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The Top 10 Best Abs Exercises

Abs are probably the sexiest muscles for a lot of people looking to improve their fitness and strength. Home to the ‘six-pack’, the abdominals are the area that everyone wants to work on! Before taking a look at our Top 10 best abs exercises bear in mind that you won’t get the perfect six-pack by just following these guidelines - you still need to work to reduce your body fat with a healthy diet and to make sure that your whole body is lean and streamlined.

1. Full V-Ups
Lie flat on the floor keeping your legs about shoulder width apart. Put your hands over your head and raise your upper body and lower body until you are sitting up in a ‘v’ shape. Grab on behind the knees for a quick second to steady yourself and return to the floor, all the while keeping the ribcage closed and the navel pulled toward the spine. Your legs can be bent if need be, or you can straighten them.

2. Exercise Ball Crunches
Lie on the ball with your feet on the floor and your head raised - the ball should be sitting in the middle of your back. Put your hands behind your head and lift your body off the ball making sure to contract your abs as you raise yourself up.

3. Reverse Ball Crunches
Lie on your back with your exercise ball under the knees. When comfortable contract your abs and raise your hips up from the floor.

4. Straight Leg Lifts
Lie flat on your back with your hands under your buttocks - your knees should be slightly bent. Lift your head and shoulders, bring your legs up until your heels are about to leave the floor - your back should stay on the floor.

5. Hanging Leg Lifts
You’ll need a High Chair for this exercise so it may be best done at the gym. Take hold of the handles and rest your back against the rest. Your legs should be hanging comfortably and you should feel balanced. Lift your knees until they are at around a 90 degree angle to your body and then lower them.

6. Barbell Roll
Place a barbell on the floor and kneel down on your hands and knees. Place the barbell in front of you with hands about shoulder width apart. Roll forwards making sure not to arch the back….pull the navel upward and roll back to the starting position.

7. Alternating Straight Leg Bicycles
Lie flat on your back with your hands to your forehead and your elbows pointing forward. Keeping the legs straight raise a knee towards your chest and touch it with the opposite elbow while keeping your ribcage down and the navel pulled toward the floor. Repeat with the other leg/elbow.

8. Rubber Band Crunches
Lie flat on the floor with your arms stretched out above your head. Grab the end of a rubber band, bend the elbows and lift your head and shoulders off the floor.

9. Decline Bench Crunches
Lie on a bench with your head lower than your hips. Raise your upper body as high as possible. When returning, do not lie all the way down, keep the ribs closed and the navel pulled toward the spine.

10. Decline Twist Curl
Lie on your back on a decline bench with your feet/knees securely positioned. Cross your arms over your chest and rotate your torso as you lift the upper body. Repeat on the other side.

Remember to be careful trying out new exercises - if you are unsure about the right abs exercises for you then an a personal trainer in nyc will be able to give you the best advice. :)

Part Two
“Why doesn’t my waistline shrink when I do crunches?”

Crunches do not shrink your waistline. Losing bodyfat does shrink your waistline. So the answer is simple: Lose body fat. The first step in losing body fat is to look at your diet. A diet full of calories from sugary foods, junk food, starchy carbs and too much alcohol is the quickest road to ‘big ol’ fat belly’. If you want to have a waistline and abs that are worth looking at, you’ve got put the effort in to produce them. If you are eating all of the wrong foods while increasing muscle growth you are actually “bulking up”.

Getting Started On A New Ab Program - Tips & Hints

When you read through the following tips and hints you will find that there are quite a few of them that you aren’t following or didn’t know about. Use the following like a checklist so you can remember each point when starting your new abdominal progam.

1. Resistance Training Program Tips

* Train your lower abdominals first.
* Breath out as you crunch forward.
* Place hands lightly to the front of the forehead, make sure you keep your elbows forward and pointed toward the knees.
* Don’t pull your head.
* Keep your navel pulled toward the floor and keep your ribcage closed.
* Don’t overtrain your abs. Three quality training sessions per week is more than enough.
* Focus on your ab exercises on cardio days or on non-weight training days.
* Don’t go overboard with repetitions to start. 20 reps with perfect techniques is better than 100 that flop all over the place.
* Keep your abdominal movements controlled and precise.
* Don’ t just train your abs. Train each body part so that you can a achieve a “toned and firm look” all over.

2. Healthy Eating Program Tips

* Reduce your fat content in your meals
* Do not cook with oil, use a low fat cooking spray instead
* Remove all fried foods
* Remove margarine and butter
* Increase lean protein (to help feed your muscles and support repair and growth)
* Eat fresh salads and veggies
* Remove gravy
* Cut all the fat off your meat and grill it
* Always have breakfast!
* Use egg whites rather than eggs with yolks
* Have one day off your eating program per week
* Add 2 protein shakes to your day between meals

More in part three

Part One

Could anything be harder than the proverbial: “Reducing your waistline and toning your abdominal region”? People spend thousands of dollars chasing the “SIX PACK”. Regular requests asking for advice and quick fixes to remedy the age-old “body fat around the waistline” and creating a “firm toned midsection” has lead to much discussion with clients about the elusive 6-pack.

The Hard AB Truth!

It doesn’t matter how many crunches you do, or what new machine you use, or what new exercise fad you’re following - If you don’t reduce your body fat you will never see strong toned abdominals.

Spot Reduction - A Big Lie!

You cannot spot reduce. You cannot just exercise one body part and expect to see a whole new look. Achieving a six pack and muscle tone in the abdominal area is a lot more involved. I can show you how to create that slim and toned waistline by following a few simple trainer tips and hints.

My In-Box Screams 6-Pack Abs Please!

Emails of desperation flood my inbox….with requests like “I just can’t lose this last two inches off my belly, isn’t there one exercise to fix this?” Or “I have my high school reunion coming up and I MUST fit into this dress, can I take Dexatrim and do crunches….will that make me lose 5 lbs around my middle within the next 6 weeks?”

Let’s get REAL - Don’t Rely On Gimmicks!

If gimmicks worked, I’d be out of a job, and I wouldn’t be getting these emails now would I? If it sounds too good to be true, then it IS too good to be true. Nothing but consistent, regular exercise and training will give you 6-pack abdominals. Stop hiding form the truth, there’s no way out of hard work. Look at a toned midsection as a reward you can show off!

Firming Your Abs vs Reducing Waistline Body Fat

Now you know the only way to trim your waistline is to reduce your body fat - you’re probably wondering….NOW what? First you need to realise that a slim waist doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a toned midsection that screams ‘washboard!’ Firming up your abdominal area also requires crunches or some kind of resistance program. Many men and women do have smaller waists or flat stomachs, but still lack the desired tone and firmness. Time to get busy with some resistance training. More on this in part 2.

One of the most common fitness questions this time of year is “How can I get my stomach in shape for swimsuit season?” Most people believe that the quick route to 6-pack abs is hundreds of sit-ups or abdominal crunches. And, yeah…you’ll need to get started on that, hundred(s) are a MINIMUM number :)

The reality is that even if you do crunches every day you aren’t guaranteed to get the stomach of your dreams. Getting defined abs requires much more work than just abdominal crunches. Plus, as far as stomach exercises go, sit-ups are passe and crunches alone won’t be your salvation.

The basics to seeing your abdominals is removing wha covers them up: body fat. So the key to sexy abs is losing body fat. And, the key to reducing body fat is a comprehensive fitness program consisting of cardiovascular and strength training, combined with a good healthy diet. Sorry, that’s the truth! Good examples of cardio exercises are: walking, swimming, aerobics, and jogging. Strength training can be done with dumbbells, resistance bands or your own body weight.

Traditional crunches can be a part of your abdominal training, but shouldn’t be the only part. To most effectively work your stomach, think about adding rotational work. Rotation exercises are those that include twisting-type motions. Regular crunches do not fall into the rotational category because you simply lift your body straight up and down.

To most effectively train your abs, incorporating a lot of variety is key. Do this by including different positions and equipment. This will allow your muscles to be challenged continually, which is what makes them stronger and more defined. There are hundreds of different ways to work your abs, including exercises on your side, on a ball, hanging from a straight bar, etc.

Remember the importance of form. Correct form when performing abdominal exercises, increases the effectiveness and prevents injury. Tips for correct form include:

- Don’t pull your head

- Keep your belly button pulled down toward the navel

Here are two basic exercises: if you start working out today, you can show-off sexy toned abs in time for summer!

Basic Crunch: Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your hands lightly on your forehead. Using your abdominal muscles pull your navel down, lift your shoulders a few inches off the ground, pause briefly and return to start position.

Oblique Twist With Ball: Begin by sitting on the ball. Walk feet forward until ball is resting under your back, with your back parallel to the floor. Place hands lightly on the forehead. Using your abdominal muscles slowly pull your navel down lifting your shoulder blades off of the ball and rotate left shoulder toward right hip. Return to center position and repeat then switch sides.

Maintain your form and perform each exercise for the duration that your form remains controlled. The second you lose control of your form, rest, and then give it another shot - you’ll be summer ready in no time!