Upper Abdominal Exercises Versus Lower Abdominal Exercises
In fitness training, most people are not clear about lower abs exercises and upper abs exercises. So let me clear the misconceptions here. The muscle which is originally to be discussed in such abs exercises is the rectus abdominus. Rectus means straight, and abdominus refers to the abdomen. So simply put, the rectus abdominus runs straight down the abdomen. The rectus abdominus is also the muscle that gives 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. Many argue that rectus abdominus is a single muscle and you can't isolate certain parts of the muscle. Yes, you can't isolate only one section but you can emphasize one area over another.People confuse the words isolate and emphasize and come to the conclusion that rectus abdominus cant be trained in isolation.
Our nervous system has thousands of intricately designed nerve cells and nerve ending which help us to move with grace, be agile, be accurate and lot more functions. The rectus abdominus is supplied by multiple nerves that work in a coordinated fashion to create a variety of movements. The multiple nerve supply helps us move in different ways, and the upper abs and lower abs are emphasized when we do different movement. The upper abs, which is the upper part of rectus abdominus is emphasized when we move the trunk forward like in a crunch or sit up. ball crunches are also a good upper abdominal exercises. The crunch machines and ab training muscles are good upper abdomen tightening exercises.The lower abs in addition to upper abs are trained while you do crunches. The entire rectus abdominus muscles is worked out, every time you bend your trunk or flex it.
The lower part of the rectus abdominus are finely emphasized when you do revrse crunch. In reverse crunch the pelvis moves towards the trunk. Leg raises and flutter kicks also work out the lower abs.Again, the upper abs work during reverse crunches and leg raises. There is just more emphasis on the lower abs when the legs are moving.
Now, one thing that I must mention is that abs exercises do not magically melt away stomach fat. Doing upper abs exercises will not magically get rid of the fat on the upper part of your stomach, and doing lower abs exercises will not magically get rid of the fat on the lower part of your stomach. This is known as spot reduction myth. If you really want to get rid of those irritating fat content of your body adopt a comprehensive approach including diet control.
You must do abdominal exercises minimum 2-3 times a week. Include both upper and lower abs exercises, do various other abs exercises and from various directions to get a more balanced body.
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