Keeping your abdominal muscles fit can improve all aspects of your health, not just those muscles directly affected. A strong core helps with posture, and supports your back and neck more effectively, reducing the risk of injury. Using the most effective workouts for abs can keep you healthy and toned.
The most common type of abdominal exercise that most people know how to do is the crunch. Crunches are effective at toning the upper abdomen, but often don’t reach the entire core the way other exercises can. They can also cause injury if done incorrectly.
An exercise referred to as the bicycle is considered the best ab exercise by the American Council of Exercise. This is a variation of the standard crunch where the entire body is engaged–the legs are raised from the ground and moved in a cycling motion as the upper body performs a crunch. This exercise incorporates a twisting version of the typical straight up and down crunch that is done by clasping the hands behind the head, then pointing each elbow, one at a time, across the body while the head and shoulders are lifted.
Another crunch variation that is more effective than the ordinary variety is a crossed-leg crunch. This is performed by raising your legs straight into the air and crossing the ankles, then performing your crunches as usual. You can perform this move with either a straight crunch or a twisted movement like in the bicycle.
A captain’s chair is a piece of equipment that lets you support your whole weight on your forearms. While in this position, raising and lowering the legs can provide quite effective abdominal exercise. The legs can be raised and lowered straight up and down, or twisted side to side to engage the obliques. This exercise is effective because the weight of your body is used as resistance.
Whenever you are exercising, make sure that you don’t let momentum build up. If momentum performs the exercise, you won’t be working the muscles as much, and you can be injured if you lose control of the movement. Maintain muscle control of your movements during the entire exercise, and if that isn’t possible, reduce the difficulty of the exercise until it is.
Performing effective abdominal exercises will help keep your whole body in good shape. A strong core can prevent injury while doing other exercises, which also prevents having to take time off from your exercise schedule. Workouts for abs will not spot-reduce fat, but they will provide tone and flatness to your stomach if you are at a healthy weight.
Get the low down on effective types of workouts for abs now in our complete overview of the best beginners exercises for abs .