Which is Powerful- Upper Abdomen Exercises or Lower Abdomen Exercises?
April 27, 2009 by John Hawking
Filed under Weight Loss
Most people are unclear while they discuss about the upper and lower abs exercises. Here is some useful information regarding them. The muscle which is originally discussed is rectus abdominus. Rectus means straight, and abdominus means the abdomen. This literally means that the rectus abdominus runs straight down the abdomen. The rectus abdominus is the muscle which gives even a lean person that six pack look.
The rectus abdominus is 1 muscle, but it has tendinous intersections that separate muscle fibers forming distinct sections. As most people argue rectus abdominus cant be isolated and trained when the entire muscle is idle and put o training. But conversely we can emphasize one area over another even while the entire muscle is not put to use.Confusion naturally arises when people are unclear where to use the words isolate and emphasize.
Our agility, reflex and many other body functions are decided by the thousands of intricately designed nervous system in our body. The rectus abdominus has thousands of nerve endings which look like an interwoven cluster of wires. These nerve endings help in coordinating various movements of the body. The upper and lower abs are also emphasizes when we do various movements. The upper abs, i.e. the upper part of rectus abdominus is emphasized well when we move the trunk forward as in crunches or sit ups. Ball crunches, crunch machines and ab training machines train our upper abs appreciably.Even though the upper abs are emphasized during crunches, crunches also work the lower abs. The entire rectus abdominus will work during any abs exercise when your trunk bends forwards or flexes.
The lower abs are worked out well when you do reverse crunches. In reverse crunch the pelvis moves towards the trunk. Leg raises and flutter kicks are also among the best ways to train your lower abdomen. It is also to be noted that upper abs are worked out in reverse crunches but more stress is laid upon the lower abs only.
However I must warn you that these abdomen exercises are definitely not a magic cure. Doing these upper and lower abdomen exercises alone will not melt that fat deposited for ages in your rectus abdominus area…. This is known as the spot reduction myth. If you want to lose stomach fat, you should use a comprehensive approach to fitness and healthy eating.
You should do ab workout 2-3 times a week and also include both upper and lower abs exercises. Only when you do both and from a various directions and different abs exercises you will have a balanced body.







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