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When it comes to getting a solid
six pack, doing the
right ab exercises is crucial. You can spend hours doing needless
sit-ups that aren't really going to have all that much benefit, much to
your disappointment. Taking the time to choose smart ab exercises will
save you not only gym time, but a great deal of frustration as well. In
this article we will discuss the best lower ab exercises and the best
home ab exercises as well.
The best movements for the
abdominal muscles are going
to be ones that reduce your overall stability. The reason for this is
because this will require all your muscle tissues, even the ones deep
within the core, to contract in order to maintain balance. When you
perform regular sit-ups, for example, they are really only going to
target the more superficial muscles; one that will still help, but not
get you near the results you could be seeing.
So what ab exercises are ones
that reduce your balance?
Basically, anything done on an
unstable surface is going
to get the job done. This would include movements such as walking
across a balance beam, performing one leg squats, one arm shoulder
presses, or bent over dumbbell rows standing on one leg and of course,
utilizing an exercise ball for any laying abdominal movement you
perform. Working on a BOSU ball and stability ball ab exercises are
also excellent options. As long as you have a set of free weights and
stability ball then these would qualify as your best home ab exercises
as well.
By far the most effective lower
ab exercises are hanging
leg raises while you use your lower abs to rotate your pelvis which is
the secret to performing this effectively. Lying leg raises, lying leg
raises on a 45 degree incline and cable crunches are also rock hard ab
exercises.
Another area you might want to
venture into with your ab exercises
are those that
utilize heavy weights.
While this will not necessarily
get you 'cut' so that
all your individual muscles are showing - that takes having low levels
of body fat, what weighted movements will do is help further build the
muscle tissue and make your abs "pop".
The more muscle mass you have,
the faster your metabolic
rate will then be, so in an indirect way, that could in fact help you
burn off excess body fat.
Furthermore, doing weighted
movements will also increase
your strength greatly, reducing the risk of injuries from any other
type of exercise you may attempt. Weighted ball crunches with a
stability ball on your chest is my favorite home ab exercises.
When choosing when to perform
your ab exercises, if you
are looking for performance, do them on a separate day from all your
other work. Just like any muscle group, you want to be fresh when you
do them.
If, on the other hand, you are
more just doing them to
help build some strength, but more to round out your exercise program,
then you should be doing them at the end of your workout session. This
will prevent them from fatiguing early, because they are going to be
predominately used in all the other lifts you perform (heavy squats for
example).
In many cases this rule can be
bent though. For example,
if a client comes to me and their abs are the weakest muscle group then
performing them at the end of the workout makes no sense because they
will be pre fatigued from the workout and you will not be able to train
them as intensely so prioritizing your abs at the start of the workout
can become the exception in this case.
So, next time you are creating
your workout and are
picking out ab exercises, keep these points in mind. Having good
dedication to performing these exercises on a regular basis and then
following a clean diet based around raw vegetables and proteins are the
two main components to developing that six-pack you're hoping for.
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