For years both men and women have been searching for that perfect abdominal training routine that would give them a sexy mid-section. It is a process that can broken down into two simple steps, both of which are detailed here.
Step 1 is to do effective abdominal exercises. You can work your abs 3 times per week for 30 minutes straight, but if you aren't doing effective abdominal exercises, you will not see very much progress from all of that effort.
When it comes to abdominal exercises – as with all exercises – it is a matter of quality, not quantity. The same basic crunch that one person uses effectively to strengthen their abs will do very little for a different person who does the same exercise, but only goes for quantity, not quality.
Quality abdominal exercises are movements that are done with proper form, that are held for 1 or 2
FULL seconds at the moment of peak contraction, and that involve very little rest. In addition, a good abdominal exercise routine will involve working your abs from several different angles, rather than just the basic "crunch" movement.
The details of how to do quality abdominal exercises will be shown more in the section below that shows the abdominal exercise pictures.
Step 2 of the process to get a sexy abdominal area is to have a low level of bodyfat. Even if you have a good abdominal exercise routine, if your level of bodyfat is not low enough, you'll never see those rock-solid abs. Your abs will be stronger, and you'll have a stronger and more functional core, but without cutting down your bodyfat to a low enough level, you won't actually be able to see all of that hard work.
I won't take up a bunch of space in this post talking about how to lower your bodyfat, but if you want to get more information on some effective methods for doing so, check out the following posts:
Effective Abdominal Exercises
The following abdominal exercises are all very effective at strengthening and toning up the abdominal area, and you can use all 6 of these to make up an effective abdominal exercise routine that can be done 2 or 3 times each week.
There are some general guidelines that apply to each exercise:
- Hold each exercise at the point of peak contraction for 1 to 2 seconds.
- Do each exercise immediately following the previous exercise – do notrest in between exercises.
- Unless your abs are already in really good shape, you should not be able to do more than 15 to 25 repetitions of each exercise. If you can, then you aren't holding your peak contractions long enough to properly fatigue your abdominal muscles, or you are resting in between exercises.
Weighted Crunch
The Weighted Crunch can be done as shown here with an exercise plate behind your head, but I find it much more comfortable to do it holding a dumbbell overhead. When using a dumbbell, be sure to hold the dumbbell at arm's length, keep a firm grip on it, and keep it above your head at all times. The entire point behind holding the dumbbell is to make your upper-body heavier so that your abs have to work harder in order to lift your upper body off of the floor.
Point of Peak Contraction: Shoulders and upper back are completely off of the ground and your upper body is being held off of the ground solely by the contraction of your abdominal muscles.
The Ball Exchange
This exercise is great because it involves both lifting your upper body off of the ground, as well as your lower body. It is a radically effective movement, and you will get the most out of it by making sure that your upper body comes up off of the ground as far as possible during each repetition. Also, make sure that you are raising as well as lowering your upper and lower body at the same time. Part of the effectiveness of this exercise is the neuromuscular coordination that it develops.
Point of Peak Contraction: When you are switching the ball from your legs to your arms or from your arms to your legs. Again, be sure to hold that position for 1 to 2 full seconds.
Ankle Wiggles
This exercise looks easy, and in fact, at first, it can be. However, the
point of peak contraction for this exercise is the "shoulders up" position that you see in this graphic, and you maintain that shoulders up position the entire time that you are doing this exercise.
Also, be sure to keep your heels as far away from your body as possible, while still allowing the ends of your fingertips to just barely reach the back of your heels on each repetition. The point of this exercise is to keep that peak contraction the entire time, but to also work your oblique muscles, which are the muscles that run down both sides of your abdominal wall.
Double Crunch
As with the Ball Exchange, the Double Crunch requires that you lift both your upper body as well as your lower body off of the ground. However, rather than exchanging an exercise ball, in this movement you are are simply bringing your upper body and your lower body as close together as possible. DO NOT pull on your head in order to accomplish that! In fact, it is best to not even interlock your fingers behind your head, as that will tempt you to pull your head up, which puts you in danger for injury, and it also eliminates some of the effectiveness of this exercise.
Point of Peak Contraction: When your knees are close to your chest, and your upper body is completely up off of the ground.
Reverse Crunch
The Reverse Crunch can be done with your hands behind your head, or with your hands down at your sides. In either case, however, be sure to focus on your abdominal muscles as you pull your legs up, and then curl yourself into a ball as much as possible. The more you try to curl yourself into a ball, the harder the exercise will be. When you first get started with this movement, it is sometimes helpful to hold onto a bench or pad that you are laying on. However, as soon as you master the movement, try to break away from the need to hold onto anything as you do the exercise.
Point of Peak Contraction: When your legs and hips are completely off of the ground, and you are rolled up into as tight of a ball as you are strong enough to get into.
Hip Raises
This exercise is very difficult, even if it doesn't look like it. The temptation will be to do a pseudo-reverse curl and bring your legs back toward your head. However, doing so will eliminate much of the effectiveness of this exercise. Your legs should go up in a straight line, remaining as close as possible to a 90-degree angle with the floor. Also, try to keep your head down on the floor and focus 100% on using your abdominal muscles to push your hips up off of the floor.
Point of Peak Contraction: When your hips are no longer in contact with the floor and they have been elevated as far as you are physically able to elevate them.
If you do these 6 exercises properly for between 15 and 25 repetitions each, holding each exercise at the point of peak contraction for 1 or 2 FULL seconds, I guarantee your abs will get an incredibleworkout!
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