Crunches Or Leg Raises For Your Abs

Resource: http://www.cbn.com/health/fitness/DrLen_crunches_legraises.aspx

Summary: Which way is better to make your abs tighter; crunches or leg raises?  A while back people stopped doing straight leg sit-ups because it would give lower back pains.  Here are the basics on muscles.  Muscles connect to bones and when they are together they start to contract and shorten.  Your bicep runs from your shoulder down to your elbow.  When we shorten and contract our bicep, it bends.  Your abdominal muscle is attached from your ribs down to your pubic bone.  That muscle is not attached to your leg, so that means that doing leg lifts don’t do anything to our abs.  The muscle that helps raise your leg is called the hip flexors.  It’s attached to your spine and runs down your leg.  Crunches are different from leg lifts.  They target your abs more than leg raises.  You can tell when your abs are being worked when you feel a pain going through your muscle.  These are good exercises to keep your abs nice and fit. 

Critique: I disagree about how leg lifts work because I do them at football practice everyday and I can feel my abs working.  There is a strong pain in my stomach when I hold my legs up for longer than ten seconds.  It causes me to tighten up my stomach muscles, which in turn strengthens my core. 

Impact: Both exercises are good for your abs.  But it doesn’t mean that in one-day you’re going to get good abs.  It means that you’re going to need to work hard everyday and never give up.