Abdominal exercises are commonly performed by many fitness enthusiasts. To take your abdominal routine to the ultimate level, consider performing a variety of exercises to balance out the development of the muscles. Other tips include changing your repetition speed throughout the workout, change the order of the exercises in your routine, use a variety of equipment to challenge the abdominals, vary your training angle and train your abdominals two to four days per week. And, there are some unique exercises to add the much needed variety to any abdominal routine, taking it to the ultimate level.
Flying Side Crunch
The flying side crunch effectively strengthens the abdominals, obliques and glutes while simultaneously training your balance. To perform this exercise, begin by standing on your left leg with your knee slightly bent. Extend your right leg out to the side and keep the toes touching the floor. Tighten your abdominals and extend your arms out from the shoulders. Hinge forward at the hip, keeping your back flat. Exhale as you lift your left leg out to the side. Inhale as you lower the leg back to starting position.
Freestyle Rainbow
The freestyle rainbow works the shoulders, abs, obliques, gutes and quads, giving you ultimate overall body tone. To perform the freestyle rainbow, begin by standing with your feet approximately hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Tighten your abdominals and hold a dumbbell, with both hands, in front of your hips. Inhale as you squat down, keeping your knees behind your toes and supported over your ankles while bringing the dumbbell to your left hip. Exhale as you stand up while simultaneously performing a "rainbow" movement with the dumbbell over your head toward the other hip. You will be squatting back down as the dumbbell nears the other hip.
Abdominal Hold
The abdominal hold challenges the entire body while effectively strengthening your abs, quadriceps, arms, shoulders and back. To perform this exercise, begin by sitting on the edge of a chair. Your hands should be next to your hips, on the outer edge of the chair, with your fingertips facing forward. Exhale as you lift your feet two to three inches off the floor while simultaneously lifting your glutes off the chair. Try to hold yourself in this position for five to 10 seconds, breathing through the hold. Inhale as you lower yourself toward the chair, returning to starting position.
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