![]() ![]() The curl-up is sort of a combination of a knee raise and a crunch. It ranked highest for both upper abs and lower abs and very good for obliques in study 1 and highest for upper abs in study 4. This was a winner in the two studies that included it. Hanging Leg Raise INCLINE CURL-UPĪlso called: incline reverse crunch or decline bench curl-up. You can also start with straight legs and bend them as you fatigue. Keep your legs bent until you’re strong enough to use straight legs. ✅ The straighter (and longer) your legs are, the greater the resistance. (It’s also contrary to much “expert advice,” which incorrectly tells you to keep your torso rigidly horizontal.) Doing it in this way, without swinging, maximally activates your abs. ✅ The important thing is to raise your knees as high as possible so that your butt comes up and your spine curls forward. (For good measure, here’s EMG study 5 that ranked it the highest for rectus abs of any ab exercise.) You can also do these while simply gripping an overhead bar, but don’t if your grip is the weakest link. Whether performed hanging with arm straps or in a captain’s chair with your forearms balanced on pads, leg raise with your upper body vertical was the only exercise to rank high in all four studies-though, other than the crunch, it was the only exercise in all four studies. Best for obliques: pike (with Power Wheel). Second for lower abs: vertical leg raise (hanging). The roll-out (with Power Wheel) nearly tied it and was best for lower abs and second best for external obliques. The incline curl-up (called “incline reverse crunch”) ranked best for upper abs. EMG study 4: Rafael F Escamilla, etc., 2006, 21 men & women, 12 ab exercises.The crunch (with arms extended) ranked highest for upper abs, the vertical leg raise (hanging) ranked highest for lower abs, and the bicycle crunch ranked high for lower and upper abs. EMG study 3: Boeckh-Behrens & Buskies, 2000, 10 men, 12 ab exercises.This study didn’t distinguish between upper and lower abs. Third for rectus abs: stability ball crunch. Two exercises ranked far above the others for both rectus ab and oblique activation: vertical leg raise (captain’s chair) and bicycle crunch. EMG study 2: The American Council on Exercise, 2001, 30 men and women, 13 ab exercises.Second best for upper and lower abs was the stability ball crunch, but the vertical leg raise (both hanging and captain’s chair) virtually tied it for lower ab activation. ![]() One exercise ranked highest for both upper and lower rectus abs (and second highest for obliques): incline curl-up. ![]()
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