Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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11.08.2012 |
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Proof: plank is better for your core than crunches
If you want to build up a good mid section, with strong lower back muscles and abdominals that can take a punch or two, you're better off doing an exercise like the plank rather than crunches. Better trainers have been saying this for a few years already, and a study from Pennsylvania State University, which has been published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, proves them right.
Crunch versus plank
So the better exercises for your lower back and abdomen, as you can read in nearly every Men's Health magazine, are ones where the muscles in your mid-section have to work so that your vertebrae don't move. That's why the plank is a better exercise than sit-ups or crunches, and the side-plank is better than the oblique-crunch.
Study
Results
AD = anterior deltoid, RA = rectus abdominus, EO = external abdominal oblique, TE = thoracic erector spinae [the muscle that runs along your spine from your skull to your hip bone], LE = lumbar erector spinae [lower back muscle], GM = gluteus maximus.
The figure and photos below show a comparison between the superman [below left; background in graph] and the pointer [below right; foreground in graph].
The superman is an isolation exercise, as is the crunch. You lie on the ground and lift your legs and chest by contracting your gluts and lower back muscles. The pointer is more similar to the plank. You bring your body into a position in which your core muscles have to work hard to keep your vertebrae stable. The figure below shows which of the two is the better exercise.
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