Truth About Abs
Posted By admin on December 11, 2009
The Best Abdominal Workout
Posted By admin on December 6, 2009
Rather than the regular abdominal workout routines like sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, among others, I prefer other superior options for increasing metabolism through supercharged, high intensity level workouts. In addition to working the entire body, these exercises also hammer the abdominals.
I’m going to demonstrate to you an example of one of my preferred abdominal workouts that does not include any specific to abdominal exercises. The exercise format being used here is known as a “tri-set”, which is a set of 3 different exercises performed one after the other in rapid succession. At the completion of the 3 exercises, you have completed 1 tri-set.
Here we go:
1. Renegade Dumbbell Rows
2. Front Squats with Barbell
3. On Floor Mountain Climbers
An effective repetition strategy to use would be 3 to 4 sets of eight to ten reps per exercise. Mountain climbers should be executed as a time interval (say 30 to 40 seconds) in lieu of repetitions.
Renegade dumbbell rows are done beginning in a pushup position with your hands on two dumbbells. You then row one dumbbell upward while steadying your body with the other arm. Bring the dumbbell back to the ground and alternating the rowing arm while bracing with the other arm. The bracing effect during this exercise produces unbelievable results for your complete abdominal area. Believe me… the burn in your abs is intense!
Front squats, similar to back squats, however with the barbell on the front of your shoulders rather than sitting on the upper back as in back squats. Balance the barbell upon your shoulders by crossing your arms and pushing your fists into the bar against your shoulders while holding your elbows in front of the body. This requires a bit of practice, so it’s an excellent idea to seek a professional trainer to assist you and insure you are using proper form. Front squats call for the utmost in stabilization strength coming from the abdominal muscles due to the barbell weight being more to the front of the body rather than the back. Although this is predominantly a leg exercise, you will feel this one in your abs in a big way!
Mountain climbers are performed by beginning in a push-up position and then shuffling your feet in and out so that your knees are moving in below your chest and then back out to beginning position. It’s kind of like climbing up a mountain but flat on the floor. If you want a more difficult version, you can also shuffle your hands 6 to 10 inches forward and backward while continuing the leg movements. This advanced version truly makes it a full body exercise and a great deal harder than standard mountain climbers.
After completing each exercise, rest approximately thirty seconds before beginning the next exercise. Relax about a minute or two after finishing each “tri-set” then restart the exercise set.
This will give you one of the most intense abdominal workouts you have ever experienced. Give it a try and see what I mean!
If you’re tired of failed attempts at getting six pack abs, consider changing from the traditional abdominal workout and bogus abdominal gadgets and machines, and find out the real fat loss secrets for ripped abdominals by visiting http://www.QuickRippedAbs.com
Exercise: All About Working the Transverse Abdominals
Posted By admin on December 6, 2009
A group of muscles that often gets neglected in stomach exercise routines are the transverse abdominals, the core muscles that lie below the rectus abdominus. Most abdominal exercises target the rectus abdominus and the vertical abdominals, ignoring the transverse abdominals. Even crunches, the staple of most abdominal workouts, do nothing for the transverse abdominals. These muscles are actually the most important to target, however, as they connect to both the lower back muscles and the rectus abdominus and for a girdle for the entire abdomen. Any routine aimed at flattening the stomach should include the transverse abdominals as a focus. Using the following exercises, you can work out your transverse abdominals and really make progress on that flat tummy. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.Pelvic TiltsThis stomach exercise requires lying on your back on a flat surface, such as the floor or a bench. Use a mat or towel to cushion your spine. Bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor. Raise your pelvis (and only your pelvis) off the floor, hold momentarily, and then lower it back down. Repeat for an entire set. Maintaining a controlled movement is crucial to this exercise. This will allow you to use your abdominal muscles, rather than your body’s momentum, to do the work on the exercise. Also, be sure to keep your upper body on the floor throughout.Crunchless CrunchThis first exercise is fairly simple but can also be fairly difficult. Essentially, it involves trying to pull the belly button in towards the spine. This can be tricky, as it involves using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To start, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise better. Relax your body as much as possible, then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If holding for ten seconds feels easy, hold for a longer period. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this, let the contraction out.Scissor KicksThis stomach exercise also requires lying on the floor. Position your hands under your butt, keeping your back pressed against the floor. Slowly raise one leg to a height of about ten inches, then slowly lower it back to the floor. As your lower one leg, raise the other. Repeat this motion for an entire set. Maintaining control throughout is important, not allowing momentum to get the better of you. Your upper body should remain on the floor through the entire move.There are plenty of other exercises targeting the transverse abdominals, but these three ought to be enough to get you started. Stomach exercises like these are key to any tummy-flattening plan, and they are especially good for pregnant and post-partum women.
Losing Abdominal Fat The Easy Way
Posted By admin on December 3, 2009
The single most important fact that you should know about losing abdominal fat is that there is no magical formula that can make your abdominal fat vanish in a jiffy. Losing abdominal fat permanently requires patience and commitment to some basic tips. But do notlose heart. It is a feat anyone can accomplish the easy way if one understands the reasons why abdominal fat develops and why it seems so frustratingly resistant to all those exercise or diet plans you have tried out but given up too soon to see results.
The first thing you must understand is that there is no physical exercise that can reduce fat from a specific part of the body. When you burn fat for energy, as during an aerobic activity, fat loss will occur systemically, i.e., from all over the body. But since fat distribution naturally varies from person to person, depending on inherited genetic factors, some people will tend to lose abdominal fat faster while others may lose fat at say hips or thighs faster. So do not compare your abdominal fat loss graph with others.
Another thing, doing countless sit-ups and leg-raises or slogging out day in and day out on the latest abs equipment without paying heed to your diet and an aerobic activity is not going to make your abdominal fat go away. What these exercises do is to shape up and tone your abdominal muscles, but do nothing to metabolize away the layers of fat covering them. That is why the shaped and toned muscles remain elusive to the eye.
There is one and only one way of losing abdominal fat the easy way, and that is with the combination of a balanced and nutritive diet, aerobic activity, and strengthening exercises for abdominal and other muscles. The best kind of workout to burn the layers of abdominal fat along with overall fat comprises a cardiovascular or aerobic exercise like brisk walking, jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming or stair climbing, combined with abdominal exercises like crunches and hip lifts, and also weight training for other muscle groups. Weight training increases your lean muscle mass and hence your metabolic rate, implying that you burn more fat even while resting.
Glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source during the first 10 minutes of an aerobic exercise. Substantial fat burning starts only after stored glycogen is depleted. Hence, the key to fat loss is working out at moderate intensity continuously for about 45 to 60 minutes. However, this comprises only 50% of the abdominal fat loss plan. The remaining 50% contribution comes from diet control. Abdominal exercises will help strengthen the muscles and give definition to the reducing midsection.
However, if your calorie intake is higher than your calorie expenditure, you are bound to put on abdominal fat as well as general body fat regardless of how diligently you work out and how many abdominal crunches you do a day- it is simple mathematics in action. Ideally, spread your calorie intake into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones. Include a variety of foods that are rich in fiber and low in fat and sugar, with about 55% of the calories coming from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 15% from fat. Avoid carbohydrates late in the evening.
Remember, when it comes to losing abdominal fat, you have to adopt a holistic, whole-body approach as there are absolutely no shortcuts. A surgical shortcut like liposuction also becomes meaningless if you are not going to control to your diet, because removing fat cells from the abdomen by liposuction will lead to excess fat storage elsewhere and perhaps under the chin or on knees or shoulders- where it may look even worse than at the abdomen.
Lastly, here is a fact that is not exactly what you would want to hear: even if you are on a holistic exercise-cum-diet fat loss plan, abdominal fat is most likely going to be the last fat to leave your body.
Smart Stomach Exercises
Posted By admin on December 1, 2009
Stomach exercises are great because the stomach is one troublesome spot that, when you begin to lose the weight , will appear much more toned and flatter as a result. If you want to tone your abs or get ripped, remember that stomach exercises are only part of the solution.
Exercises for the stomach like sit-ups can be done daily or at every workout session. Abdominal exercises are some of the most vital you can perform, not only because they target a portion of the body often missed by other traditional exercises, but because you can perform these exercises so frequently.
Strengthening exercises for the stomach, should always be followed by a full range of stretches designed to lengthen and tone the muscles. The best abdominal exercises are those that combine aerobic exercise with spot training, but it is a myth that abdominal exercises are all you need to have a flat stomach.
There are four abdominal muscles that form a multi-layered multi- directional girdle around the trunk or core of the body. When performing your stomach exercises concentrate on your obliques, the stomach muscles that run up the side of your stomach and around to your back. These are exercises usually involving a twisting crunch. In this way you’ll exercise your central abdominal or core area for ‘free’ as you go.
The stomach is always a problem area and unfortunately exercises for a particular area don’t result in weight loss from that specific area. For best results with stomach exercises, remember to eat a healthy diet and perform aerobic exercise 3 times a week as well as doing your in addition to abdominal exercises.
The abdominals are some of the most resilient muscles in the body, which makes abdominal exercises one of the few workouts that can be practiced daily without damaging the body. Because of the resilience of abs, a dedicated person can do stomach exercises daily, helping them see results far more quickly than is possible with many other areas of the body. Abdominal exercises, if practiced frequently, can provide rapid and easily seen results, which is greatly encouraging for you.
One of the best things about stomach exercises is that many, if not all of them, can be done at home. Equipment such as crunch machines, specialized crunch benches, and medicine balls can all enhance the abdominal exercises you do in your own home.
Don’t make the mistake of doing hundreds of repetitions of stomach exercises in the hope of getting a flat stomach. Only when your body fat has lowered sufficiently, can your abdominal muscles become tight and visible.
A recent study showed that the classic sit-up is not the best exercise for stronger, flatter stomachs. The best abdominal muscles in the world may be hidden by a stubborn layer of body fat. This is because we are all of different body types. Some of us store fat more readily in the hips, buttocks, and thighs, others store fat excess in the arms and upper back and still others store their fat in the stomach and waist area.
There is no way around it: if you want that trim, defined torso that is so desirable in todays world, you are going to have to do stomach exercises. This is where you need a routine consisting of exercise for lower abdominal muscles. Such a routine helps you define and sculpt the lower abdominals, giving you that chiselled look.
Simple Stomach Exercises
Posted By admin on December 1, 2009
Stomach exercises are great because the stomach is one troublesome spot that, when you begin to lose the weight, will appear much more toned and flatter within a very short time. If you want to tone your abs or get ripped, remember that stomach exercises are only part of the solution.
Exercises for the stomach like sit-ups can be done daily or at every workout session. Abdominal exercises are some of the easiest you can perform, not only because they target a portion of the body often missed by other traditional exercises, but because you can perform these exercises so often.
Strengthening exercises for the stomach, should always be followed by a full range of stretches designed to lengthen and tone the muscles. The best abdominal exercises are those that combine aerobic exercise with spot training, but it is a myth that abdominal exercises are all you need to have a flat stomach.
There are four abdominal muscles that form a multi-layered multi- directional girdle around the trunk or core of the body. When doing your stomach exercises concentrate on your obliques, the stomach muscles that run up the side of your stomach and around to your back. These are exercises usually involving a twisting crunch. In this way you’ll exercise your central abdominal or core area for ‘free’ as you go.
The stomach is always a problem area and unfortunately exercises for a particular area don’t result in weight loss from that specific area. For best results with stomach exercises, remember to eat a healthy diet and perform aerobic exercise 3 times a week as well as doing your in addition to abdominal exercises.
The abdominals are some of the most resilient muscles in the body, which makes abdominal exercises one of the few workouts that can be practiced daily without injury to the body. Because of the resilience of abs, a dedicated person can do stomach exercises daily, helping them see results far more quickly than is possible with many other areas of the body.
Abdominal exercises, if practiced frequently, can provide rapid and easily seen results, which is greatly encouraging when you exercise. One of the best things about stomach exercises is that many, if not all of them, can be done at home. Equipment such as crunch machines, specialized crunch benches, and medicine balls can all enhance the abdominal exercises you do in your own home.
Don’t make the mistake of doing hundreds of repetitions of stomach exercises in the hope of getting a flat stomach. Only when your body fat has lowered sufficiently, can your abdominal muscles become tight and visible. A recent study showed that the classic sit-up is not the best exercise for stronger, flatter stomachs. The best abdominal muscles in the world may be hidden by a stubborn layer of body fat. This is because we are all of different body types.
Some people store fat more readily in the hips, buttocks, and thighs, others store fat excess in the arms and upper back and still others store their fat in the stomach and waist area.
There is no way around it: if you want that trim, defined torso that is so desirable in todays world, you are going to have to do stomach exercises. This is where you need a routine consisting of exercise for lower abdominal muscles. Such a routine helps you define and sculpt the lower abdominals, giving you that chiselled look.
Stomach Exercises For The Soul
Posted By admin on November 30, 2009
Stomach exercises are great because the stomach is one troublesome spot that, when you begin to lose the weight , will appear much more toned and flatter within a very short time. If you want to tone your abs or get ripped, remember that stomach exercises are only part of the solution.
Exercises for the stomach like sit-ups can be done daily or at every workout session. Abdominal exercises are some of the easiest you can perform, not only because they target a portion of the body often missed by other traditional exercises, but because you can perform these exercises so often.
Strengthening exercises for the stomach, should always be followed by a full range of stretches designed to lengthen and tone the muscles. The best abdominal exercises are those that combine aerobic exercise with spot training, but it is a myth that abdominal exercises are all you need to have a flat stomach.
There are four abdominal muscles that form a multi-layered multi- directional girdle around the trunk or core of the body. When doing your stomach exercises concentrate on your obliques, the stomach muscles that run up the side of your stomach and around to your back. These are exercises usually involving a twisting crunch. In this way you’ll exercise your central abdominal or core area for ‘free’ as you go.
The stomach is always a problem area and unfortunately exercises for a particular area don’t result in weight loss from that specific area. For best results with stomach exercises, remember to eat a healthy diet and perform aerobic exercise 3 times a week as well as doing your in addition to abdominal exercises.
The abdominals are some of the most resilient muscles in the body, which makes abdominal exercises one of the few workouts that can be practiced daily without injury to the body. Because of the resilience of abs, a dedicated person can do stomach exercises daily, helping them see results far more quickly than is possible with many other areas of the body. Abdominal exercises, if practiced religiously, can provide rapid and easily seen results, which is greatly encouraging for you.
One of the best things about stomach exercises is that many, if not all of them, can be done at home. Equipment such as crunch machines, specialized crunch benches, and medicine balls can all enhance the abdominal exercises you do in your own home.
Don’t make the mistake of doing hundreds of repetitions of stomach exercises in the hope of getting a flat stomach. Only when your body fat has lowered sufficiently, can your abdominal muscles become tight and visible.
recent study showed that the classic sit-up is not the best exercise for stronger, flatter stomachs. The best abdominal muscles in the world may be hidden by a stubborn layer of body fat. This is because we are all of different body types. Some people store fat more readily in the hips, buttocks, and thighs, others store fat excess in the arms and upper back and still others store their fat in the stomach and waist area.
There is no way around it: if you want that trim, defined torso that is so sought after, you are going to have to do stomach exercises. This is where you need a routine consisting of exercise for lower abdominal muscles. Such a routine helps you define and sculpt the lower abdominals, giving you that chiselled look.
Stomach Exercises Make Sense
Posted By admin on November 30, 2009
Stomach exercises are a really good idea because the stomach is one troublesome spot that, when you begin to lose the weight , will appear much more toned and flatter as a result. If you want to tone your abs or get ripped, remember that stomach exercises are only part of the solution.
Exercises for the stomach like sit-ups can be done daily or at every workout session. Abdominal exercises are some of the most vital you can perform, not only because they target a portion of the body often missed by other traditional exercises, but because you can perform these exercises so frequently. Strengthening exercises for the stomach, should always be followed by a full range of stretches designed to lengthen and tone the muscles.
The best abdominal exercises are those that combine aerobic exercise with spot training, but it is a myth that abdominal exercises are all you need to have a flat stomach.
There are four abdominal muscles that form a multi-layered multi- directional girdle around the trunk or core of the body. When doing your stomach exercises concentrate on your obliques, the stomach muscles that run up the side of your stomach and around to your back. These are exercises usually involving a twisting crunch. In this way you’ll exercise your central abdominal or core area for ‘free’ at the same time.
The stomach is always a problem area and unfortunately exercises for a particular area don’t result in weight loss from that specific area. For best results with stomach exercises, remember to eat a healthy diet and perform aerobic exercise 3 times a week as well as doing your in addition to abdominal exercises.
The abdominals are some of the most resilient muscles in the body, which makes abdominal exercises one of the few workouts that can be practiced daily without injury to the body. Because of the resilience of abs, a dedicated person can do stomach exercises daily, helping them see results far more quickly than is possible with many other areas of the body.
Abdominal exercises, if practiced frequently, can provide rapid and easily seen results, which is greatly encouraging for you. One of the best things about stomach exercises is that many, if not all of them, can be done at home. Equipment such as crunch machines, specialized crunch benches, and medicine balls can all enhance the abdominal exercises you do in your own home.
Don’t make the mistake of doing hundreds of repetitions of stomach exercises in the hope of getting a flat stomach. Only when your body fat is low enough, can your abdominal muscles become tight and visible. A recent study showed that the classic sit-up is not the best exercise for stronger, flatter stomachs. The best abdominal muscles in the world may be hidden by a stubborn layer of body fat. This is because we are all of different body types.
Some of us store fat more readily in the hips, buttocks, and thighs, others store fat excess in the arms and upper back and still others store their fat in the stomach and waist area.
There is no way around it: if you want that trim, defined torso that is so desirable in todays world, you are going to have to do stomach exercises. This is where you need a routine consisting of exercise for lower abdominal muscles. Such a routine helps you define and sculpt the lower abdominals, giving you that chiselled look.
Abdominal Muscles – Where Are They? & How They Work?
Posted By admin on November 29, 2009
It seems everyone who exercises is looking for the best ab-exercise routine for developing flat, tight abdominal muscles. Every year there are dozens of a new exercises, fitness classes, products, gadgets or routines claiming to sculpt and strengthen the abdominal muscles like none other. And while some of these may offer a new approach to working the abs, many are ineffective and may increase your risk of injury.
To avoid falling victim to unproven and misleading abdominal exercise claims, it’s important to have an understanding about the function of your abs, including where they are and what they do and how they can be exercised with the least risk of injury.
First, let’s look at each of the abdominal muscles groups. The most well-known and prominent abdominal muscle is the rectus abdominis. It is the long, flat muscle that extends vertically between the pubis and the fifth, sixth, and seventh ribs.
A strong tendinous sheath called the “linea alba,” or white line, divides the rectus abdominis down the middle, and three more horizontal tendinous sheaths give the muscle its familiar “washboard” or “six pack” look in very fit athletes.
The rectus abdominis helps to flex the spinal column, narrowing the space between the pelvis and the ribs. It is also active during side bending motions and helps stabilize the trunk during movements involving the extremities and the head.
The next group of muscles that make up the abdominals are the external oblique muscles. This pair of muscle is located on each side of the rectus abdominis. The muscle fibers of the external obliques run diagonally downward and inward from the lower ribs to the pelvis, forming the letter V. You can locate them by putting your hands in your coat pocket.
The external obliques originate at the fifth to twelfth ribs and insert into the iliac crest, the inguinal ligament, and the linea alba of the rectus abdominis. The external oblique muscles allow flexation of the spine, rotation of the torso, sideways bending and compression of the abdomen.
The internal oblique muscles are a pair of deep muscles that are just below the external oblique muscles. The internal and external obliques are at right angles to each other. The internal obliques attach from the lower three ribs to the linea Alba and from the inguinal ligament to the iliac crest and then to the lower back (erector spinae). The lower muscle fibers of the internal obliques run nearly horizontally. Along with the external obliques, the internal obliques are involved in flexing the spinal column, sideways bending, trunk rotation and compressing the abdomen.
Because of their unique alignment, at right angles to each other, the internal and external obliques are referred to as opposite-side rotators. When the trunk rotates left, the external obliques (on the right) contract. When the trunk rotates to the right, the external oblique fibers (on the left) activate the movement.
The deepest layer of abdominal muscles is called the “transversus abdominis.” The transverse abdominal muscle wraps around the torso from front to back and from the ribs to the pelvis. The muscle fibers of the transversus abdominis run horizontally, similar to a corset or a weight belt. This muscle doesn’t help move the spine or the pelvis, but it does help with respiration and breathing. This muscle helps facilitate forceful expiration of air from the lungs, stabilizes the spine and helps compress the internal organs.
The hip flexors are a group of muscles that bring the legs and trunk together in a flexion movement. The hip flexors are not technically abdominal muscles, but they do facilitate movements during several ab exercises.
The muscles that make up the hip flexors include: psoas major, illiacus, rectus femoris, pectineus, sartorius.
Many of the exercises being promoted as “ab exercises” actually work the hip flexors more than the abs. The hip flexors are strong powerful muscles that often overtake the abdominal muscles when performing some variations of abdominal exercises. In order to isolate the abdominals you need to minimize the involvement of the hip flexors and maximize the contraction of the abdominals.
One example of an ab exercise that actually focuses on the hip flexors includes the full sit-up exercise, especially when the feet are held down. This movement primarily involves the hip flexors and may cause the lower back to arch. This could increase the risk of back pain, particularly if you have weak abdominal muscles. Therefore, the full sit up is not recommended for beginners. Another example of an ab exercise that works the hip flexors is any leg-raising exercise done in a supine (laying face up) position. Again, this movement works the hip flexors far more than the abs and shouldn’t be done until you have good abdominal strength.
Keep in mind that the best way to isolate the abs is by minimizing the involvement of the hip flexors while doing your ab workout. Now that you have a basic understanding of what the abdominal muscles are and how they work, you can design workouts that actually target these muscles.
The Top Three Ab Exercises
Posted By admin on November 29, 2009
If you’ve always wondered why your abdominal muscles refuse to shape up, no matter how many hours of crunches you punish your body with, California researchers have some very welcome news for you.
According to a recent study published by the American Council on Exercise, pushing yourself to accomplish a thousand crunches every second day isn’t the most effective way to tone, tighten and strengthen your gut. In fact, the classic crunch – or abdominal sit-up as it is better known – is amongst the most ineffective ways to work your abs… second only to those gimmicky abdominal exercise equipment advertised on late-night television shows. What’s more, rather than carving the flab away from your abdominal muscles, crunches are actually harmful to your back, and are the most common reason for back strains, sprains and other injuries.
Over the years, numerous fitness experts have rallied to and fro about the most effective ab exercises. After years of scientific research and experiments, scientists conclude that in order to bring about the best results, abdominal exercises must stimulate the two major muscle groups in your mid-section – the rectus abdominus which is the long flat muscle extending along the length of the front of your abdomen and the obliques or the long flat muscles along the sides of your abs. The more intense the stimulation – the better the results
On the basis of these criteria, the top three ab exercises are:
Exercise One: Hanging Leg Raises
To do this exercise:
- Hang from a pull-up bar, your legs extended straight down.- Raise your legs upwards, bringing your knees up and towards your chest. - Slowly lower your knees to the starting position and repeat.
When performing this exercise, try not to swing your legs and use the momentum to push your knees upwards. Instead, let your abdominal muscles do the work. Use a slow and controlled motion, concentrating on your ab muscles.
Start with bringing your knees up to your hip level, and then raise your knees higher as your abdominal muscles grow stronger. A tougher and more intense variant of this exercise is the straight-leg version, where you lift both your legs towards your chest, without bending your knees.
For those of you who find bent-knee leg raises too easy, and straight leg-raises too Herculean, try the tuck-straight variant, where you bend your knees on the lift up, and straighten your legs as you bring them back down to the starting position.
Hanging leg raises really push your rectus abdominal muscles and are a time-tested favorite with athletes and body-builders alike. This exercise targets your entire core section, building you a stronger, firmer and more toned midsection, and is one of the few exercises which actually give your lower abs a thorough workout.
Exercise Two: The Plank
To do this exercise:
- Lie face down on a mat.- Lift your torso up on your forearms with your palms flat on the floor.- Push off the mat, raising your body on your toes. Lift your knees off the mat. Your body should be balanced on your forearms and your toes.- Keep your back flat such that your head, shoulders, hips and heels are in a straight line.- Tuck in your abdominal muscles to keep your hips from jutting upwards.- Hold for 20 – 60 seconds and then slowly lower your body back to the starting position.
The Plank is an excellent strength and stability exercise which builds core strength, stability and taut abs. This exercise targets your rectus abdominus and your obliques, while also strengthening your back and glutes.
When performing this exercise, concentrate on bringing your belly-button towards your spine, by squeezing your abdominal muscles as tightly can you can. While most adrenaline-addicted bodybuilding enthusiasts scoff at any exercise that doesn’t call for at least a several hundred repetitions, the plank is undoubtedly a lot more challenging than it seems at first blush. This exercise makes you push against the dual forces of gravity and your bodyweight to keep your back from arching and sagging, by tightening all your abdominal muscles.
Exercise Three: The Side Plank:
A slightly more advanced variant of the basic plank, the side plank is very effective in building core strength and stability. When performed correctly with perfect form, this exercise can tremendously strengthen and tone your abdominal and lower back muscles.
To do this exercise:
- Lie on your left side with your feet stacked, one on top of the other. Your left forearm should be placed flat on the floor, extended at a right angle from your body. Rest your left arm on your left side.- Lift your body upwards on your forearm, with your weight balanced on your left forearm and the side of your left foot.- Be sure that you aren’t arching your shoulders and / or holding your breath. Remember to keep your right shoulder, your hip and your foot in a straight line.- Hold this position for as long as you can, and then slowly lower your body back to the starting position.- Switch sides and repeat
For a more advanced version of this exercise, lift your arm and extend it straight towards the ceiling, such that it forms a straight line with your supporting elbow.
If you’re having trouble with balancing your bodyweight, start with lifting your body on your left forearm and the side of your left knee, maintaining a straight line with your head, right shoulder and right knee.
Although surprisingly uncomplicated, this exercise will make you break a sweat with the core stability and strength it calls for. If your oblique muscles aren’t strong enough, this exercise can be very challenging. Start simple, increasing the duration and complexity of this exercise as you gain more strength and balance.
Exercising your way towards a perfect set of six-pack abs is a relatively simple and uncomplicated process… given that you learn to distinguish the fact from fiction. Rather wasting your time, and hard-earned money, on fad products, expensive gym memberships and bogus miracle weight-loss pills, focus on reliable, scientifically proven ab-toning techniques… your fitness levels (and abdominal muscles) will know the difference!