Abdominal Exercises

One of the key things to remember with abdominal exercises is that some of them are good and some of them can be bad for you, especially if all you want to do is learn how to lose belly fat. What you need to learn are the ones that give you most bang for your buck so you are not wasting your quality workout time.

So which abs exercises should you be concentrating on?

• The Bicycle Crunch Exercise
• Captains Chair Exercise
• Crunch on an Exercise Ball
• Vertical Leg Crunch

 

The Bicycle Crunch
The Bicycle exercise is the best move to target the rectus abdominis (i.e., the 'six pack') and the obliques (the waist). Here is the correct way to do it:

1. Lie on your training mat facing up and place your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring your knees in towards your chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck.
3. You need to straighten your left leg while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, and then bring your left elbow towards your right knee.
4. Then swap sides, bringing your right elbow towards your left knee.
5. And now keep switching sides in a 'pedalling' style motion for 12-15 reps.

The Captains Chair Leg Raise
The captain's chair leg raise is another very effective abdominal exercise as well as for the obliques. With this equipment, which is a rack with padded arms that enables you to support your body weight while your legs are hanging down, you can do a load of great exercises. The safest and most effective method for this exercise is to avoid swinging your legs or using momentum to bring your legs up. And by keeping your knees bent it will help you focus more on the abdominals and less on the hip flexors. Here is the correct procedure:

1. Get yourself into the start position and grip the handholds to stabilize your upper body.
2. Press your back against the chair padding and contract your abdominals to raise your legs and raise your knees towards your chest.
3. You must make sure NOT to arch your back or swing your legs up for momentum.
4. Then slowly lower your back down and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

 

Crunch on Exercise Ball
The exercise ball is a fantastic tool to help strengthen your abs and is one of the top abdominal exercises by seasoned trainers. Here's the correct way to do it:

1. Lie on the ball facing up, with the ball resting under your mid/lower back area.
2. Cross your arms over your chest or another option is to put them behind your head.
3. Contract your abs to raise your torso off the ball, while pulling the lower part of your ribcage down toward your hips.
4. As you curl back up, you need to keep the ball stable and not roll it.
5. Lower back down, while trying to get a good stretch in your abs, and repeat for 12-15 reps.

 

The Vertical Leg Crunch
This is a very effective exercise for the abdominals and the obliques. The correct way to do it is as follows:

1. Lie on the training mat facing up and extend your legs straight up with your knees crossed.
2. Contract your abs to enable you to lift your shoulder blades off the floor, with the feeling that you are trying to push your chest towards the ceiling.
3. Try and keep your legs in a fixed position and imagine taking your belly button towards your spine at the top of the movement.
4. Lower and repeat for a further 12-15 reps.

The above is a great taster when it comes to abdominal exercises. For a more detailed breakdown on how to get the most from your workouts you should check the book from Michael Geary, called Truth About Abs.

Not only does this book explain in great detail about how to get great looking abs but it also gives you sound advice on how to lose that all important stomach fat so you can see your abs in the first place.