Classic Crunch vs. The Ab Pavelizer
The Wall Street Journal has called the nineties “the decade of the abs.” Crunches rival baseball as the national pastime. AbRollers are selling like hot
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dogs, yet an average American gut still looks more like an air bag than a six-pack. I’ll fix that. It is universally accepted that the perfect ab exercise does the following: • Maximizes isolation of the abdominal muscles; • Reduces lower back stress by minimizing the involvement of the hip flexors(the pass group); • Fool-proofs itself by the nature of its performance. Before accepting the solution, you must first understand the problem. The abdominals (rectus abdominis) connect your pubic bone to your breastbone. When this muscle contracts, it pulls your pelvis and rib cage together, rounding your back in the process, as in a crunch.
This is called “forward spinal flexion”. Psoas major originates on the vertebrae of the lower back, and inserts into the top of the thighbone. When the psoas major contracts, this “hip flexion” pulls the body into a jackknife position - sit-ups are an example. When you do a sit-up, you literally pull yourself up by your lumbar spine, or lower back, which can lead to back problems or aggravate existing ones. A common so-called “solution” is to avoid hip flexion, or sit-ups, and do only spinal flexion, or crunches. A number of gizmos have been designed to capitalize on the public obsession with crunches. All of them were supposed to make crunches stricter. The Ab Isolator immobilized the hip joint; the AbFlex increased the recruitment of the abdominals during the crunch by providing direct pressure on the muscles’; the AbRoller and the AbWorks tracked the crunch mechanically. There are two problems with these products.
First, they are gimmicks. According to John Jakicic, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, these devices “offer no physiological advantage over doing crunches with good form.” The second problem is the crunch itself. Contrary to popular opinion, the crunch does NOT isolate the abs. This applies to any crunch-based device as well. Because of this, it is thought that the crunch does not involve the psoas group and stress the lower back. Wrong! Well-known physical therapists Kendall, Kendall and Wadsworth determined that it is impossible to completely eliminate the hip flexor recruitment during a crunch. One of the fundamental laws of physiology, the Davis Law, dictates that the contraction of a muscle, the abdominals in this case, will set off a contraction of the adjacent muscles, or the hip flexors.
To test the Davis Law, make a fist and flex your wrist very hard. Your biceps will tense up, although there is no movement in the elbow joint! According to John Scaringe, D.C., the president of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians, a person with weak abdominals relies on his stronger hip flexors even during crunches. The trainee cannot get his torso off the floor by rounding his back with his abs, so he yanks on his spine with his hip flexors to gain momentum! It does not take an Einstein to figure out that such training is worthless for the abs and dangerous to the spine. The problem of hip flexor involvement was radically solved by Professor Vladimir Janda, MD, from Czechoslovakia, the consultant on rehabilitation for the World Health Organization and the world’s leading expert on back problems, muscle function analysis, and evaluation.
Professor Janda relaxed the psoas group using the neurological phenomenon for reciprocal inhibition. When a muscle contracts, its antagonist, or the opposite number, relaxes. It is all about efficiency. The alternative would be similar to stepping on the gas and the brake simultaneously. Dr. Janda had his patient assume the standard bent knee sit-up/ crunch position and then placed his hands under his patient’s calves. The patient attempted to sit-up while steadily pushing against the doctor’s hands. This activated the knee flexor and hip extensor muscles (the hamstrings and glutes). Reciprocal inhibition took place and the hip flexors relaxed. Result: back stress eliminated and the abdominals were isolated. Until now, the Janda situp could not be performed without a training partner. Professor Janda recommended pressing into the wall with the toes and simultaneously down into the floor - but this does not work. It is too tempting to leg press the wall instead of pushing down. This is exactly what a trainee will do when he gets tired.
Then the contraction of the quads engages the hip flexors next door, thanks to Davis’ Law. Pushing into the floor with one’s heels or feet, as in the crunch, with active propositioning, has been proposed by chiropractors Jerry Hyman and Craig Liebenson. This is also ineffective because of poor leverage. The muscular tension and training effect is minimal. Enter the Ab Pavelizer. This new product allows the performance of the Janda sit-up without a training partner. In fact, it is more comfortable because the trainee regulates the pressure, rather than the training partner. This portable device fits under a door and provides comfortable padded stirrups for the back of the legs to push against while doing the Janda sit-ups. It comes with a bungee cord with handles to assist individuals who are unable to perform the exercise on their own. The bungee cord, rather than a stationary handle, is used to limit cheating. The amount of stretch tells the trainee how much help he or she is getting. Don’t scoff! This new exercise is surprisingly challenging, even to well-trained athletes.
According to Joseph Horrigan, D.C. of the Soft Tissue Center in Los Angeles, two or three Janda sit-ups are considered to be “good”. The high level of difficulty and ab isolation especially stands out when you do a set of Janda sit-ups to failure. After trying Janda sit-ups, immediately hook your feet under a couch and do a standard sit-up. You will probably find that you can do many-and easily. Doing Ab Pavelizer sit-ups back to back with crunches-with or without any crunch gizmo-is also a revelation. The tension you feel in the abs is clearly superior with the new machine. The crunch belongs on the pile of history next to communism! The movement is just too subtle to generate high tension in the target muscles. To do an Ab Pavelizer sit-up, lie on the floor with your knees bent and place your calves in the stirrups. Your feet should touch the floor and your knees should be flexed, but no more than 90 degrees. Fold your hands on your chest, with an extra weight if possible. If you cannot get up on your own, hold on to the bungee cord handles for an extra boost.
Inhale, then slowly sit up while applying steady pressure against the calf
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stirrups. Stop when the tension on the abs is about to drop off, approximately half way through the sit-up. To maintain tension in the target muscles, do not exhale until you reach the top. WARNING! Increased intralung pressure during the Valsalva maneuver dramatically increases muscular tension-and the training effectvia the pneumomuscular reflex. However, many physicians believe that holding your breath during exercise could be hazardous to your health. If you have a heart problem, high blood pressure, or other health concerns, consult your physician before attempting the breathing patterns described in this article. Relax for a second, inhale again, and lower yourself all the way to the floor, pushing against the stirrups with your calves all the time. At no point of the exercise should your feet come up. Relax for a second on the floor and repeat.
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