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My point, and the video's point was that while squats and deadlifts will build isometric strength in your core, you need to also include eccentric and concentric movements to build all facets of core strength.
Yes, showy abs are good too, but strength is more important by far.
I don't dispute your point but there are many people who prioritize muscle size over strength. Personally I prefer a mixture of the two. But to each his own.
I have Masters degree in something else and I’m not a keyboard warrior either, but I did stay at holiday inn though so I know ab exercises are good for you.
Wrong....The abs only get shorter when doing a crunch by passive participation. The spine curls, thus shortening the distance from the origin to the insertion of the abs becuse as the psoas contract doing the "heavy lifting" of the maneuver, the paraspinous mm contribute reflexively, thus bending the spine....
If you stimulated the abs with an electric shock, say, the distance from the origin to the insertion would not change...and if you stimulated the psoas in isolation in the same way, the spine would not curl, nor the abs contract.
When you do crunches it's the rectus abdominis that gets worked and gets fatigued, which you can see for yourself simply by doing crunches, and I included two links in my other post which agree with me. So we will just have to disagree.
I have been to physical therapy, assigned to me by my back specialist for my lower back issues, and guess what we have done? Isolated ab work.
Sadly they nixed my situps. Those are not good for your lower back. So I wept and put them away.
But you must have a strong core so that you can stabilize and protect your spinal column.
Just wanted to tell you why the PT's don't like you doing sit ups.
If you have a lower back problem they don't like it because you have a muscle called the iliopsoas that connects your femur to your lower lumbar spine. Normally, the iliopsoas braces on your spine and lifts your leg. When you do sit ups it is working in what is called "reverse action". It is trying to use your femur to brace and lift your entire trunk up. This of course puts a huge strain on the lower lumbar mechanism. The stress combined with the forward flexion motion of your trunk puts extreme back pressure on your disks in the lower back.
For a person without back issues it probably isn't a big deal to do sit ups.
OK, it seems to me you're probably correct about this. Nevertheless, it seems even more obvious that crunches do indeed strengthen abs.
There's not much of a "lever" to be moved in an isotonic way with abdominal muscles, right?
No, he isn't correct. See below.
Functions Rectus abdominis flexes the trunk anteriorly. Moreover, working together with other abdominal muscles, this muscle compresses the abdominal viscera and increases the intra-abdominal pressure, which has an important function in processes such as forced breathing, labor, defecation and micturition.
The rectus abdominis also stabilizes and controls tilt of the pelvis (antilordosis).
The rectus abdominis is an important postural muscle. It is responsible for flexing the lumbar spine, as when doing a crunch. The rib cage is brought up to where the pelvis is when the pelvis is fixed, or the pelvis can be brought towards the rib cage (posterior pelvic tilt) when the rib cage is fixed, such as in a leg-hip raise. The two can also be brought together simultaneously when neither is fixed in space.
The rectus abdominis assists with breathing and plays an important role in respiration when forcefully exhaling, as seen after exercise as well as in conditions where exhalation is difficult such as emphysema. It also helps in keeping the internal organs intact and in creating intra-abdominal pressure, such as when exercising or lifting heavy weights, during forceful defecation or parturition (childbirth).
The bolded part is what he is denying. The rectus abdominis flexes the trunk anteriorly which means that the rectus abdominis contracts isotonically as well as isometrically.
Last edited by Michael Way; 12-28-2022 at 10:07 PM..
The bolded part is what he is denying. The rectus abdominis flexes the trunk anteriorly which means that the rectus abdominis contracts isotonically as well as isometrically.
The abs originate at the lower edge of the rib cage and insert at the symphysis pubis. The minimal amount of isotonic contraction they can exhibit merely moves the ribs an inch or two towards the pubic bone....Do a crunch or sit up and your whole torso and thigh come together changing the angle of the thigh/torso from 180deg to 45deg or less-- It's the psoas that does it, not the abs. The psoas attaches the pelvic rim to the thigh. Contracting the psoas changes the angle of the thigh on the pelvis....Contracting the abs cannot move the thighs because they don't attach to them.
Try lying on your back and flexing your abs isometrically by "sucking in your belly." How much did your ribs move towards your pubic bone? Nada.
Do you want bulky abs? Why?....Doing sit ups does fatigue the abs before the psoas because the psoas are the larger muscles intended to do that action and not the abs
The abs originate at the lower edge of the rib cage and insert at the symphysis pubis. The minimal amount of isotonic contraction they can exhibit merely moves the ribs an inch or two towards the pubic bone....Do a crunch or sit up and your whole torso and thigh come together changing the angle of the thigh/torso from 180deg to 45deg or less-- It's the psoas that does it, not the abs. The psoas attaches the pelvic rim to the thigh. Contracting the psoas changes the angle of the thigh on the pelvis....Contracting the abs cannot move the thighs because they don't attach to them.
Try lying on your back and flexing your abs isometrically by "sucking in your belly." How much did your ribs move towards your pubic bone? Nada.
If you are referring to trying to pull your naval inwards towards your spine that's the function of the transverse abdominus, not the rectus abdominus.
Quote:
Do you want bulky abs? Why?....Doing sit ups does fatigue the abs before the psoas because the psoas are the larger muscles intended to do that action and not the abs
I'm not talking about sit ups. I'm talking about crunches.
And as the links that I posted say, as I do, it is the rectus abdominis that is responsible for curling the spine forward in the crunch movement.
But believe what you want to believe. I've said all that needs to be said on the matter.
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