The abdominal muscles generate a lot of power needed to do things like leap, throw, dive, twist and get up from the ground. The abdominals consist of the upper abs, lower abs and the obliques, which are found on the sides of the ribcage. You can work them by doing various body weight exercises, but you can also use an ab-specific machine.
Step 1
Perform seated crunches. A seated crunch machine is used from an upright position. Set your weight you will lift by placing the pin into the proper slot. Sit on the seat and hook your legs under the padded supports. Grab the hand grips above and behind your head. Contract your abs and bring your knees up towards your body. Make sure to keep your back tight against the pad the whole time.
Step 2
Do crunches while lying on your back. A lying ab crunch machine does the same work as a seated crunch, except you are in a horizontal position. Lie on the bench and place your feet up on the supports. Grab the handles behind your head and perform crunches. As with the seated ab machine, make sure you do not lift your back and head up when you do crunches.
Step 3
Use a slant board to work your obliques. A slant board is at a 45-degree angle. It has a padded support where you place your hips and it has a bottom support where you place your feet. This machine is generally used for back extensions, but it can also be used to work your obliques. To use it, place the side of your hips against the upper pad and brace your feet in the bottom support. Put your hands on the sides of your head and lower your body down slowly. Lift yourself back up and repeat.
Step 4
Twist from side to side. A torso rotation machine works your obliques and upper abs. To use it, sit on the machine with your chest up tight to the pad and your feet braced in the foot supports. Grab the handles and rotate your body from the left to the right. Do a set, then adjust the resistance to go the other way and rotate from the right to the left.
Step 5
Use a captain's chair to work your lower abs. A captain's chair is a machine that has padded arm supports, handles and supports to place your feet on. Stand on the foot supports with your arms across the pads and hands on the handles. Lift your legs off and let them hang straight down. Lift your knees up towards your chest, then let them back down. To make this more challenging, keep your legs completely straight the whole time. You can also alternate lifting your legs from side to side to target the obliques.
Tips and Warnings
- With the seated crunch machine, you can adjust the height of the chair to vary the position of emphasis on your abs.
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