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A study by the american council on Exercise's has determined the 13 most effective ab exercises that someone can perform when trying to develop what is known as a 6 pack. These exercises can be performed with equal benifits to both men and women.

The Study Led by Peter Francis, Ph.D., researchers recruited 30 healthy women and men to participate in the study. The subjects, ages 20 to 45, ranged from occasional exercisers to those who work out daily. Participants were put through a battery of exercises that target the midsection, including the traditional crunch, modified crunches, partial body weight exercises and exercises using both home and gym exercise equipment. Because of ACE's ongoing interest in examining popular infomercial products, we provided the research team with a Torso Track and AB Rocker to be included in the testing.

All of the exercises were introduced in random order and participants were allowed to practice each exercise briefly. Subjects then completed 10 to 12 repetitions of each exercise, maintaining a two-count cadence throughout (two seconds at the concentric phase, two at the eccentric phase). Using lectromyography (EMG) equipment, researchers monitored each participant's muscle activity as they exercised. Activity was recorded in the upper and lower rectus abdominus and the external obliques. Researchers also measured activity in the rectus femoris to indicate activity in the hip flexors. These data are important because high levels of activity in this area suggest that an exercise is either done incorrectly or requires the body to recruit muscles other than the abdominals and obliques. Testing for the entire round of 13 exercises took approximately one hour per subject, not including the EMG set up.

Using the EMG data, researchers established the mean muscle activity for each exercise and normalized it to that of a traditional crunch-the baseline for comparison. Exercises were then ranked best to worst based on the average amount of EMG activity recorded in each of the muscle areas.

Activity in Abdominals

MEAN % OF

RANKING EXERCISE ACTIVITY

1 Bicycle Maneuver 248

2 Captain's Chair 212

3 Exercise Ball 139

4 Vertical Leg Crunch 129

5 Torso Track 127

6 Long Arm Crunch 119

7 Reverse Crunch 109

8 Crunch with Heel Push 107

9 Ab Roller 105

10 Hover 100

11 Traditional Crunch 100

12 Exercise Tubing Pull 92

13 Ab Rocker 21

Activity in Obliques

RANKING EXERCISE ACTIVITY

1 Captain's Chair 310

2 Bicycle Maneuver 290

3 Reverse Crunch 240

4 Hover 230

5 Vertical Leg Crunch 216

6 Exercise Ball 147

7 Torso Track 145

8 Crunch with Heel Push 126

9 Long Arm Crunch 118

10 Ab Roller 101

11 Traditional Crunch 100

12 Exercise Tubing Pull 77

13 Ab Rocker 74

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