Effective abdominal exercises

What is the most effective abdominal exercise?

While I have never heard one specific exercise for abs described as the "most effective," there are a few that make up the cornerstones of a good abdominal routine. They are pretty basic movements that, when done properly and regularly, will add strength and tone to the abs.

The basic crunch is the most obvious of the exercises. Lie on your back, with knees bent and pointing toward the ceiling. Make sure your lower back is flat on the mat. Keep your eyes on a fixed point on the ceiling-this prevents movement of the neck during the exercise. Curl your shoulders up and off of the mat, squeezing your abs. Imagine your squeezing your abs like an accordion. Hold at the top of the movement, and lower slowly. Full abdominal recruitment depends on the solid contraction (the squeeze) at the top of the movement, so make sure to hold it. The speed with which you do this exercise can change the intensity, as well. Obviously, the slower you do it, the more you'll feel the burn.

An exercise that is effective for the hip flexors and the lower abdominals is the "captain's chair." Bring your knees up as high as you can (at least until your thighs are parallel to the floor, or as high as your chest). The key to the effectiveness of this exercise is keeping the pelvis stable and motionless. Perform the motion slowly, keeping swing to a minimum. Momentum reduces the effectiveness of the exercise.

A third exercise that is good for abs is cable crunches. Raise the cable to the top of the stack, and attach the rope. Kneel down, pulling the rope down with your hands by your ears and pointing your elbows towards the floor. Crunch down, bringing your elbows down to the floor and towards your knees. Again, think of crunching your abs like an accordion during the movement.

These three basic movements are good beginning ab exercises. If you want to hit the obliques, you can add alternating side twists to any of them.



What is the difference, if any, between bent-legged and standing calf raises?

There is a big difference between seated calf raises (or bent-legged) and standing ones. Your calf is composed of two different muscles: the gastrocnemius, which is easily visible when your calf is in a flexed position; and the soleus, which lies underneath the gastrocnemius. When you are doing standing calf raises, you are effectively working the gastrocnemius. When you are seated, the bent angle of your knee takes the larger gastrocnemius out of the movement, thereby putting the majority of the workload on the underlying soleus. So, while it may seem logical that the two exercises are simply for the calves, in reality you are actually working two totally different muscles. That is why it's important to do a seated calf exercise during every calf workout; neglecting to do so may result in an imbalance in the strength of the calf muscles.



I always do shoulder exercises that hit each individual head while standing. My friend says it's better to do them sitting. Who's right?

It's always tough to classify a variation of a movement as better than another one. The two different styles of doing shoulder raises are different, and there are pros and cons to both. Let's take front raises, for example. Doing them standing will allow more of the other muscles in the body to get involved, thereby enabling the lifter to perform reps with heavier weight. This can be useful if you are trying to pass a plateau or sticking point. However, if you're sitting down and doing the movement, it is easier to more effectively isolate the muscle, thereby helping to develop a better burn. Since, in my opinion, the goal of the exercise is to do just that, I would recommend doing most dumbbell raises for shoulders seated. If, however, you feel like going heavy, doing the exercise standing up can be just as effective as long as the form is strict.

Send your fitness questions to fitness@tuftsdaily.com.