Ways To Work Out To Get Abs

Maximum ab definition results from a combination of spinal flexion movements, upper torso rotation and side bending exercises. Balance exercises engage your deep core stabilizers, and forceful exhalation during abdominal flexion causes the core muscles to compress the diaphragm and provide deeper abdominal contractions.

Floor Exercises

Despite the countless ab exercise gadgets flooding the home exercise market, an American Council on Exercise study found minimal efficiency differences between equipment and non-equipment abdominal exercises. In fact, oblique exercises such as the bicycle maneuver recruited more abdominal muscle fibers than all but one of the 12 exercises in the study. Perform the exercise in a supine position, with your hands behind your head and your legs lifted from the floor. Bend one knee bends and extend the other knee, moving your upper torso toward your bent knee.
Other floor exercises include the supine reverse curl. Extend your legs toward the ceiling, and imagine that you are balancing a pizza pie on both feet. Engage your core and lift your lower pelvis from the floor, without dropping the "pizza." Include regular crunches, performed on your back, and half rollbacks, performed in a bent knee seated position, in your floor exercise ab program. Most exercises will not require more than 20 repetitions, performed three or four times weekly.

Captain's Chair

The American Council on Exercise ab study results indicate that if your gym has a captain's chair, you should use it. This exercise had the highest abdominal muscle recruitment. It is performed in an upright position, making its movements easily transferable to daily, functional activities. Grip the hands and stabilize your spine against the back pad. Inhale to prepare. Exhale, engage your core and lift your knees toward your chest. Extend your legs with control. Perform 10 repetitions, then engage your obliques by angling your knees toward your right and left shoulder. Perform this routine three times weekly.

Stability Ball Workouts

Stability ball ab workouts add a new dimension to abdominal training. ShapeFit.com notes that the balls increase the exercise's range of motion, and impose a balance challenge which requires you to use your deeper core muscles to stabilize your body. Use the ball for traditional crunches and oblique curls. Since these exercises may be more intense, limit each exercise to 12 repetitions three times weekly.

Weighted Ab Workouts

Resist the temptation to add endless repetitions when your abdominal routine becomes too easy. Instead, increase intensity by adding weighted resistance. Use light weights or weighted medicine balls for crunches and oblique curls. Weights increase intensity, so perform no more than 12 repetitions. Do three weekly workouts, but allow 48 hours of rest between sessions.