a question about abdominal exercises?

Question

i want to work the left side of my abs. so looking it at my point of view, when i sit up or crunch to the right, does it work my left abs??? if not, then which way works my left abs?

im asking this because i've noticed that my right abs are bigger so i want to balance them out

Answer 1

If you want to hit your left abs, do crunches with your left leg up in the air and bent. That way when you come up it works your left side harder than your right.

Answer 2

Work your left abs _only_? Do you mean your obliques, the muscles to the left of your stomach?

If you want to focus on the left side of your abs, and I have no idea why you would, you could experiment by laying down, putting one hand over each side of your stomach, and seeing what kind of movements work just the left side. Then do those.

But the right side might get jealous...

Answer 3

Lay your hands on one side of your abdomen. Muscles can only do one thing - contract. That means all they can do is shorten. They can relax when the opposing muscle is contracting.
If you lay your hands on your left side and lean of the left, you will feel your left abdominal muscles getting shorter, or contracting.
Now lean to the right. You feel them getting longer, because the muscles of the right side are contracting.
The rectus abdominis is one muscle, segmented by the linea alba, into separate pieces to facilitate a greater range of motions, and control in all the planes of movement. The transversus abdominis lays deep to the rectus abdominis. The internal/external obliques are lateral to the abdominis muscles.

You can't spot-lose weight, or work only one side of your body to make it balance out in your reflection. You have to lose weight, or build muscle, as a whole to see the results you want. You are training an entire body, not a part at a time.

Answer 4

crunching to the left...