Belly Band Exercises

According to Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, Florida, you can use resistance bands to train your abdominal muscles to move in different directions and stabilize your spine and joints while you move. Unlike free weights and resistance machines, the band's resistance level changes when you increase or decrease the length of the band. Therefore, you must control the movement in band exercises.

Kneeling Chop and Lift

According to physical therapist Gray Cook, founder of Functional Movement Systems in Danville, Virginia, the kneeling chop and lift combination trains the cross-pattern movement in your torso. It also teaches you to stabilize your spine and hips while you move across your body from a high position to a low position and vice versa.

Set up a chop and lift station by placing a wall hook 1 foot above your head and another hook at ground level. To do the chop, loop the middle of the resistance band around the high hook, and hold both ends of the band. Kneel on both knees with your right shoulder facing the wall. Move away from the wall until you feel some tension in the band. Hold the band diagonally to your right above your head. Pull the band toward your heart, and push down to your left hip. Hold the end position for one second, and return to starting position.

For the lift, loop the band around the bottom hook, and kneel in the same position as the chop. The movement is a mirror image of the chop. Pull the band from your right hip to your heart, and push up diagonally above your head.

Ball Crunches

This exercise trains your outer abdominals while balancing on a stability ball and using the band as extra resistance. Place a wall hook about 3 to 4 feet high on a wall. Loop the band around the hook, and place a stability ball about 4 to 5 feet away from the hook. Lie on your back on the ball and hold both ends of the band above your head. There should be some tension in the band.

Exhale and lift your shoulder blades off the ball. Do not pull the band with your arms or bend your elbows. Hold the end position for one second, and lower your body to the ball. Do not stick your neck out throughout the exercise.

Horizontal Rotation

This exercise requires you to use your entire torso and hips to generate force to pull against the band horizontally. Use the same hook and band from the previous exercise. Hold both ends of the band, and stand with your left shoulder facing the wall and your legs hip-width apart. Exhale and turn your entire body to your right, using your abdominals and hips to pull the band. Pivot your left hip and foot at the same time. Slowly rotate back to the starting position and repeat the movement.