When performing different abdominal exercises it can often feel like the stomach muscles are divided into upper and lower sections. The abdominals are considered a segmental muscle, which means they are made up of different parts. This is similar to the arrangement of the spine in that the spine has many segments of vertebrae.

Although the abdominal muscles are made up of different segments it’s not possible to contract one segment totally independent of the others. However what you can do is emphasize different parts of the abs depending on the exercises you choose.

Working the Upper Abs
When you perform a stomach crunch you are stablizing the hips and only lifting yourself from the stomach. With this motion there is a lot more involvement with the upper abdominals due to a greater contraction in the upper region of the abs. The internal obliques are also more involved with the stomach crunch.

Working the Lowew Abs
When you perform the reverse stomach crunch there is a greater contraction in the lower muscle region of the abdominals. With the reverse stomach crunch the external obliques are more involved. The pelvis is lifted off the floor and the lower abs are worked out harder than the upper abdominals.

These are the easiest two exercises to isolite the upper and lower abdominals as effecitively as possible.

The normal stomach crunch will work the entire abdomin, but it predominatly focuses on the top half since your upper body is utilized throughout the movement. Similiarly the reverse crunch puts a greater emphasis on the lower abdominals because you are moving the lower half of your body.

A good comparison is with the bicep curl. When you perform a bicep curl you are working both your biceps and your triceps. However your triceps don’t work as hard as the biceps which is why there are separate exercises to focus more on the triceps. This is the same as the lower and upper abs.

So to sum up; If your upper back and ribs are moving, as with the stomach crunch then the upper part of your abs is worked out harder than the lower. However if you are moving or lifting your your pelvis and lower back then lower parts of the abs are more involved.

Now you can focus on the area that’s giving you the most trouble. As with most people for me its definitely the lower abs!

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