How effective are scissor abs (and what is the correct way to do them)?

[Noah Abrams]

I have seen many people do this following exercise which I think is called scissor abs

Couple of questions:

- I have seen many people do it with the chin / shoulders raised up. So which of these two is correct, or are both ok?

- How effective is this exercise? I understand it is mainly for lower abs?

Thank you in advance.

 

[deadlyapp]

The more active you are throughout your core (eg hollow body / shoulders off ground) the more engagement you'll have directly in your core.

It's plenty effective, but training abs specifically is a fairly worthless activity, as "growing" your abdominal muscles is not really possible or necessary. Doing compound movements that require engagement of your core (both back and front) is plenty for developing strong abdominal muscles.

 

[Ackmed]

My wife has talked me into this ab challenge thing where we do them in sets with others. She tries to put her hands under her ass, which is cheating. It makes it easier. I do it like the girl on the pic, just don't go up so high. For me it is easier and takes strain off the abs if you go higher. Keeping them lower, 3 feet off the ground or so is harder for me.

As the above poster mentioned, losing weight shows abs more. Its not like the biceps where you can just grow and show. Working abs can help with core strength, which helps about everything else. Just don't expect to have a 6 pack by doing ab stuff.

 

[Noah Abrams]

Yes, fully agree with both of you. Thank you for the other points made. They are definitely helpful for me.

 

[mike8675309]

Hmm, I would call those a butterfly kick. Scissor kicks are what I call it when you cross both legs but hold them off the ground.
I focus on my core generally once a week with a combination of movements like crunches, side bends, and trunk twists.