Zac Efron’s former personal trainer says two common ab exercises are a waste of time. Here is what he recommends instead.

• Patrick Murphy never does hanging knee raises because they work the hip flexors more than the abs.
• The celebrity trainer said that Russian twists are also not effective and can lead to back pain.
• Instead, he recommends resistance sit-ups and anti-rotation grips with bands or cables.

Popular basic exercises as Russian twists and hanging knee raises are not effective for training the abs, according to celerity’s personal trainer patrick murphy.

Murphy, whose clients include Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lawrence and Zac Efron (for his famously mangled body in “Baywatch“), said he never schedules common movements.

Murphy told Insider there’s no need to overcomplicate ab training because the muscles work in a simple way.

Instead of hanging knee raises and Russian twists, try resistance crunches and anti-rotation resistance bands, he said.

Do crunches instead of hanging knee raises

Murphy never does hanging knee raiseswhich consist of hanging from a bar and bending at the hip to raise the legs with the knees bent.

“Danging knees are not necessarily an ab exercise,” Murphy said. In a leg raise or hanging knee raise, for many people it’s the hip flexors rather than the abs that are working, she said.

These exercises can put pressure on the lower abdomen and hip region, but they are not an optimal way to train the abs, he said.

“If I want someone to have their abs ripped, the spinal flexion is the best option,” Murphy said. Spinal flexion means bending forward and contracting, with the ribs moving toward the hips. Example movements are crunches, such as on a resistance ball or with a cable machine.

Murphy says that when you do crunches, you should be able to feel your bottom. ABS “Shooting.” This means it’s working, she said.

Murphy is a fan of overlapping spinal flexion exercises (performing two back to back), one with added resistance and one without.

However, it’s important not to do too much flexion without also doing spinal extension, he said.

“If you just do too much pushup, you create frontal tension and you create a weaker lower back,” Murphy said. “Doing too many sit-ups, too many spinal curls, you’ll weaken your lower back so you have to twist and reciprocate your movements.”

Back extension exercises can be performed on a hyperextension bench or on the floor.

Do cable twists instead of Russian twists

Murphy said he would never program a Russian twist and instead recommends controlled rotational movements for the abs, using bands and cables.

When people sit on the floor and move a heavy medicine ball or dumbbell across their body from side to side, the hips stay straight and force the spine to rotate more than it should, he said.

“If you have a fixed pelvis and you roll a heavy ball from side to side, you just have a lumbar spine tear,” Murphy said.

Physical therapist Bryce Hastings agrees with Murphy: “Each vertebra in the lumbar spine has only about three degrees of rotation, so when you try to produce a lot of rotation in the lumbar spine, you’re actually bringing the joint into full range of rotation. end,” he says. he wrote for the mills. This leads to additional stress on the lower back.

Instead, try rotational movements that involve moving your entire body, including your pelvis, Murphy advised.

Anti-rotation exercises are also effective, Murphy said, such as holding a resistance cable in front of you and resisting being pulled to the side. A similar exercise is a pallof press, which Noam Tamir, founder and CEO of TS Gym in New York City, recommended to Insider’s Gabby Landsverk.

“Antirotation exercises are great for the core,” Murphy said. “Rotation exercises are great for the core, as is spinal flexion.”