Love handles, baby pooches and beer bellies all seem to defy common weight loss and stomach-toning strategies. When you need to target your abs or midsection for more attention, skip the situps. Online videos from a variety of health and fitness sites let you tone up your stomach muscles with diverse and effective exercise routines.
Stomach Muscles
The stomach muscles that run along the side of your abdomen are the obliques. The external obliques help you turn your trunk by flexing in the opposite direction you twist your body. Your internal obliques flex in the same direction that you turn when you twist your torso. The stomach muscles directly under your rib cage are the rectus abdominis. When properly toned, they form the coveted six-pack. The deepest and largest muscle group -- the transverse abdominis -- supports your internal organs and your spine. Ideally, you should target each muscle group when you exercise your abdomen.
Expert Videos
To avoid injury, use abdominal workout techniques developed by professional fitness experts. The American Council on Exercise is a nonprofit association that certifies fitness trainers and provides professional education for fitness center personnel. The website offers videos for your abdominals that let you exercise every muscle group. Fitness Magazine's online videos offer a choice of short abs workouts or routines that target specific muscles. The site lets you build a personalized video routine for your abs, based on time or your trouble spots. Mayo Clinic provides video instruction for the traditional abs crunch so you can learn the proper technique, just in case you need to incorporate these tried-and-true moves into your workout routines. The site also has videos that demonstrate ab crunches and ab raises with a fitness ball.
University Videos
Instead of searching for routines on user-submitted video sites, try content produced by educators. San Diego State's video pairs abdominal work with cardio exercises. American University's exercise videos include twists and exercise ball routines.
Non-Traditional Abs Exercise Videos
Pilates routines also provide abdominal workouts as part of a complete exercise package. With little effort, you can learn the steps and poses that will help you reach your abdominal toning goals. Shape's Winsor Pilates routines will tone your transverse addominis. The Pentagon's Fit for Duty Pilates video contains exercises that target your abs as part of a general body toning routine.
