Many bodybuilders believe that squats and deadlifts are the only exercises you need in order to train your abdominal muscles adequately.
However, EMG studies have shown that muscle activity in the rectus abdominis muscle is minimal compared to many other exercises such as push ups.
Squats and deadlifts are however very effective at activating your erector spinae muscle of the back which is also a very important component of the core.
Therefore squats and deadlifts absolutely help your core stability but when it comes to training your abs you should definitely implement isolated exercises for these muscles.
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EBT (Evidence Based Training) M.Ds with a passion for fitness & nutrition making science simple. Build muscle, burn fat, perform better. Like, comment & follow us on IG & Facebook, and check out ebtofficial.com for our full blog with tons of free content. Also please share research with us as we love discussions! The information above is not medical advice.
Sources:
1. Comfort PJ. An electromyographical comparison of trunk muscle activity during isometric trunk and dynamic strengthening exercises. Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jan;25(1):149-54.
2. Hamlyn N. Trunk muscle activation during dynamic weight-training exercises and isometric instability activities. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Nov;21(4):1108-12.
