Most people enthusiastic about body conditioning work hard to build up their abdomen. Often they overlook the fact that the abdomen is not a single muscle. The abs is in actuality a collection of muscles. Thus, one must use a collection of abs exercises when developing the muscles in the abdominal area. There is an assortment of exercises one can select from to get the best work out for the abs.
The most popular exercise for the abs is the crunch. The crunch is done by lying face up on the floor. Then, with knees slightly bent, one would proceed to raise the upper-body towards the knees to crunch the abdomen. To raise the level of difficulty, one could place an exercise ball between ones legs and perform the crunch.
An effective deviation of the crunch exercise is to cross one leg across ones mid-section while the knees are bent laying one foot on the opposite knee. After a few repetitions, one would then switch legs and perform the crunches again. Switching between legs while crunching presents different resistant to the abdomen muscles providing a great work out.
Another variation to the crunch exercise is the reverse crunch. In this exercise, one would lie on ones back and engage the abs by lifting the lower body upwards towards the chest instead of lifting the upper torso off of the floor towards the knees. Utilize slow and controlled motion to optimize the workout. As with most exercises, the effectiveness comes from using proper form.
The hanging knee lift is an exercise that is also excellent for the abdominal muscles. The hanging knee lift is executed by holding a chin-up bar and elevating the bottom half of the body bringing the knees into the chest. To perform this exercise properly, one should refrain from moving the upper body and lift the lower body at the pelvis, not the hip. Bending at the hip is a good hip flexor exercise, but does little for the abdomen.
Another good abdominal exercise is the bicycle. The bicycle is done by lying face-up on the floor and lifting the legs at a 45 degree angle above the ground. With hands held tightly behind the head, one would motion the legs as if riding on a bike. To get the best results form this exercise, the upper body should twist so that ones elbows can alternately touch the opposite knees as the legs contract and extend keeping the abdomen tight throughout this exercise.
An alteration to the bike exercise is to change the speeds of ones legs from fast to slow and then fast again. The changing of the speeds causes different levels of resistance for the abs which helps them improve. One more alteration to the bike exercise is to extend one leg fully and hold it above the floor for a few seconds leaving the other leg in a crunched position. Alternately switch to the other leg and hold it fully extended above the floor for a few seconds while crunching the first leg.
To get the best effect, the same exercise should not be executed every day. One should do different exercises to avoid working-out the same group of muscles in the exact same way on consecutive days. By using different exercises, one can potentially obtain the best work out for the abdominal muscles.
The most popular exercise for the abs is the crunch. The crunch is done by lying face up on the floor. Then, with knees slightly bent, one would proceed to raise the upper-body towards the knees to crunch the abdomen. To raise the level of difficulty, one could place an exercise ball between ones legs and perform the crunch.
An effective deviation of the crunch exercise is to cross one leg across ones mid-section while the knees are bent laying one foot on the opposite knee. After a few repetitions, one would then switch legs and perform the crunches again. Switching between legs while crunching presents different resistant to the abdomen muscles providing a great work out.
Another variation to the crunch exercise is the reverse crunch. In this exercise, one would lie on ones back and engage the abs by lifting the lower body upwards towards the chest instead of lifting the upper torso off of the floor towards the knees. Utilize slow and controlled motion to optimize the workout. As with most exercises, the effectiveness comes from using proper form.
The hanging knee lift is an exercise that is also excellent for the abdominal muscles. The hanging knee lift is executed by holding a chin-up bar and elevating the bottom half of the body bringing the knees into the chest. To perform this exercise properly, one should refrain from moving the upper body and lift the lower body at the pelvis, not the hip. Bending at the hip is a good hip flexor exercise, but does little for the abdomen.
Another good abdominal exercise is the bicycle. The bicycle is done by lying face-up on the floor and lifting the legs at a 45 degree angle above the ground. With hands held tightly behind the head, one would motion the legs as if riding on a bike. To get the best results form this exercise, the upper body should twist so that ones elbows can alternately touch the opposite knees as the legs contract and extend keeping the abdomen tight throughout this exercise.
An alteration to the bike exercise is to change the speeds of ones legs from fast to slow and then fast again. The changing of the speeds causes different levels of resistance for the abs which helps them improve. One more alteration to the bike exercise is to extend one leg fully and hold it above the floor for a few seconds leaving the other leg in a crunched position. Alternately switch to the other leg and hold it fully extended above the floor for a few seconds while crunching the first leg.
To get the best effect, the same exercise should not be executed every day. One should do different exercises to avoid working-out the same group of muscles in the exact same way on consecutive days. By using different exercises, one can potentially obtain the best work out for the abdominal muscles.
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