Bicycle beats all - Extra Training - Brief Article

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Feb-March, 2002

We're all for separating value from hype in exercise trends, and so is the American Council on Exercise. They recently recruited researchers at San Diego State University's biomechanics lab to rate abdominal exercises done with and without machines to help people do them. Thirty healthy men and women ages 20-45 were hooked up to electromyography equipment, which measures electrical activity generated as muscles work. The measurements let researchers check the energy created in specific midsection muscles.

After test subjects performed 13 types of ab movements -- some with equipment, most without -- the SDSU scientists determined that a no-equipment technique called the bicycle receives top honors. It created almost 250% more muscle activity in the rectus abdominis muscle than a traditional crunch. To do it, lie faceup on the floor and bring your knees to a 45-degree angle.

Alternate straightening your legs, raising your shoulders off the floor to touch each elbow to the opposite knee.

Source: cnn.com