Many exercises briefly touch on the ab muscles, but only dedicated ab exercises will make the most efficient gains. Fortunately, ab exercises can be appended to any standard or traditional workout that focuses on the other muscle groups, and if you are already on a muscle-building diet, there is no reason to change it.
Best Exercises
A study commissioned by ACE Fitness attempted to list the best ab exercises according to their effects upon the rectus abdominus and oblique muscles. The top five rectus abdominus exercises are the bicycle maneuver, captain's chair, exercise ball, vertical leg crunch and torso track. The top five oblique exercises are the captain's chair, bicycle maneuver, reverse crunch, hover and vertical leg crunch.
Exercise Explanations
Bicycle maneuver: Lie on your back and pedal your legs in the air. Captain's chair: Usually done on a machine, remain in a seated posture and raise your knees to your stomach to contract your abs. Exercise ball: Put your lower back against a medicine ball and do a crunch. Vertical leg crunch: Place your feet straight in the air so that you are bent at a 90 degree angle and perform a crunch. Torso track: Involves gliding across a torso track machine but can sometimes cause lower back pain. Reverse crunch: Bring your knees close to your stomach, and contract your abs by curling your hips off the floor and reaching your legs to the ceiling. Hover, also known as the plank: Lie face down with your elbows and toes on the floor hip-length apart, then lift your body up and hold.
Deep Abdominal Exercises
According to bodybuilder Karen Sessions, there are two deep abdominal muscles: the transversus abdonimus and lumbar multifidus. One good method to stretch these muscles is the stomach vacuum. To do the stomach vacuum, suck in your stomach and hold it for 10 to 60 seconds. This can be done while standing, kneeling, seated, lying and even during other abdominal workouts. Another one, the toe tap, involves lying down with your legs in the air and alternately tapping the ground with your toe. The aforementioned plank or hover exercise is also a good way to target the deep muscles.
Workout Structure
You should wait at least 48 hours to exercise the exact same muscle group. However, it is also common to work out three days a week. Consider targeting the abdominal groups--abdominus rectus, obliques and deep muscles--each workout day, even if the exercises significantly overlap between the muscle groups. Most exercises should be done 10 to 20 times. The hover can be held between 10 and 60 seconds. Do this for one, two or three reps. Vary your routine based on your personal needs and skill level.
Diet
Diet does not vary based on muscle group, so you should eat a typical bodybuilder diet. Weight gains in muscles should be consolidated by increases in calorie consumption, and you can also possibly raise your protein intake up to 30 percent of total calories. Lean meats, eggs, essential fatty acids and complex carbohydrates are all good nutritional ideas. Liquid calories from milk and whey protein drinks can also bolster intake. You should eat five to six meals a day and space them out every three hours.
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