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favorite lower ab excersises
- Thread starter p.b.
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Atomic Punk
New member
Hanging Leg Raises. Try to keep the knees as locked out as possible. Lift up at the foot--not the knee.
Incline Reverse Crunches. Legs straight.
Incline Reverse Crunches. Legs straight.
D
Debaser
Guest
There's no way to work your lower abs, you're either working all or nothing.
Excercises like leg raises only activate the psoas more.
Excercises like leg raises only activate the psoas more.
supreme
New member
Well this is going to cause some prob's:
first there are no lower ab muscles. just get a copy of Gray's anatomy or any anatomy book. No lower abs, inner/outer chest, inner / outer thigh, upper / lower bicep etc. These are just areas of the body where a pull is felt on a tendon during an exercise so people made them out to be seperate muscles
Muscles contract on the "all or none principle" - but changes in anatomical position etc. can often increase the stress / load on an area of the muscle ex. preacher curl tend to put more stress on the short head of the bicep - but the whole muscle (long & short heads ) contracts.
While there are no true lower abs, you CAN segmentally contract the lower portion of the rectus abdominus (the part of the 6 pack below the belly button) due to multiple sources of innervation.
I posted this several days ago so I'll just cut & paste it here:
And before someone asks, yes you can segmentally activate the upper / lower rectus with different exercises. This is due to their multiple sources of innervation, unlike most muscles which only have a primary and secondary source of innervation, the abs have 8 - thus allowing you to do several motions at once - like contract the TVA, aid in posterior pelvic rotation, counter rotate torso and flex the torso (other wise known as a twisting crunch). The lower rectus are innervated by the illiohypogastric & illioinguinal nerves.
That being said here are some great exercises to get the lower rectus to contract (you need to do them first before other areas or you will be too fatigued and not have the neurological coordination to do the execises effectively.
Supine lower abdominal progression i.e. pelvic tilt, then pelvic tilt with single, & later double hip flexion
Standing lower abdominal progression - from walking simulation to running
Supine knee lift
all forms of reverse cruches - no hip flexion
all forms of knee raises (high chair, ab wings etc -NO hip flexion)
leg lowering - with & without resistance
Later once you pass the tests for lower abdominal strength and you have full ROM of your hip flexors, you can do many of the above exercises with a larger ROM that includes hip flexion, for all functional activities (walking, running, stair climbing etc.) need the abs and hip flexors to work together for proper movement. i.e the lower abs work to hold your pelvis in neutral alignment while the hips flex to provide locomotion.
S
first there are no lower ab muscles. just get a copy of Gray's anatomy or any anatomy book. No lower abs, inner/outer chest, inner / outer thigh, upper / lower bicep etc. These are just areas of the body where a pull is felt on a tendon during an exercise so people made them out to be seperate muscles
Muscles contract on the "all or none principle" - but changes in anatomical position etc. can often increase the stress / load on an area of the muscle ex. preacher curl tend to put more stress on the short head of the bicep - but the whole muscle (long & short heads ) contracts.
While there are no true lower abs, you CAN segmentally contract the lower portion of the rectus abdominus (the part of the 6 pack below the belly button) due to multiple sources of innervation.
I posted this several days ago so I'll just cut & paste it here:
And before someone asks, yes you can segmentally activate the upper / lower rectus with different exercises. This is due to their multiple sources of innervation, unlike most muscles which only have a primary and secondary source of innervation, the abs have 8 - thus allowing you to do several motions at once - like contract the TVA, aid in posterior pelvic rotation, counter rotate torso and flex the torso (other wise known as a twisting crunch). The lower rectus are innervated by the illiohypogastric & illioinguinal nerves.
That being said here are some great exercises to get the lower rectus to contract (you need to do them first before other areas or you will be too fatigued and not have the neurological coordination to do the execises effectively.
Supine lower abdominal progression i.e. pelvic tilt, then pelvic tilt with single, & later double hip flexion
Standing lower abdominal progression - from walking simulation to running
Supine knee lift
all forms of reverse cruches - no hip flexion
all forms of knee raises (high chair, ab wings etc -NO hip flexion)
leg lowering - with & without resistance
Later once you pass the tests for lower abdominal strength and you have full ROM of your hip flexors, you can do many of the above exercises with a larger ROM that includes hip flexion, for all functional activities (walking, running, stair climbing etc.) need the abs and hip flexors to work together for proper movement. i.e the lower abs work to hold your pelvis in neutral alignment while the hips flex to provide locomotion.
S
Last edited:
If I could say I have a FAVORITE exercise it would be deadlift 
Bulldog_10
New member
Supreme...what are the 8 sources of innervation...never heard of that.
supreme
New member
Sure:
The Rectus Abdominus receives its 8 innervations from T5/ 6 - T12 / L1, there is a neuroligical division below the umbilicus innervated by the peripheral iliohypogastric & ilioinguinal nerves, although they are predominately L1 in origin. There is also innervation for the obliques from T7 -T12.
so in all there is 8 sources for the upper rectus, 2 for the lower division and 6 for the obliques.
hope this clears up any questions
S
The Rectus Abdominus receives its 8 innervations from T5/ 6 - T12 / L1, there is a neuroligical division below the umbilicus innervated by the peripheral iliohypogastric & ilioinguinal nerves, although they are predominately L1 in origin. There is also innervation for the obliques from T7 -T12.
so in all there is 8 sources for the upper rectus, 2 for the lower division and 6 for the obliques.
hope this clears up any questions
S
Bulldog_10
New member
supreme said:Sure:
The Rectus Abdominus receives its 8 innervations from T5/ 6 - T12 / L1, there is a neuroligical division below the umbilicus innervated by the peripheral iliohypogastric & ilioinguinal nerves, although they are predominately L1 in origin. There is also innervation for the obliques from T7 -T12.
so in all there is
hope this clears up any questions
S
Can you point me in the direction of some references for this? I've never heard of this...and the obliques aren't part of the rectus abdominus (not sure if that's what you meant by "8 sources for the upper rectus, 2 for the lower division and 6 for the obliques.")
supreme
New member
O.K.
Kendall & Kendall, Muscles Testing & Function - 4th Ed.
Pg. 408 -409; Spinal segment Distribution to Muscles: Trunk & Lower extremeities
The Obliques are not part of the rectus:
Origin of external oblique - external surfaces of lower 8 ribs,
Insertion: anterior half of the outer lip of the illiac crest and aponeurosis of the anterior abdominal wall
Internal olique origin: Lumbar fascia, anterior 2/3 of illiac crest & lateral 2/3 of the inguinal ligament
Insertion: 9 -12 ribs & linea alba
Rectus abdominus Origin- pubic symphysis & crest of pubis
insertion: coastal cartilages of 5-7 ribs & xyphoid process
Hope this helps
S
Kendall & Kendall, Muscles Testing & Function - 4th Ed.
Pg. 408 -409; Spinal segment Distribution to Muscles: Trunk & Lower extremeities
The Obliques are not part of the rectus:
Origin of external oblique - external surfaces of lower 8 ribs,
Insertion: anterior half of the outer lip of the illiac crest and aponeurosis of the anterior abdominal wall
Internal olique origin: Lumbar fascia, anterior 2/3 of illiac crest & lateral 2/3 of the inguinal ligament
Insertion: 9 -12 ribs & linea alba
Rectus abdominus Origin- pubic symphysis & crest of pubis
insertion: coastal cartilages of 5-7 ribs & xyphoid process
Hope this helps
S
Bulldog_10
New member
A little blurb...
Quantification of the Differences in Electromyographic Activity Magnitude Between the Upper and Lower Portions of the Rectus Abdominis Muscle During Selected Trunk Exercises
Gregory J Lehman and Stuart M McGill
Background and Purpose.
Controversy exists around exercises and clinical tests that attempt to differentially activate the upper or lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle. The purpose of this study was to assess the activation of the upper and lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle during a variety of abdominal muscle contractions.
Subjects.
Subjects (N=11) were selected from a university population for athletic ability and low subcutaneous fat to optimize electromyographic (EMG) signal collection.
Methods.
Controlling for spine curvature, range of motion, and posture (and, therefore, muscle length), EMG activity of the external oblique muscle and upper and lower portions of rectus abdominis muscle was measured during the isometric portion of curl-ups, abdominal muscle lifts, leg raises, and restricted or attempted leg raises and curl-ups. A one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to test for differences in activity between exercises in the external oblique and rectus abdominis muscles as well as between the portions of the rectus abdominis muscle.
Results.
No differences in muscle activity were found between the upper and lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle within and between exercises. External oblique muscle activity, however, showed differences between exercises. Discussion and
Conclusion.
Normalizing the EMG signal led the authors to believe that the differences between the portions of the rectus abdominis muscle are small and may lack clinical or therapeutic relevance. [Lehman GJ, McGill SM. Quantification of the differences in electromyographic activity magnitude between the upper and lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle during selected trunk exercises. Phys Ther. 2001;81:1096-1101.]
Quantification of the Differences in Electromyographic Activity Magnitude Between the Upper and Lower Portions of the Rectus Abdominis Muscle During Selected Trunk Exercises
Gregory J Lehman and Stuart M McGill
Background and Purpose.
Controversy exists around exercises and clinical tests that attempt to differentially activate the upper or lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle. The purpose of this study was to assess the activation of the upper and lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle during a variety of abdominal muscle contractions.
Subjects.
Subjects (N=11) were selected from a university population for athletic ability and low subcutaneous fat to optimize electromyographic (EMG) signal collection.
Methods.
Controlling for spine curvature, range of motion, and posture (and, therefore, muscle length), EMG activity of the external oblique muscle and upper and lower portions of rectus abdominis muscle was measured during the isometric portion of curl-ups, abdominal muscle lifts, leg raises, and restricted or attempted leg raises and curl-ups. A one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to test for differences in activity between exercises in the external oblique and rectus abdominis muscles as well as between the portions of the rectus abdominis muscle.
Results.
No differences in muscle activity were found between the upper and lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle within and between exercises. External oblique muscle activity, however, showed differences between exercises. Discussion and
Conclusion.
Normalizing the EMG signal led the authors to believe that the differences between the portions of the rectus abdominis muscle are small and may lack clinical or therapeutic relevance. [Lehman GJ, McGill SM. Quantification of the differences in electromyographic activity magnitude between the upper and lower portions of the rectus abdominis muscle during selected trunk exercises. Phys Ther. 2001;81:1096-1101.]
Bulldog_10
New member
supreme said:O.K.
Kendall & Kendall, Muscles Testing & Function - 4th Ed.
Pg. 408 -409; Spinal segment Distribution to Muscles: Trunk & Lower extremeities
The Obliques are not part of the rectus:
Origin of external oblique - external surfaces of lower 8 ribs,
Insertion: anterior half of the outer lip of the illiac crest and aponeurosis of the anterior abdominal wall
Internal olique origin: Lumbar fascia, anterior 2/3 of illiac crest & lateral 2/3 of the inguinal ligament
Insertion: 9 -12 ribs & linea alba
Rectus abdominus Origin- pubic symphysis & crest of pubis
insertion: coastal cartilages of 5-7 ribs & xyphoid process
Hope this helps
S
huh?
supreme
New member
You asked a ref. for nerve distribution & if the obliques were seperate from the rectus.
The ref. was Kendall & Kenadall and I aswered yes that the obliques were sepeate and listed the origin & insertion for the, rectus, the int. & ext. obliques to show they are different muscles
did this clear it up?
S
The ref. was Kendall & Kenadall and I aswered yes that the obliques were sepeate and listed the origin & insertion for the, rectus, the int. & ext. obliques to show they are different muscles
did this clear it up?
S
supreme
New member
Bulldog_10 said:
Nice post, I got Dr. McGill's latest text for Christmas , haven't had time to read it yet
I agree with what they did, and it definately needs more research for countless trainers, theapists etc have used lower segmental exercises for years to treat back pain etc.
It is quite possible that the low level of activation is enough to help the injured / untrained and not the athletic population.
The only flaws I see with the study is the small subject # & choices of ab exercises:
Methods.
Controlling for spine curvature, range of motion, and posture (and, therefore, muscle length), EMG activity of the external oblique muscle and upper and lower portions of rectus abdominis muscle was measured during the isometric portion of curl-ups, abdominal muscle lifts, leg raises, and restricted or
attempted leg raises and curl-ups.
These are none of the exercises that are traditionally used for lower ab work.
The are all upper rectus & oblique exercises, and we all know that leg raises are predominately a Psoas exercise.
I would like to see the study repeated with a larger samlple population, using both athletes and untrained people with a pre & post test after a period of several weeks of training focusing on exercises that are used for lower abdominal activation like: pelvic tilts, supine & standing movement progessions, knee lifts, short ROM knee raises, reverse crucnhes etc. (of course all perfromed without hip flexion)
Also it has to be remembered that since the division is neurological and not an actual muscular division that differences will be small. The lower abdmoinal exercises are used for neurological coordination and to rehab injuries, post-partum muscle control and to teach neutral alignment of the pelvis - which is a big problem among a lot of the gym crowd, especially women.
It would be interesting to see a pre & post test to see if there is a significant change due to increased faciliatation of the muscle and improved neurological coordination. - I think I just found my next study to try!
S
