Abdominal Exercises
Weight Training Advice
for them and they will help stabilize the body on many exercises for other muscles. The major reason why many weight trainers don't have great abs is that they have a layer of body fat covering them up.
Dieting and cardiovascular training are a must to get rid of the extra fat that's hiding your abdominals. However, while losing body fat will help you get definition in your midsection, you still need to do ab exercises for that six pack look.
When most of us were kids, we were told that sit-ups are the best exercise for the abs. However, they tend to work your hip flexors more than anything and can be bad for your lower back. Nowadays, most people know that crunches are a superior exercise for actually targeting the abdominals. When you do crunches you'll want to just lift your upper body a short off the floor or bench and concentrate on contracting the ab muscles. Keep your arms folded over your chest or put your hands at the sides of your head - never put them behind your head when you do an abdominal exercise. This could cause a neck injury.
To get a nice stretch while doing crunches you could try doing them on a core ball. Performing abdominal crunch exercises on a core ball will allow you to lower your upper body a bit more without a bench or the floor limiting you. You can also do crunches with a medicine ball in your hands for added resistance.
Another popular ab exercise is the leg raise. You can do them while hanging from a bar, though you're probably better off using arm harnesses so your grip doesn't give out before your abs. Many weight trainers will only raise their legs up until they're are parellel to the floor. However, you'll get more out of this abdominal exercise if you raise your legs higher and round the lower back a bit.
Decline twisting sit-ups are a great ab exercise for hitting the obliques as well as the abs. Lie on a declined bench and use your abs to pull your upper body upwards while twisting to each side on alternating reps.
You can also do abdominal exercises while using an ab roller. The ab roller will give you different way to target your abdominals. Get down on your knees and, with your hands on the ab roller, roll it forward until your body and arms are straight out in front of you. Then return to the starting position, making sure to focus the resistance on your abs.
If you want to try an incredible program that includes advice on dieting, weight training, and ab exercises you should check out The Truth About Six Pack Abs.
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The abdominals are one of the coveted muscle groups for many weight trainers to develop. It's not not so difficult to build and develop your abdominal muscles, since you can do direct ab exercises
