The Best Routine for Abs

The best routine for your abs is one that hits all the muscles that make up your midsection. The rectus abdominis is the most visible ab muscle. But the internal and external obliques and the transverse abdominis are also important core muscles. The rectus abdominis flexes the spine, the obliques are responsible for torso rotation, and the transverse abdominis is involved in torso stabilization. A complete ab routine includes all of these movements.

The Timed Workout

Performing an exercise for a specific amount of time rather than a specific amount of repetitions can help push you past preconceived limitations. If you set your target repetitions at 15, then once you get to 15, you will feel you achieved your goal. But if you decide to continue a set for 20 seconds and complete as many reps with good form as possible, you are likely to surpass your target repetition without even knowing it. Set a timer for 20 seconds. Perform air bikes, double crunches and 100s to hit the core at all angles. Do each exercise for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds. Continue for four minutes.

Strength and Endurance Routine

The abdominal muscles are like other muscles in the body in that they must be progressively overloaded to induce change. Body-weight crunches will only work for so long before you will need to challenge your abs with more difficult exercises. In this routine, you will mix weighted ab work with body-weight exercises to exhaust all of the muscle fibers. You will need a dumbbell. Perform dumbbell push crunches to fatigue. Then immediately do a set of 20 twist crunches with no weight. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat the sequence for four sets. Use a heavy enough dumbbell that you fatigue on the push crunches between eight to 12 repetitions.

Workout Instability

A study conducted at San Diego State University found that the crunch performed on a stability ball was overall the most effective ab exercise. This conclusion was reached by testing the muscle activity in the abdominal muscles while participants performed various ab exercises. EMG, or electromyography, equipment was used to test the amount of muscle activity. The stability ball crunch was third on the list. However, it still was considered the best ab exercise overall because less activity was found in the quadriceps muscle of the leg with the ball crunch than the other top ab exercises. For this ab routine, instability will work in your favor. Perform a regular crunch on an exercise ball for 10 reps, then a twist crunch on a ball for 10 reps. Finish with a plank with your feet on the ball for 30 seconds. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat the sequence three times.

References

• Bodybuilding.com: Anatomy of the Abdominals
• American Council on Exercise: New Study Puts the Crunch on Ineffective Ab Exercises