seen in magazines. There are millions of workout and diet videos, articles about how to build six-packs. Not to mention, the so-called “revolutionary ab machines” promoted on the TV.
How do we know what the best ab exercises are? It’s quite simple. We have to analyze them, for example with electromyography (EMG) equipment, and see how the muscles are activated during the exercise. The results will show us what works the best and worst.
Fortunately, there are people who, instead of just claiming what exercises are the best for the abdominal muscles, make a complete investigation on the topic.
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The Biomechanics Lab managed such research at San Diego State University. They picked the 13 most popular abdominal exercises and analyzed them. The results are exciting.
Peter Francis, Ph.D., was the leader of the project. They involved 30 women and men with a healthy fitness level. These people know how to perform the exercises correctly, and they work out almost every day.
The participants had to perform 13 types of abdominal exercises, among them the most typical ones, such as various crunches and leg lifts. They had to perform 10-12 repetitions of each exercise with two seconds at the concentric phase and two at the eccentric phase. During the test, they used electromyography (EMG) equipment that showed the muscle activity of the rectus abdominis and the external obliques. Also, they checked the movement of the rectus femoris to know if the exercises are performed correctly.
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Based on the data they got, a score was given for each practice. The baseline was the traditional crunch with 100. So, if muscular EMG activity was higher, more points were given, and vice versa. This way, they can set up a list with the most beneficial and least useful ab exercises.
The results revealed that those exercises that require body rotation and abdominal muscle stabilization are the ones that generated the most EMG activity. With that, there is no surprise that the bicycle maneuver and hanging leg raises are the absolute winners for both the obliques and the rectus abdominus. But the analysis also revealed that the exercise ball crunch generated less action in the rectus femoris, which means it targets the abdominal muscles effectively.
Interestingly, the various tested crunches have almost the same effect on the rectus abdominus. The difference is minimal between the traditional crunch and the reverse crunch, for example. Although, some crunches worked the obliques more than it was expected. And what’s the last on both lists? The Ab Rocker exercise equipment, which far underperformed all the other bodyweight exercises with no equipment.
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What is unusual for me is that the ab roller, aka ab wheel, brought quite bad results for both the abs and the obliques. But, I see it as a core exercise equipment rather than equipment for abs. So, I continue using it for sure.
This study reveals some interesting facts, for example, that there are much better exercises than crunches and the seen on TV types of ab equipment are almost useless. But, we shouldn’t forget that the study was made by testing people who have an acceptable level of fitness. So, for beginners, crunches are still useful exercises to start. If you are at a higher fitness level, and you can do numerous crunches, you’d better switch to more advanced practices that are found on the top of the lists.
Imre has been working out for over 20 years. He likes all sorts of strength training and boxing. Since he's a busy father he works out only at home.
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