Is it sit-ups or crunches?

Or is it cardiovascular exercise?

People get confused as to what system is best to train their mid-section. The traditional sit-ups where you come all the way up from the floor towards your knees emphasise the Psoas and the Iliacus muscles including the hip flexors. This means that sit-ups do not really target your abdominals.

Abdominals are best trained by crunches, where you are lying on your back, on the floor, with bent knees and you lift your shoulders 4 to 5 inches off the floor.You should go your sternum towards your pelvis without engaging the hips. Altough we speak in terms of upper and lower abs, they are one muscle nicknamed 'washboard" or"six pack".

There are different beliefs amongst instructors as to the sequence of training abs, some believe that you should train the lower abs bfore the upper abs followed by twisting exercises. Training the abs with low intensity and more frequently is the best way to train the abs. You also need to train the lower back to balance the mid_section. Try out this routine once a week and on the rest of the days just do the abs exercises along the rest of the body work out.

ABS Routine:

30 mins cycling
20 Crunches (Add 5 every week)
20 Reverse Crunches(Add 5 Every week)
10 back extensions( Add 2 every week)
20 standing twists (add 4 every week)
20 crunch twists   (add 4 every week)
10 back extensions (add 2 every week)
20 mins rowing

This routine is not to be done by those who have low back pain. This routine should be  done by exercisers who are in the intermediate to advanced stages.

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