working of different abs

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ok we all know that there a roughly 8 full individual abs, and 4 sets of them to make the six pack.

 

But what must a person do to work every single one

 

no doubt there specific different cruches which work the top side of abs more than the lower abs, so which excercises work which

 

and since we are on the subject of crunches, are they worked more if the legs are straight on the floor rather than them being bent?

 

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[KickChick]

... actually there are more than that!

 

Your mid-section includes the rectus abdominous, serratus, internal and external obliques, psoas, linea alba, linea similunaris, linea transversae, transversalis and intercustals.

 

The largest most visible abdominal muscle group is the rectus abdominous. The rectus abdominous is a huge, flat muscle covering almost the entire front of your "stomach" area between the lower ribcage and your hips.

 

A second main set of muscles which comprise the "abs" are located at the sides of your waist. These muscles are referred to as the external obliques however they really consist of three separate muscle groups, the internal obliques, traverse obliques and the external obliques.

 

A final set of muscles which compose the "abs" are the incostals. The intercostals run diagonally down the sides of the upper end of your midsection right below the ribcage. These are normally the last muscles to appear to the naked eye, only visable in people who have taken the time to develop them properly.

 

Some exercises are better than others but you should experiment with different exercises to see which ones work best for you. The key is concentration. Research has demonstrated that muscle fiber recruitment is dictated most specifically by what area of the abs you are thinking about during ab training.

 

For example, a set of crunches will recruit more upper ab fibers if you think about upper abs while the same set will recruit more lower ab fibers if you concentrate mentally on your lower abs.

 

For the lower abs, i(n increasing order of difficulty):

 

lying leg raises

 

reverse crunches

 

vertical lying leg thrusts

 

hanging knee raises

 

hanging leg raises

 

For the upper abs:

 

ab crunches

 

1/4 crunches

 

cross-knee crunches

 

pulldown crunches

 

Lowering the legs with heels together (legs turned out) works the lower.... with legs up in air, you are working the upper abs (but most people find this hard on their back) If so, plant your feet against wall and press the small of your back against floor asyou crunch up.

[Bretty101]

My favourite sit up exercise which i feel throughout my entire mid section is as follows.

 

Lay back on floor with one leg (left) bent at 90 degrees with foot flat on floor and other leg out straight but heel 6inches off the floor. sit up so your right elbow touches you left knee, lay back then sit up and reach so your left hand touches your right foot. thats one rep do say 10 reps then change sides.

 

This i find not only crunches my upper abs but also works my lower abs as i sit right up to touch my foot. I also get a bit of a twist, try it it works for me (tho probable isn't good for you back, but hey thats sit ups for you)

 

I like to alternate deadlifts with sit ups so i get a nice balance and support for my spine. I also never do sit-ups to failure or cramp as i've found this makes my stomach really bulky and stick out, not only restricting my kicks but looking worse when all i really want is tone. instead i do large numbers of small rep sets every day.

 

Bretty