The Best Abs Training Exercises
If you’ve been reading about abs training for a couple of weeks, you must have read about at least 20-30 exercises for the abdominal muscles. You probably can’t even keep in mind that many, not to mention doing them all. So here’s the question:
What are the best ab exercises?
I’ve composed a list of them, which I’ll show you now. The exercises are in increasing order of difficulty.
- crunches
- cross knee crunches
- leg raises (lying)
- reverse crunches
- vertical leg thrusts
- knee raises (hanging)
You can start with the easier ones, do just three or four types at one session and switch to harder exercises as you progress. I’ll show you some special exercises in my next post, that are also necessary for successful abs training.
I’ll give you a complete, recommended training program in one of my later posts. But now, let’s see how to do each of these exercises.
Crunches:
The most basic exercise in abs training. Lie on your back. Pull your knees up, so that they are at a 60 degree angle to your torso. You can bend your knees, or just let your feet rest on a chair or something. Your hands should be touching the sides of your head.
Now try to touch your breastbone to your pelvis by slowly raising your shoulders. Breath out as you do it. Your hips shouldn’t move, only your spine bends. Do these slowly, don’t use momentum.
Cross knee crunches:
Same as crunches, but now you try to crunch diagonally. Try to touch your left shoulder to your right knee, then your right shoulder to your left knee. At the top position, one side of your hips should be off the ground.
Leg raises:
The basic and exercise for lower abs training. Lie on your back, with your hands under your buttocks. Raise your legs about 20cm (8″) off the floor and hold them there. Using your lower ab muscles, raise your legs by another 20cm by tilting your pelvis. Your knees should be slightly bent.
Reverse crunches:
For this exercise, you need something behind your head to hold. This can be the legs of a chair, the ankles of a training partner or anything that’s fixed into that position. Lying on your back, holding the thing behind your head, raise your knees above your chest by pulling your pelvis and legs up. Your knees should be bent. Then return to the starting position.
Vertical leg thrusts:
My favorite abs training exercise.
Lie on your back, placing your hands under your buttocks. Knees slightly bent, raise your legs up from the ground by about 20cm (8″). Raise your head and shoulders a bit as well, if you can, to increase the stress on your abs.
This is the initial position. Now the exercise has four steps:
- Raise your legs by contracting your abs, until your feet are above your pelvis.
- Breathing out, thrust your heels up, towards the ceiling. Your pelvis should raise as well.
- Lower your pelvis back from the thrust, setting it between your hands again.
- Lower your legs back to the starting position, keeping your knees slightly bent.
Knee raises:
You’re gonna need a branch of a tree, a water pipe or something else that’s strong enough to support your body weight for this exercise. A chin-up bar is the best, if you have access to one. Grabbing the bar with a grip a bit wider than your shoulders, raise your knees up to your chest. Your ankles should be crossed, and you should only use your abs to do the work. Lower your knees slowly, relaxing your ab muscles. Don’t extend your legs, keep those knees bent throughout the whole exercise.
This concludes the six best abs training exercises. They are effective, simple and safe. Just keep in mind that if your lower back hurts while doing any of these exercises, you should bend your knees a little bit more.
In the next post, I’ll show you special abs training exercises that are also required for a complete ab workout.
Until then, you should check out The Winsor Pilates Buzz for the best body improvement and energy-boosting techniques.
Tags: abs, basics, crunches, exercises, knee raises, leg raises, muscle improvement, routines
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