When most people attempt to perform ab workouts at home, they usually just lie on the floor and engage in a marathon of crunch repetitions. This all too common approach will never lead to a well-balanced set of six pack abs.
First of all, the basic crunch will only provide a marginally positive training effect for beginners. Once you get strong enough to crank out sets of 50-100 or more, the resistance the crunch provides is simply too little to provide a training effect.
Secondly, the crunch only trains the abs in one range of motion: flexion of the trunk. Flexing the trunk is only one of the many ranges of motion that your abdominal muscles are capable of. Any well designed ab workout will include exercises that target all major ranges of motion. The bottom line is, the crunch alone can never provide a complete ab workout.
Instead, you must utilize several effective ab exercises, each one training your abdominal musculature in a different movement pattern. Although this may seem confusing, it is actually very simple once to understand the basic function of your abdominal muscles.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you with a lesson in anatomy. Instead, I’m going to lay out a complete, ready to use ab workout for you. The following workout contains only exercises that require no equipment whatsoever, making them ideal for a home training session. Here it is:
1a) Reverse Crunch On Floor 3×20-25 30 sec rest 1b) Straight Body Side Crunch On Floor 3×12 (5sec hold) 30 sec rest 2a) Plank 3×60 sec 30 sec rest 2b) Seated Russian Twists With Leg Cycle 3×20-25 30 sec rest
Now I will give you a detailed description on how to properly execute each exercise:
Reverse Crunch On Floor- Lie on your back on a mat. Flex both knees and hips to 90 degree angles. Bring knees toward chest by flexing abdominal muscles, raising butt from floor while maintaining a constant knee angle. Return until hips and knees are again extended to 90 degree angles. Repeat for the prescribed number of reps.
Straight Body Side Crunch On Floor- Lie on your side on the floor. Keep your arms straight out above your head, in line with your body. Your legs must remain straight. Lock your hands together. This is the starting position. Now simultaneously raise your arms and legs up so that neither are in contact with the floor. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Return to starting position and repeat.
Plank- Get on the floor in a push up position. Support your body on just your forearms and your toes. Be sure to keep the abs flexed and hold your body in a perfectly straight horizontal line. Do not let hips drop or raise them up at all. Hold this position for the prescribed number of seconds.
Seated Russian Twists With Leg Cycle- Sit on floor and cross your arms across your chest, grabbing the opposite shoulders. Lean back until your upper body makes a 45 degree angle to the floor. Rotate trunk to the right while simultaneously bringing your right knee towards your chest. At this point your left elbow will be touching your right knee. In a smooth motion rotate to the left and repeat this on the other side. Continue to alternate until you finish the prescribed number of reps. One full rotation equals one rep.
Now you have a result producing ab workout you can perform with no equipment whatsoever. Do this workout two or three times per week for the next month. After this month is over, it will be time to progress to a more advanced ab workout.
Sexy six pack abs are in your near future. Start this routine today and begin seeing results immediately!
Tags: ab exercises, ab workout, ab workouts, Exercise, six pack abs