The abs are an important muscle group that helps facilitate numerous movement patterns. Every time you stand up, sit down, turn around or bend laterally, your abs are being engaged. To effectively do ab exercise workouts, you should take all of these movements into consideration. This will ensure that you are targeting the lower abs, upper abs and obliques, which are found on the sides of your ribs.
Step 1
Hang from a pull-up bar to do reverse crunches. Grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip and let your body hang straight down. Pull your knees up to your chest by contracting your abs. Squeeze for a second and lower your legs back down.
Step 2
Lift your hips up in the air to do plank lifts. Place your forearms and toes on the ground and contract your abs to get your back straight. Lower your hips towards the ground and push them back up until your body forms an angle. Lower yourself back down and repeat. Execute this up and down movement by engaging your abdominal muscles.
Step 3
Hold onto a dumbbell to do side bends. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in your right hand with your palm facing in. Place your left hand on the side of your head or your left hip and lower the dumbbell down toward the floor by bending laterally. Lift your body back up and bend slightly to the left. Repeat the movement and switch sides.
Step 4
Imitate a pedaling motion to do bicycle maneuvers. Lie on your back with your knees bent and shins parallel to the floor. Place your hands on the sides of your head and lift yourself up into a crunch position. Bring your right elbow toward your left knee and fully extend your right leg. Reverse the motion and bring your left elbow to your right knee while extending your left leg. Keep going back and forth in a smooth motion.
Step 5
Execute a set of abdominal pull-ins with a stability ball. Place your lower shins on top of the ball and your hands on the ground directly under your shoulders. Your body should be in a perfectly straight line at this point. Roll the ball on the ground by contracting your abs and stop when your knees are by your chest. Extend your legs all the way back out and repeat.
Step 6
Utilize the ball again to do weighted crunches. Lie on the ball in a face up position with your shoulders and head slightly up in the air. Your knees should be bent 90 degrees and your feet should be flat on the floor at this point. Hold a medicine ball directly above you with both hands and your arms fully extended. Curl your body up and push the ball towards the ceiling. Squeeze forcefully for a second and slowly lower yourself back to the starting point.
Tips and Warnings
- Start out doing 10 to 12 reps of your ab exercises and work your way up to a point that you can do 20 to 25 reps. Perform three to four sets and work them no more than three times a week on nonconsecutive days. To increase the intensity when you are doing plank lifts in Step 2, place your hands on the ground instead of your forearms. When you do side bends in Step 3, make sure to keep your shoulders in line with your hips the whole time.
Things You'll Need
- Pull-up bar
- Medicine ball
- Stability ball
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