Carrying a child and
giving birth does nothing for the core muscles.
It can destroy them if not tightened in preparation for the big event –
pregnancy and childbirth.
Some ladies find it
difficult to attend a gym so finding out the best exercises that can be
performed with little to no bits of equipment is also useful information to
know when strengthening the core.
The American Council
on Exercise (ACE) sponsored a study a few years ago detailing what they
considered to be the best core exercises.
Here are four of best.
The Bicycle Crunch
This was shown to be the best exercise
for the stomach. The study measured both the effect on the rectus
abdomini and the obliques.
The ACE study found that this exercise
yielded 148 percent more effect than a simple crunch on the rectus abdominus
and a whopping 190 percent more effect on the obliques.
Captain's Chair
The Study found
it to yield 112 percent more activity in the rectus abdominus than a simple
crunch and a particularly excellent 210 percent more activity on the obliques.
The Reverse Crunch
This exercise has different effects on
the two core areas targeted in the study.
It was only 9 percent more effective
than a simple crunch when considering the rectus abdominus so actually it is
almost equivalent to a crunch for that area of the core. On the other
hand, when the obliques are looked at, the reverse crunch is significantly more
effective (140 percent more, to be exact).
Crunch on exercise Ball
This is the fourth core exercise for
women who want to strengthen their core muscles.
It was found by the ACE study to be 39
percent more effective on the rectus abdominus than a crunch without the ball
and 47 percent more effective on the obliques.
These are four of the
best exercises for the stomach. Finding
out the best core exercises for women is a great idea and will yield a world of
results.
