Thread: Final ruling on selective activation of the abdominal musles...

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Just talked to my boss, a respected neuroligist, about selective activation of the muscles of the rectus abdominus. It is quite possible to contract just the upper, or just the lower portion, and, with significant training, one could probably learn to just contract each group of muscles in between each "square" of tendinous inscriptions. He described the way they are wired to the brain and how it allows for it.

Thank you for your time.

So theoretically I could make only one of my six or eight pack larger then the other with proper training and focus?

Even if this is true, it doesn't mean reverse crunches are going to make the lower portion of your abs more defined.

No, but you can work your lower abdominals, which has been stated to be not true.

As for making one larger than the other...I would think the 23 hours and 45 minutes that you utilize all of your abdominal muscles in a coordinated manner would have more of an effect on abdominal development than the 15 minutes you focus on one of the areas. Which is precisely why I don't do isolated ab work.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Even if this is true, it doesn't mean reverse crunches are going to make the lower portion of your abs more defined.

Certainly not, that is more diet/CV related. My point is that some mention it is one muscle, but i made the point that it is not one continuous muscle with the tendinous inscriptions providing a static base to allow contraction from individually.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

No, but you can work your lower abdominals, which has been stated to be not true.

As for making one larger than the other...I would think the 23 hours and 45 minutes that you utilize all of your abdominal muscles in a coordinated manner would have more of an effect on abdominal development than the 15 minutes you focus on one of the areas. Which is precisely why I don't do isolated ab work.

Again though, I still don't think you can isolate one area from the other unless you have the neurological control of Obi-wan Kenobi. When you move your body around in some fashion to focus on your lower abs, your upper abs are going to contract to help stabilize your torso.

My lower abs hurt like hell while my upper abs are fine. I did leg raises yesterday.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Again though, I still don't think you can isolate one area from the other unless you have the neurological control of Obi-wan Kenobi. When you move your body around in some fashion to focus on your lower abs, your upper abs are going to contract to help stabilize your torso.

His statement was that for the average person, lower/upper isolation (Isolation not meaning pure isolation, but for the most part isolated) is pretty much fact. As I said, his statement was that the brain is wired for this.

His statement on contracting a specific "square" was based on training the body to do so and was more of an "It is possible" thing than an "Everyone can do it" thing.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

His statement was that for the average person, lower/upper isolation (Isolation not meaning pure isolation, but for the most part isolated) is pretty much fact. As I said, his statement was that the brain is wired for this.

Yeah, I see where you're going with this. Nonetheless, what's the practical application of this information? I see very little, if any. This is especially true considering that your average person, and even average bodybuilder, has poor body awareness and muscular control. So, although it might be theoretically possible because of the way the muscle is innervated, there is very little room for this information to actually be applied in any kind of useful manner.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Again though, I still don't think you can isolate one area from the other unless you have the neurological control of Obi-wan Kenobi. When you move your body around in some fashion to focus on your lower abs, your upper abs are going to contract to help stabilize your torso.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Yeah, I see where you're going with this. Nonetheless, what's the practical application of this information? I see very little, if any. This is especially true considering that your average person, and even average bodybuilder, has poor body awareness and muscular control. So, although it might be theoretically possible because of the way the muscle is innervated, there is very little room for this information to actually be applied in any kind of useful manner.

I don't care about John Q Public, I deal with athletes like KEFE, son. Nevertheless, the "Abdominals are 1 muscle so they can't contract in portions" statement is false.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

I don't care about John Q Public, I deal with athletes like KEFE, son. Nevertheless, the "Abdominals are 1 muscle so they can't contract in portions" statement is false.

Yeah, I gotcha. Is it because of the tendinous grid running across the rectus abdominus that it requires separate innervation of the different portions of the muscle? What stops the action potential from making its way across the entire muscle? How many separate innervation points are there? Just curious is all.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Just talked to my boss, a respected neuroligist, about selective activation of the muscles of the rectus abdominus. It is quite possible to contract just the upper, or just the lower portion, and, with significant training, one could probably learn to just contract each group of muscles in between each "square" of tendinous inscriptions. He described the way they are wired to the brain and how it allows for it.

Thank you for your time.

I talked to a physical therapist a couple years ago that talked about this stuff too. I didn't really believe her though.

pretty cool.