REg wrote:
> First I'd suggest that you go to a gym and ask to
> try out their abs exercise machine. Colloquialistically speaking,
> no fancy nomenclature here.
> You'll lie on your back with your head on a
> grubby headrest and say to the attendant, "yeah, what now?"
> He'll say, "when you tighten your abs you'll
> lift your whole upper body off the frame, just don't tighten
> your throat or neck muscles." You'll struggle for a while
> until you get the idea as a whole new experience in pain
> strikes you in the epigastric area.
According to Brian Chickester, Jack Corft and the editors of Men's Health
magazine, in their book "Powerfully Fit", and my anatomy book ( in
Portuguese ), and also all fitness magazines I've read and personal trainers
I've already had or talked to, the 'front' abs, referring to 'rectus
abdominalis',- is that the term? - as opposed to the obliques, go straight
down to the pelvis ( or to Elvis, according to some... no, that's a joke! ).
'Rectus' is divided into two: upper and lower abs, and consensus says they
must be worked out separately. According to "Powerfully Fit", when you lift
your back ( crunches, as described by you, or reaching crunches, twisting
crunches, twisting extension cruches, etc ), your upper abs work 90 to 100%
( of their potential ), while the lower abs work only 30%. When, on the
contrary, you lift your hips ( hip raises, knee pull-ins, straight-leg
raises, etc ), the lower abs work 80% while the upper abs work 30% only.
If the attendant is telling you to move up your torso only, you should
consider looking for another gym, or another gym. I hope it's not too late ,
or you may have to look for another torso! :-)
Any doubt about that, I can scan and send you the cover of an "All Natural
Muscular Development" magazine, where an envied model displays his washing
board all the way into his pants ( what may prove the Elvis theory ).
bye,
Caio Rossi
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