You do not need a lot of equipment or a membership to a fitness facility to effectively train your abdominals. Train all the muscles of the abdomen---the internal and external obliques that run along the sides of the body, the transverse abdominus deep inside your core and the outer sheath known as the rectus abdominus--with key at-home exercises. Remember that targeted stomach exercises only strengthen the muscles, if you have a layer of fat on top of those muscles---you need to focus on a whole foods diet and cardiovascular exercise to make the muscles appear.
The Bicycle
The bicycle maneuver, which targets all of the abdominal muscles, is performed while laying on your back on an exercise mat. Cradle your head in your hands with your elbows open wide. Lift your legs to a 45-degree angle and slowly extend and bend your legs to mimic the action of pedaling a bicycle. As the right knee comes in, lift your head and shoulders and rotate the left shoulder towards it, and then do the same with the left knee and right shoulder. This exercise was deemed the most effective out of 13 common abdominal exercises that were tested at the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University in 2001.
Stability Ball Crunch
Stability balls are an inexpensive piece of equipment that fit into even the most spare of home gyms. The stability ball crunch works the abdominals harder than the traditional crunch because it adds an element of instability and thus more of your core muscles activate to stay balanced. A study by researchers from the Department of Kinesiology at Los Angeles' Occidental College found that a stability ball crunch performed with the ball placed at the lower back increases abdominal muscle activation by as much as 50 percent. Sit on a ball and place your feet flat on the floor. Walk your feet forward until your low spine presses into the ball and your torso is parallel to the floor. With your chin slightly tucked and arms crossed over your chest, contract your abdominal muscles and raise your torso about 45 degrees.
The Plank
The plank ranks as a good at-home stomach exercise because it requires no equipment or coordination. It can be modified for all fitness levels and progress is easy to measure. To perform the exercise, start on the hands and toes, as if you were to execute a push up. Lower to your forearms, so that your body forms a straight line. Contract your abs as if you were about the sneeze or cough and simply hold without sagging through the buttocks or low back. Work from a 10-second hold all the way up to one to two minutes. For a greater challenge, alternate lifting your legs off the floor during your hold. This exercise activates all of your abdominal muscles, especially the deep transverse abdominus muscle that acts as a corset around your internal organs and enhances your posture.
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