What Are The Most Effective Ab Exercises?
Today, it seems like everyone wants a toned stomach. The quest to get a slim stomach and the fabled “six pack” seems to be motivating men and women of all ages to start working on their abs. Because it is so popular then the fitness industry has been quick to cash in on the trend by making all sorts of different machines to try and help you tone your abs, and there are books and DVDs too, it seems like a new product comes out every week. So the question is, what is the best way to tone up your abs? The truth is, plain old exercise yields the best results; and some of the most effective ab exercises can be done right in the comfort of your own home, without the need to purchase expensive products or gym memberships.
Of course everyone has heard of an ab “crunch”. While it seems like a really simple exercise, then in fact it does a great job of working your ab muscles. To get even better results from the traditional crunch, you can modify it in a number of ways. For example, try completing crunches while on top of an exercise ball, this keeps the ab muscles contracted for the whole workout, which can really increase the intensity. You can vary that too by adding in movements to the left and right as you do the crunch, that makes it target your oblique muscles which run alongside your abs, tightening your whole stomach area.
Or you could improve the simple crunch by adding in a medicine ball, which is smaller and heavier than an exercise ball. By holding the medicine ball in front of you as you do a normal crunch then your abs have to do more work, you can also add in right or left twist to that too. Or you could try and do your crunches on an incline bench instead for that extra kick. So you lie down with your head much lower than your feet and then have to struggle against gravity as you do your crunch. This means your muscles will stay tight throughout the exercise, like with the exercise ball, and that gives you even better results.
You have to start off slow when you are working your abs though, don’t just jump into the more intense versions, work your way up gradually to avoid injury. A great beginner program is to start off with about fifteen reps of crunches on the floor in the simplest form, about four times per week. After a few weeks of those then you can get an exercise ball to make it tougher, but lower your reps down to about twelve. Once you are comfortable at this level, you can then introduce the medicine ball and start to work your obliques, strive to complete no more than ten reps per side. Incline benches should only be used by people of an advanced fitness level, so leave that until you think you are ready. Most importantly, take your time and remember that results will not appear overnight.
If you really want to get your six pack showing through then read this Truth About Abs review to see a book which tells you everything you need to know.
