The most effective exercises for working out the rectus abdominis muscle. All about how to properly pump the various parts of this muscle – the lower and upper press.

The rectus abdominis stretches along the entire length of the abdomen, dividing in the middle into left and right parts; the extreme attachment points of each of them are the fifth, sixth and seventh ribs at the top and the pubic bone at the bottom. The colloquial word “abs” refers to this particular muscle.

Throughout its length, the left and right halves of the abdominal muscle are divided by tendon jumpers into 3-4 segments, forming the so-called “abs cubes” (English: six-pack). In total, respectively, there are 6 or 8 such cubes (in rare cases – 10).

Functional
The mechanical function of the rectus abdominis is to pull the torso to the hips and the hips to the torso. In addition, the muscle is responsible for the formation of posture in general, and for the angle of the pelvis in particular (it is thanks to it that a deflection is created in the lower part of the lower back).

The indirect function of the rectus abdominis muscle is to maintain intra-abdominal pressure and protect internal organs. The vast majority of sports activities require good development of this muscle group in order to carry out movement.

Main exercises
Given the mechanics of the muscle, the main exercises for working it out are various twisting and pulling the legs towards you. Obviously, the rectus abdominis is also involved in all exercises that involve the movement of the torso.

It is important to note that this muscle group does not have a physical division into upper and lower parts, however, different exercises affect these segments in different ways. In addition, the level of involvement largely depends on the execution technique.

Classic and reverse crunches
The most well-known exercises for the press are lifting with leg fixation (sit-ups) and twisting (crunches) – their relatively low efficiency is offset by the ability to perform in any conditions without any special equipment.

At the same time, reverse crunches are much more effective. Starting position: lying on a bench, straight legs raised up, arms fixed. Slowly lower your legs down, then with the strength of the abdominal muscles, pull them to your chest.

Best exercise: leg raises
In turn, the best variation of the inverse twists are various leg lifts on the press, performed both with back support and on the horizontal bar. A variation for beginners is to pull the knees to the chest on the bench – see the main illustration.

It is important to remember that although leg raises work more on the lower abdominal muscles, it all depends on the execution technique – for example, in leg raises with back fixation in the simulator, many move with the strength of the thigh muscles, and not the press.

Hanging leg raise
How to do hanging leg raises is the best exercise for developing the lower abdominal muscles, and why variations of it in the machine are useless.

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Upper Press Exercises
The upper part of the rectus abdominis works by pulling the torso to the knees, the lower part by lifting the legs with the force of the press. The first move is much more common in everyday life, making reaching the top dice a relatively easy task.

Classic crunches and most similar exercises work primarily on the top of the press. At the same time, the best isolating exercises for this section of the rectus abdominis are variations of twists on the blocks.

Exercises for the lower press
The best isolating exercises for the lower abs are properly executed hanging leg raises (legs can be lifted together or alternately), as well as the simpler exercise “scissors” (alternate lying leg raises).

Advanced variations are both hanging scissors and leg raises to the bar. These exercises are one of the most difficult exercises for the abdominal muscles – once you learn how to perform them, you will no doubt create a strong press.

The rectus abdominis is the main abdominal muscle responsible for the formation of cubes. The main exercises for working it out are variations of pulling the torso to the knees (twisting), as well as pulling the hips to the chest (leg raises).