3 Challenging Ab Exercises That Will Build The Core

January 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

In my last post, I talked about important facts you should know about abdominal training. And in that post, I mentioned why sit ups are not the best exercise for your abs. In this post, I want to share with you some excellent, albeit somewhat difficult, alternatives to sit ups.

Most people tend to believe that our abdominals are two separate muscles … the upper abs and the lower abs. The truth is, our abs are one long muscle. And while some exercises emphasize working a certain portion of the abs (for example, the crunch emphasizes the upper portion), any ab exercise, when done properly, will work the entire muscle. Below are three videos demonstrating challenging exercises that will work the entire abdominal muscle as well as the core. Remember to allow 48 hours between workouts to give your muscles a chance to rest and repair.

Let’s get started!

The Plank: The plank is superior to crunches as it is a basic core stabilization exercise. Besides the abs, it works the back, glutes, and shoulder stabilizer muscles. Go for a 30-second hold. If you want to take it up it a notch, lift up a leg during the hold.

Reverse Plank With Leg Lifts: A very challenging exercise and an all-around excellent core stabilizer, this exercise is also known as the Pilates leg pull back. It works your abs, arms, core, hip flexors, and legs. If you find this move too difficult, do it without the leg lifts and go for a 30-second hold.

The Pilates Teaser One: The Teaser One is a very challenging exercise that strengthens the inner thighs as well as the abdominals. It is an exercise for the more advanced and it is a wonderful core stabilizer. It is a great exercise for sculpting the midsection.

Get The Facts On Abs

January 22, 2009 | 1 Comment

There are good reasons for doing abdominal exercises. The most common one being … six pack abs! But while having a washboard across your midsection may make you look good, remember too that strong abdominals will help you feel good as they play a crucial role in your daily life.

Your abs support your spine throughout all movements. From simple movements, such as sitting in a chair, to more difficult movements, such as shoveling snow, strong abs will help prevent backache and reduce, and perhaps even eliminate, existing back pain. It is good to know as much as possible about abs, so …

Read these facts before beginning your abdominal training:

Fact No. 1: Abdominal exercises won’t make the the fat go away. Ab exercises will strengthen your muscles, but these muscles lie underneath a layer of fat. You could do crunches all day, day after day, and not lose any inches off your midsection. The only way to reduce the fat is to eat less and do more cardio.

Fact No. 2: Sit ups are not the best exercise for abs. Sit ups only work the abs in the first part of the motion. Once your shoulders leave the floor, your lower back and hip flexors are doing the work. And sit ups can cause you to arch your back and can eventually lead to back pain. Instead try crunches, which work all your abdominal muscles, or other ab exercises which are easier on the back.

Fact No. 3: To build ab muscles, you do not need to do hundreds of reps on a daily basis. Abdominals are like any other muscle group and should be done in sets of reps with a brief break in between. Do up to 15 reps per set for optimal strength. Or for endurance training, do up to 25 reps per set. And, like any other muscle group, abs should be allowed a day of rest between workouts. You should always wait 48 hours between intense workouts. Muscles develop during rest, and over training can lead to injury.

And lastly,

Fact No. 4: Not everyone can develop six-pack abs. Despite your healthy eating habits, your numerous hours of cardio, and your dedication to abdominal exercising, you still may not be able to get rid of all the fat around your middle, and, therefore, will never be able to show off your hard ab work. Many people are just not genetically capable of reducing the fat around their midsection to such a small amount.

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Posted by Julie | Filed Under Abs/Core, Blog, Body Weight Exercises