Q: What’s the deal with upper vs lower abs? I’ve read that you really can’t train each individually, but don’t leg raises work the lower-ab muscles and crunches work the upper? I really want to have ripped abs by springtime, so I want to start now. Help.
A: First a bit of ab anatomy from our X-traordinary Abs e-book…
The rectus abdominis is the show muscle of the midsection. Although it looks like a number of knotty masses, it’s actually ONE sheetlike muscle running from the bottom of the rib cage down to the pelvis.
So your “abs” are one muscle—the delineated ripples are caused by tendons running horizontally and vertically, not by separate muscle structures…
That means there really are no upper-ab and lower-ab muscles; it’s all one long fibrous sheet with tendons “strapping” it down…
However, certain exercises may “stress” the upper or lower section more. For example, pulling your rig cage down toward your pelvis, as in a crunch, tends to put more emphasis on the upper region, while curling your hips up toward your chest puts more emphasis on the lower area…
Does putting more stress at one end of a muscle force more development there? That’s debatable—and some EMG studies say yes (we discuss that in X Abs). Nevertheless, the above simply reinforces the fact that there are 2 functions—and you should train them BOTH for best ab-etching results.
Specifically, you want to do an incline kneeup for the hip-curl function and a full-range crunch for the torso-curl function.
Now, because the kneeup is a compound move that also involves the hip flexors, you get muscle teamwork. That can innervate the most fibers to fire, as opposed to an isolation move like crunches, so it’s best to do that midrange exercise first (much like you do bench presses before flyes)…
Then isolate with a full-range crunch to finish. Note that standard on-the-floor crunches do NOT allow you to slightly arch your lower back to fully elongate the rectus abdominis. Do your crunches on a bench press bench so your upper back can hang off the end for full range of motion.
And contrary to popular belief, incline kneeups is a better choice than hanging kneeups. Why? Because there is no resistance at the semi-stretch point on hanging—much like there is no resistance at the bottom of a barbell curl. You lose ab tension and fiber-activation potential with the hanging version—not to mention that it’s harder to roll up your hips, the key ab function on leg-raise exercises…
The bottom semi-stretch point is where you can innervate the most fibers, so incline kneeups are a good FIRST exercise most of the time.
There’s more on all of that in X-traordinary Abs, as well as various 10-minute ab routines and the Top 9 Ab-Etching Myths. One thing we don’t talk about there is the 4X method, which is great for growth hormone stimulation and fast ab development…
For 4X, pick an exercise with which you can do 15 reps, but only do 10; rest 35 seconds, then do it again—and so on for four sets. Go all out on the last set—to failure.
You can apply 4X to any of the ab-etching programs in X-traordinary Abs. It’s one more tip to let ’em rip.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
X-Rep.com
The “New” Perfect Physique
You’ve probably believed that women go crazy over huge muscles. You’ve probably even aspired to look like Arnold at some point.
The picture of the perfect physique seems to have changed over the years…
There were several years when it seemed women preferred a leaner and smaller physique like Brad Pitt’s in Fight Club.
Luckily, that seems to have just been a fad, and a more muscular look has become more desired again. Not pro bodybuilder big, but something in between with good muscularity and chiseled detail…
Alain Gonzales refers to it as the “Athletic-Aesthetic” physique, and women go wild over it.
Check out Alain’s 12-week program here: