subject: The Best Work Out With Respect To The Ab Muscles [print this page] Most people that are 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 crunch is by far the most popular and well-know abdominal exercise. This exercise is performed by lying on ones back and gently lifting the upper torso off the floor towards the lower half of ones body. This exercise can also be modified by utilizing an exercise ball. One would place the ball between ones legs
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.
Another exercise which is excellent for abs is the hanging knee lift. This exercise is done by hanging from a pull-up bar and bending at the pelvis to lift your knees towards your upper torso. People sometimes execute this exercise incorrectly because they allow there upper body to sway and bend at the hip. By swaying and bending at the hip, one works out the hip flexor, not the abdomen. The way to execute this exercise correctly is to keep ones upper body as still as possible and lift at the pelvis moving the legs and knees as one unit.
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 bicycle is to change the pace during the exercise. Moving from a fast pace to a slow pace alternates the resistance presented to the abs which improves this exercise greatly. One more alteration would be to stop during this exercise while ones feet was still in the air and then extend each leg one at a time 3 or 4 inches above the floor. Each leg should be allowed to hover above the floor for a few seconds before switching.
These different exercises and alterations should be done on alternating days. This is to avoid working the same muscle group in the same way every day. In addition, there is less risk of injury when one executes these abdominal exercises with slow, controlled movement rather than quick motion. The idea is to work smarter instead of harder. By utilizing a group of exercises, one can get the best work out for the abs.
