Science gets to the core of which exercises really give you fab abs
Gadgets and workout regimens promise washboard abs, but which one really works? Backed by studies, Jeanette Wang crunches the numbers
If there's one thing that most people want - apart from money, success and happiness - it's six-pack abs. Not only attractive and sexy, it's seen as a sign of good health and fitness.
The obsession over a ripped midsection has spawned an entire multimillion-dollar industry that includes machines, pills, creams, fat-melting gadgets, fad diets and surgical procedures.
The best moves are low on trunk flexion, with many being bridging or plank-style exercises
It has also inspired a whole encyclopaedia of exercises that claim to deliver the coveted washboard. But exactly which move will snag you that six-pack?
Researchers at Auburn University Montgomery in Alabama set out to determine the effectiveness of popular abdominal exercises using a test known as electromyography. The study is published in the July/August issue of the American College of Sports Medicine's Health and Fitness Journal.
Electromyography involves placing electrodes on the skin over the abdominal muscles. Electrical energy triggers the muscle to contract, and this contraction is captured, recorded and analysed. The greater the intensity of the electrical signal, the higher the degree of muscle activity.
It's not the first time such technology has been used. Since the 1990s, there has been a trend towards more evidence-based fitness programming, resulting in a stark change in ab exercises.
Sit-ups have long been struck off the list, due to the stresses they place on the spine and neck. The traditional crunch - a partial curl-up with unanchored feet - was also found to be ineffective, based on a 2001 study by researchers from San Diego State University's Biomechanics Lab that used electromyography.