Tone Up Stomach Exercises

Suck in that stomach permanently with exercises designed to tone your abs. No exercise will make up for excessive eating, but as far as ab exercises go to tone your stomach, you can take your pick. What is truly necessary for toning the abs is creating what is called a belly scoop in Pilates, or what you may have heard referred to as an abdominal vacuum. This action tightens the deep abdominal muscle that acts to compress the abdomen--or you can walk around holding in your gut all day.

Kneeling Cable Rotations

Kneeling cable rotations work your abs as you put your body in a relatively unstable position. You may also do standing cable rotations, but kneeling is more challenging for your abs. Kneel on the floor or knee pad with your body sideways to a cable machine on the low pulley. Elongate your spine and squeeze your abs so that your back is flat. This pulling in of the abs to maintain posture is the most important part of the exercise. Twist your shoulders to face the pulley, and grab the handles in both hands with your arms straight. This is the starting position. Rotate all the way across your body to the other side. Twist back to the starting position. Repeat on the other side.

Side Walks on a Stability Ball

The side walks exercise engages the muscles of your abs, glutes and back to keep control of your body while you are lying on a ball that will try to roll away each time you change position. This exercise, therefore, targets the deep ab muscles responsible for stabilizing your spine. To get into position, sit on a ball and then walk your feet forward until your knees are at right angles, directly above your ankles. Position your head on the ball and hold your arms to your sides, parallel to the floor. Raise your hips as high as your knees. This is the starting position. From there, walk your feet to the right as far as you can with control and let your body twist in the direction of your feet. Then, walk to the left. The constant contraction of the abs is effective for toning.

Ball Roll-up

The ball roll-up exercise uses a stability ball as extra weight for your abs to lift rather than serve as a balance trainer as it did with the previous exercise. The ball roll-up is done lying on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor. The ball begins on the floor over your head and is held on the sides with your arms straight. The lower back should be pressed into the floor by the abs. If you were to look at yourself sideways in a mirror, your belly would scoop inward instead of round outward. Lift your head and shoulders off the floor and bring the ball over your head and toward your knees. The arms are always straight. Lower back to the floor slowly and return the ball to the starting position. Always keep the abs squeezed.