These are some of the best and most effective ab and core workouts for strengthening and firming your abdominal muscles. If you are looking for a new way to work your abs try these ab workouts.
Remember that getting great abs takes more than just ab exercise; you need proper nutrition and a well-balanced exercise routine to go with these ab-focused exercises.
Abdominal Exercise Guidelines
Perform several (3-5) abdominal exercises 3-5 times a week. Start with exercises and repetitions that are comfortable for your fitness level and as you improve increase the number of repetitions. You do not need to do all the exercises; simply select those that work well for you and vary your routine over the months.
- Bicycle Crunch Exercise
- Captain’s Chair Exercise
- Ab Crunch on an Exercise Ball
- Vertical Leg Crunch
- Long Arm Crunch
- Reverse Crunch
- Plank (Hover) Exercise
- Traditional (Basic) Abdominal Crunch
- Half Curl
- Crossover Crunch
- Seated Oblique Twists with Medicine Ball
- Oblique Crunch
- Alternating Supermans
- V-Sit Exercise
Side Bends
- Holding a dumbbell in you right hand, stand with feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent.
- Place your left hand behind your head and slowly bend sideways to your right lowering the dumbbell down to your knee.
- Return to an upright position and repeat for the desired number of reps.
Medicine Ball Sit Ups
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Hold a medicine ball (choose a 5 pound ball to begin) to your chest and have a partner stand at your feet (not on them).
- Push your lower back into the floor flattening the arch and hold.
- As you curl up throw the ball to your partner. Hold the crunch as your partner catches the ball and throws it back to you.
- Catch the ball and slowly return to the start position.
- Tip: Don’t sit right the way up as you wait for the return pass. Your shoulders should be no more than 6 inches off the floor.
Weighted Curls with Medicine Ball
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Hold a medicine ball (or weight plate) to your chest (start with 5 pounds).
- Push your lower back into the floor flattening the arch and hold.
- Curl up just enough to lift both your shoulders off the floor a few inches.
- Hold for a count of 2 and return to the start position.
Cable Crunch
- This exercise requires a triceps pushdown machine with a rope attachment.
- Knee down in font of the machine holding the rope just above your head.
- Slowly crunch down to your right knee and hold for 2 seconds as you breathe out.
- Return to the start position slowly and repeat to the left knee.