The Most Effective Ab Exercise On The Planet — No Equipment Necessary
I probably don't have to tell you
that the fitness industry is absolutely teeming with scams. From weight-loss
supplements to expensive exercise equipment, there's no shortage of companies
and products promising "amazing," "miraculous" results
"for a fraction of the effort." But, new research commissioned by the
American Council on Exercise, one of the country's foremost authorities on
fitness, has found that all those fancy machines don't do nearly as much as a
plain ol' crunch.
Researchers from the University
of Wisconsin-La Crosse rounded up eight men and eight women between the ages of
18 and 24 and had them test out a variety of ab exercises, including basic
crunches, planks, and stability ball moves. They also tested out popular
as-seen-on-TV equipment like the Ab Rocket, the Ab Wheel, and the Perfect
Sit-Up.
The researchers attached
electrodes to different muscles on the subjects' skin to determine the
effectiveness of each exercise on each muscle. The results showed that, while
certain moves and gizmos (like the bench curl-up and the Ab Wheel) were better
at working out the obliques, the basic crunch produced the greatest muscle
activation overall. In other words, that crunch you learned in gym class is the
most efficient ab exercise you can do.
Of course, these findings hinge
on doing the move properly. Study author John Porcari says, "We had people
do the traditional crunch very deliberately and correctly, and I think we had
fairly high activation from the abs because of that."
While a crunch may not be No.1
for oblique toning, it's certainly No.1 for all-purpose abs. So, if you're
looking to consolidate your ab workout, your best bet may just be plopping your
butt on the ground and crunching it out — in a deliberate, form-focused way, of
course.
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