Supreme ab workouts are higher-intensity workouts than basic beginner abdominal exercises. These exercises add extra power, strength and stability for more intensity to accelerate your core training and get the results you want. The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends training abs at least once or twice per week on nonconsecutive days for optimal results. Do three sets of 10 to 20 of each exercise. If 20 repetitions becomes easy, add weight to continue seeing results.
Intensity
To increase the general intensity of your abdominal workouts, add some interval training that targets the abs in between sets of crunches. For example, do a set of 20 crunches, then roll over on your hands and feet and do 30 seconds of mountain climbers. Also try tuck jumps, which are a plyometric exercise that targets the legs, but the motion of bringing your knees to your chest engages your abs. These activities speed up your heart rate, accelerating fat loss so your ab muscles shine through.
Power
Power exercises involve short, high-intensity bursts of energy. They utilize much more strength in a much smaller amount of time, stimulating muscular growth while still keeping your heart rate high. Try kneeling medicine ball throws. Kneel about 10 to 20 feet from a wall, lean back slightly, and power-throw a 10- to 15-lb. medicine ball against it. Allow it to roll back to you and repeat. Also face sideways and twist and throw the ball against the wall to target the obliques.
Strength
Bodybuilding.com suggests adding weight to your normal abdominal exercises to increase intensity and build strength. Do floor crunches or decline crunches, but hold a dumbbell, weight plate or medicine ball. Try abdominal twists, sometimes called Russian twists, by sitting, leaning back slightly and rotating a medicine ball from side to side to target the obliques. Another way to increase strength is to hold a weight and go very slow on the lowering phase of the crunch. These are called negative or eccentric crunches.
Stability
To increase strength in your stabilizer muscles, all the muscles of the core and deep abdominals, do exercises on an unstable surface. Try crunches on a BOSU or stability ball to engage all the muscles of the core and lower back. Increase the intensity by doing knee-ins on the ball. Get in push-up position with your shins on the stability ball, then bend your knees and bring the ball toward your chest, pause and then slowly release.
Partner
To change up your workouts and keep yourself accountable, involve a partner. Take a medicine ball and take turns doing crunches and throwing the ball to each other on the up phase of the crunch. Or sit back-to-back and rotate and pass the ball in a circle to each other. For the lower abs, lie on the ground and hold your partner's ankles. Have him throw your feet down while you resist, and then lift them back up.
References
- BodyBuilding.com: Ab Training That Really Works
- American Council on Exercise: Ab Exercises
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; National Strength and Conditioning Association; Baechel, Thomas R. and Earle, Roger W; 2008
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