Abdominal Exercise

The Top 5 Most Effective Abdominal Exercises

If you had to pick one part of your body that you would change, what would it be? For many of us the answer is our stomachs. We all want to have ripped abs to complement our Greek god-like physique, but oftentimes the workouts we do are ineffective and merely slow the growth of our belly fat at best. Sound familiar.
The truth is that many people are strongly motivated to lose weight, bulk up, and have a physically fit body, but the reason why they don’t is because the exercises that they are doing are not good enough. Luckily, there are abdominal exercises which are proven to be extremely effective in developing core muscle strength, and most of them do not require any sort of equipment at all.



1) Hanging Leg-Raises: A strenuous exercise, the hanging leg raise is a product of true gymnasts. All you need is a chin-up bar or equivalent setup. Grab the bar with an overhand grip about shoulder width apart, and while bending your knees raise your hips and curl your back as you bring your thighs to your chest. Lower slowly, and repeat.



2) Fat-Bar Holds: Again with a chin-up bar or equivalent, hold onto the bar with an overhand grip and hang with your arms and body completely straight. Hang for as long as possible until you can’t hold on any longer, then rest for a minute and repeat. Remember you want to improve your strength, so aim to hang for a longer amount of time during each rep.



3) Overhead Reverse Lunge: All you need for this exercise is a light barbell or long wooden pole or equivalent. Hold the bar high above your head with arms straight, and step backward with one leg and slowly lower your body until your knee is bent at a right angle. Do multiple sets of 15-20 reps with rests in between.



4) Leg Raises: While lying on your back extend your legs and raise them off the floor to the highest degree while keeps your knees only slightly bent. Slowly bring your legs back down towards the ground, at about 6 inches from the ground, curl your legs towards your chest. Repeat 15-20 times.



5) Planks: While in push-up position, bring your arms in close to your chest, elbows tucked in and fists up near your face. Raise your body up off the ground and maintain a straight “plank-like” posture for 60 seconds. Only your toes and forearms should be touching the ground. After each rep, switch positions. Flip over and have your back towards the ground and chest pointing skyward, again only your feet and forearms should be touching. Keep your back straight and hold position for 60 seconds.



These 5 simple exercises can be done in your house or outside which makes them convenient. Also, remember that these abdominal exercises must be executed with proper form. Don’t push yourself to do more reps or an extra set of an exercise if you feel like your are unable to do it properly; you’ll just end up hurting your body more than helping it.

The Value Of Abdominal Exercise During Pregnancy

Exercise is advisable for pregnant women, as exercise during pregnancy prepares a pregnant woman's body for the demands of labor. Most exercise routines for pregnant women include swimming and brisk walking. Special yoga classes and tai chi, are also popular, and believe it or not, abdominal exercise during pregnancy.
Abdominal exercise during pregnancy may sound a bit drastic, but actually yields good results, as the abdominal muscles play a major role during labor. Abdominal exercise during pregnancy reduces the diastasis recti effect, where the abdominal muscles get separated, a common event during pregnancies. They also reduce back pains, as abdominal exercises not only strengthen the abdomen area, but the back as well.
On vanity’s side, abdominal exercises during pregnancy improves a pregnant woman’s look, which is “carried over” after the pregnancy period.
One thing to note about abdominal exercise during pregnancy would be to first consult the doctor before engaging in any abdominal exercise. Most doctors tell pregnant women never to engage in “lying facing up” exercises during the first trimester of the pregnancy period. Finding the ideal, meaning safe yet effective, abdominal exercise during pregnancy could prove to be difficult, as one pregnant woman’s physique differs from another, so it is highly advisable to consult the doctor first. Chances are, he or she would have a number of “tailor cut” exercise routines to share.
The benefits of abdominal exercise during pregnancy include a pregnant woman’s improved resistance to fatigue, improved posture, lesser gaining of body fat, better sleep as well as insomnia management, and most of all, stronger back muscles, which are actually important, as strain on the back is emphasized with the belly’s growth in size.
Other benefits gained from abdominal exercise during pregnancy include the fast “normalization” of a woman’s weight, physical preparation for labor, as well as faster recovery after labor.
Here a basic abdominal exercise during pregnancy. Again, consult your doctor before you engage in doing them.
The Side Crunch
The side crunch for pregnant women starts with the exerciser lying on her left side, positioning the right arm behind her head. After this, the exerciser then raises her right leg, letting her knees touch her right elbow. Repeating this twenty five times, then turning to the right side would complete the exercise. The side crunch is aimed to work on the abdominal obliques.
Of course, there are other abdominal exercises which are applicable to pregnant women. On a general scale, the mentioned side crunch exercise is applicable to most pregnant women, but again, before engaging in the exercise, as well as any other exercises, consult your doctor.

The 3 Best Ab Exercises That Are Not Direct Ab Exercises

Instead of the typical ab exercise routines that we see so often with crunches, situps, leg lifts, etc... I like to give my readers better options for metabolism-boosting high intensity workouts that work their entire body while also working their abs.
I'm going to show you an example today of one of my favorite ab workouts that doesn't include any direct ab exercises at all. It's in a tri-set format (similar to a super-set but alternating between 3 exercises).
Here goes:
1a. Renegade Dumbbell Rows1b. Front Squats with Barbell1c. Mountain Climbers on Floor
A good rep scheme to use with this could be 3-4 sets of 8 reps for each exercise, or more sets for less reps, such as 5 sets of 5 reps of each exercise. Mountain climbers can be done for a time interval (such as 30 seconds) instead of "reps".
Renegade dumbbell rows are done starting in a pushup position with the hands on 2 dumbbells. You then row one dumbbell up while stabilizing your body with the other arm. Bring the dumbbell back to the ground and alternate the rowing arm while stabilizing with the opposite arm. This stabilizing effect during the rows creates incredible work for your entire midsection core area. Trust me... you'll feel it in the abs!
Front squats are done similar to back squats, however with the barbell in front of your body on the front of your shoulders instead of resting on the upper back as in back squats. You stabilize the barbell on your shoulders by crossing your arms and pushing your fists into the bar against your shoulders while keeping your elbows out in front of the body. This takes a little practice at first, so you will want to seek a professional trainer at your gym to help you with the form. Front squats require extreme stabilization strength from the abs due to the barbell weight being shifted to the front of the body instead of the back. Even though this is mostly a leg exercise, you'll feel this one in the abs big time!
Mountain climbers are done by starting in a pushup position and then shuffling your feet in and out so that your knees are moving in under your chest and then back out to starting position. It sort of resembles climbing a mountain but flat on the floor. If you want an advanced version, you can also shuffle your hands 8-10 inches forward and backward in addition to the leg movements. This really makes it a full body exercise and MUCH more difficult than standard mountain climbers.
After finishing each exercise, rest about 30 seconds before starting the next exercise. Rest about 1-2 minutes after completing each "tri-set" before repeating.
This will give you one of the best ab workouts you've ever had without even doing any direct ab exercises. You'll see what I mean after you try it!