subject: The Five Best Exercises For The Abs That Actually Burn Fat [print this page] It is funny, everybody is always looking for the best ab exercises. I wonder why that is? Probably because exercises for the abs do not actually work, at least not for the purposes that most people use them for. But, let me explain.
You see most people are doing things like sit ups and crunches to reduce the fat around their midsection. However, those exercises are virtually useless for burning fat. They are fine for building muscle but you will not see the results because the layer of fat is still there.
To start to see your abs you must be under 10% body fat for a man and 16% body fat for a woman. Now, when you consider that a single pound of fat is 3,500 calories and the average person only burns 2,000 calories in a day, you can see how useless sit ups are for our purposes.
To really make some headway you need to burn a lot of calories and using a kettle bell is going to do just that. This is a piece of workout equipment with a long history in Russia. It looks like a cannon ball with a handle and can burn up to 20 calories a minute!
Here are what I have found to be the best ab exercises using a KB.
1.The first exercise is called the renegade row. Simply get in the push up position with your hands gripping the KB handles. Then lift one KB up to your side and return to lift the other one up and repeat.
2.The next exercise is called the figure 8 with a lift. Bend over and pass the KB between your legs in a figure 8 pattern standing up and lifting the KB to your chest each time you switch hands.
3.Now you are going to do something called a halo. Hold the KB in a bottoms up position at your chest and rotate it around your head in one direction a number of times and in the other direction a number of times.
4.Because of its design the kettlebell is ideal for swinging between your legs with either one hand or two. When you do this keep your eyes forward, your back straight, and thrust out with your hips. Your arms do nothing except hold onto the KB.
5.The woodchopper simply mimics the motion of chopping wood and is great for your obliques. Hold a KB in your hands above your head to one side (as if it were an axe) and come down diagonally across your body. Do this for each side.
