Best Ab Exercises
To Know the Best Ab Exercises You Should Learn Some Basic
Abdominal Anatomy
If you really want to perform the correct ab exercises properly and get the best
results you should know the 6 major muscles of your abdominal region.
To know what they do is also important. You must feel the muscles
working to know you are correctly performing the exercise.
The
Muscle Commonly referred to the as Abdominals is actually One of Many Muscles
The rectus abdominis is the outermost muscle. Its primary function is
to flex your body at the hip. It is not the only abdominal muscle.
The Transverse Abdominis is Deeper than the Rectus Abdominis
It is commonly referred to as the "core" as it helps put pressure on your
spine to keep it in alignment and makes your mid section strong.
You Also Have 2 Sets of Oblique Muscles.
Each side has external and internal oblique muscles. Their primary
function is to rotate your torso.
If you rotate to your left, your left external oblique and your right
internal oblique are doing the work. If you turn to the right, your right
external oblique and left internal oblique are doing the work.
The obliques also work with the transverse abdominis to help keep your core
tight by increasing the pressure around your spine. This is called intra
abdominal pressure. Intra abdominal pressure is very important to keeping
your spine healthy as well as keeping your waist tight and trim.
The best ab exercises will be the exercises which work the most abdominal
muscles. You can approach finding the best abs exercise different ways:
- Use an exercise which isolates the specific muscle you want to target.
- Use exercises which recruit the most amount of muscles in the abdominal
region.
Best Ab Exercises: Which Exercise Works the Most
Abdominal Muscles ?
If you are looking to take the approach of "getting the most bang for your
buck" and spending less time doing abs exercises you may not want to do classic
ab exercises at all! When you think of the classic ab exercises you think
of crunches and sit-ups.
Crunches and sit-ups focus on flexion of your trunk at your hip. They
do little for stabilizing your mid section. To simplify the subject, core
exercises are different from the classic abdominal exercises because they focus
on stabilization.
The best core exercises recruit most
of the muscles in the abdominal region and stabilize your mid section. To
get the best results for your body, it is best to perform a combination of core
stabilization and classic abdominal exercises.
If you are looking to only work the rectus abdominis most abs exercises will
do a decent job. The best exercises are those which work the muscle
throughout different planes of motion.
To do the Best Ab Exercises Properly You have to Feel it Burn
You have to know how to control and isolate the abdominal muscles. What
this means is proper form. Quality should always be more important than
quantity.
In the worst case the best abs exercise performed improperly could do more
harm than good. If you improperly perform ab exercises you may also
negatively effect how your mid section looks by possibly causing a protruding
abdomen.
Best Ab Exercises: How do You Work Your Lower Abs ?
Many consider the lower abs to be a fitness myth. This is because there
is not a separate muscle called the
lower abs. The lower part of the rectus abdominis is usually a
problem area for people not because the muscle is not trained, but because of
other factors.
Believe it or not, it probably has more to do with your diet. It is not
coincidence that a large portion of your digestive system rests where your your
lower abs are.
Even if you are on one of the best diets, poor
posture, and muscle imbalances can cause your lower abdominal region to appear
to be out of shape. If you think an ab exercise is for your lower
abdominals it could be really working the hip flexors. To avoid
overworking the hip flexors only perform the exercises properly and do the
best lower ab workout.
Here are Some of the Best Ab Exercises which are Performed on the
Floor
Some of the best ab exercises do not
require an exercise ball or
abs machine. Abs exercise on the
floor is advantageous because they take up less space and require no set up
time. Remember these exercises do little or nothing to burn fat off your
stomach area. If you want to see your abs you should read
all about body fat and learn how to
burn fat with or without the best ab exercises.
V-Ups
V-ups have a few other names. Pike crunch is the most common name
for these. The most important thing to remember is to stop if you
experience unusual back pain.
Start: Lay flat on the floor with your arms fully extended above your
head. Your legs should be fully extended but slightly bent.
Begin the motion:
At the same time, bring your legs and arms together above your waist. Your
shoulders should come off the floor and the only body part in contact with the
floor is your butt. You can either swing yourself up to the top position,
or go up slowly which is more difficult. You must make sure to hold at the
top for a split second and slowly lower yourself back to the original position.
Modifications: V-ups are one of most versatile of the best ab
exercises. You can perform one leg and arm at a time. You can add
resistance such as medicine ball between your feet, or hands.
Toe Raises
Start: Lay flat on your back with your feet up in the air.
Your feet should be as straight up in the air as you can preferably around your
hips.
Your arms should be at your side with your hands around your hips.
Begin the motion: Push your heels straight up to the ceiling and
lower them slowly. Try not to use your arms too much. Do not let your legs go back over your
head.
Modifications: One of the best modifications for toe raises is
the twisting toe raise. To perform this action simply twist your feet to
either direction as you raise and lower yourself.
You can also add resistance to your ankles via ankle weights. Yet
another modification is to use a bungee cord or tube. You can hold it in
your hands, and wrap it around your feet. Hold your hands tightly to the
floor, when you push your feet up towards the ceiling the resistance will kick
in.
Bicycle Maneuver
Some say this is the best ab exercise because certain scientific studies
determined that out of all the best ab exercises on the floor the bicycle
maneuver recruited the most abdominal muscle fibers.
Start: Lay flat on the floor with
your hands behind your head. Put one leg up to a 90 degree angle and the
other leg fully extended.
Begin the motion: Lift your shoulders off of the floor and twist
your torso so that the elbow opposite to the raised knee come towards each
other. Keep your torso off the floor the entire time and alternate legs.
When one knee and elbow come together the opposite leg should be fully extended
and off of the floor.
Modifications: You can do the bicycle on an unstable surface
such as a BOSU ball to increase the difficulty. The bicycle maneuver is
one of the best ab exercises to use at the end of your abs routine to "burn
out."
Toe Touches
Toe touches are a simple yet effective ab exercise. The hip flexors are
the muscles which raises your knee. They can also compensate for abdominal
muscles. If you want to isolate the abdominals take the hip flexors out of
the equation. The starting position for toe touches, your hip flexors are
already flexed so your abs can do all the work. That is why toe touches
are one of the best ab exercises.
Start: Lay flat on the floor. Put your feet in the air and hold them
up towards the ceiling as close to
above your hips as possible.
Begin the motion: Reach your hands up and try to touch your toes.
Make sure your shoulders come off the ground as far as possible to get a full
abdominal crunch.
Modifications: If toe touches are not difficult enough, you can
hold a weight in your hands. You can also reach towards one side or the
other.
Floor Crunches
Start: Lay flat on the floor. Have your hands behind your head for more
resistance, or at your chest for less resistance.
You can have your feet up in the air which takes your hip flexors out of the
motion so your abdominals can contract fully.
The best tip for crunches is to contract your glutes (butt) while you do
them. The hip flexors oppose the glutes therefore if your glutes are
contracted, the hip flexors cannot contract.
Begin the motion: Reach your elbows up
towards the ceiling. You should concentrate on squeezing your rib cage
towards your hips which is the abdominal contraction.
Modifications: You can perform crossing crunches to involve your
obliques. You can hold a weight plate, dumbbell or resistance band behind
your head to make the floor crunch more difficult.
Sit-Ups
Start: Lie flat on your back. Pin your feet under something while you lie flat on the floor.
You can also have a partner hold your feet down.
Begin the motion: Sit up
lifting your elbows up towards the ceiling. Stop when your elbows reach
their highest point. Do not bring your elbows to touch your knees.
Lower yourself under complete control.
Modifications: You can have your arms folded at your chest for
the least resistance, behind for intermediate resistance, or hold a weight for
advanced resistance.
Some of the Best Ab Exercises involve Exercise Balls
Stability Ball Exercises
Once you get on stability balls, you will most likely not want to go back to
the ground. Some of the best abs exercise and core exercise is performed
on the stability ball sometimes known as the physio or Swiss Ball.
BOSU Ball Exercises
Both Sides Up! The BOSU ball is a versatile tool which can be used for
some of the best ab exercises as well as the core and the rest of the body.
Medicine Ball Workouts
Medicine balls are heavy and can be used by anybody for stability, strength
and power exercises. If you like abdominal exercises with resistance
medicine balls may be just what you needed.
Six Pack Abs
Are you looking to totally shred your mid
section? Learn how to reduce the fat around your mid section and shape the
muscles with simple workout tips and information.
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