Best Ab Workouts
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Welcome To Best Ab Workouts
The reason why the abdominal section has persisted to be a problem area for many people over the years is that they have a misguided strategy for ab development based on exaggerated or baseless claims through infomercials by the manufactures of ab workout machines, ab gadgets and ab belt devices. Many of these claims serve to reinforce the illusion that your belly fat can be transformed into the highly-regarded and sought after six- pack solely through ab exercises or muscle stimulation devices. The reality is that putting your entire focus on abdominal exercises without regard to diet and effective calorie-burning activity is rarely a successful strategy for the majority of people. Unless you are able to maintain a body fat percentage of 10-12% for a man or 13-15% for a woman, your abdominal muscles will probably not be visible to the world, regardless of your ab workout consistency, frequency or intensity. Your best ab workout should not involve working the hell out of your abs. For the best results, the Best Ab Workouts should be complimented with a health-conscious diet that promotes fat loss along with cardiovascular activities to burn calories.
Planning an Ab Workout Routine
Your Abdominal Muscles
A first good step to starting your ab workout routine is actually knowing what muscles you are enganging in the process. The four abdominal muscle types are as follows:The rectus abdominis - one long muscle that runs the length of the torso from the pubic bone to mid-chest. It has tendinous intersections within the muscle that give it the appearance of being six separate muscles. Thus, when you are working your "lower abs" or "upper abs" you are actually working the same muscle. By doing an exercise that targets the lower abs, more muscle tissue is activated in that area than is activated int the higher abs and vice versa. The function of the rectus abdominis is to pull the torso toward the hips and vice versa.
External oblique muscles - The external oblique runs diagonally to the rectus abdominis; it has a "V" shape when viewed from the front. These muscles aid in twisting at the waist.
Internal oblique muscles - The internal oblique lies underneath the external oblique and runs diagonally in the opposite direction. These muscles aid in twisting the torso.
Transversus Abdominis muscles - These muscles are the deepest of all the abdominal muscles. The transverse abdominis runs horizontally across the abdominal wall and underneath the obliques. These muscles aid in pulling the abdominal wall inward to allow the lungs to breathe.
Many beginners use an ab workout routine that consists of sit-ups and crunches, which for the most part target the rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle). All four of the abdominal muscle types should be targeted to a similar extent. By targeting each of the abdominal muscle types at different angles, you stave off muscle complacency. Varying your ab workouts also contributes to better posture and gives your abdominals a more natural look.
The Best Workout For Abs
The Whole Body Approach
If you are working diligently on your abs and are not achieving the results you desire, the answer isn't increasing your ab workouts. Instead, you need to showcase your abs to their full extent by lowering your body fat percentage. This can be done in two ways: First, focus your training efforts on the larger muscle groups such as the chest, biceps, legs and back. By focusing on the larger muscles, you have the potential of burning a tremendous amount of calories in the process. An excellent exercise to burn many calories is the squat. The squat primarily targets the legs and lower back and involves other muscles to a lesser extent. The intensity of the exercise will burn calories and build muscle as well.
Top Ab Exercise Tips
- Tip #1 - Make sure you change and mix up your ab routine.
- Tip #2 - When you work your abs, mantain a balance between your rectus abdominis and obliques.
-Tip #3 - When you workout your abs, the goal is to fatigue the abs with the minimum amount of work.
- Tip #4 - Do a set of ab exercises until you have a break in technique.
- Tip #5 - Isolate the ab muscles as you would any other muscle group.
- Tip #6 - Contract and fully extend the muscle.
- Tip #7 - Exercise to stimulate, not annihilate. The world wasn't formed in a day, and neither
were were we. Set small goals and build upon them - Lee Haney.
- Tip #2 - When you work your abs, mantain a balance between your rectus abdominis and obliques.
-Tip #3 - When you workout your abs, the goal is to fatigue the abs with the minimum amount of work.
- Tip #4 - Do a set of ab exercises until you have a break in technique.
- Tip #5 - Isolate the ab muscles as you would any other muscle group.
- Tip #6 - Contract and fully extend the muscle.
- Tip #7 - Exercise to stimulate, not annihilate. The world wasn't formed in a day, and neither
were were we. Set small goals and build upon them - Lee Haney.
The Stability Ball Workout
The Swiss Ball Rollout
A stability ball is a ball constructed of soft elastic with a diameter of approximately 35 to 85 centimeters (14 to 34 inches) and inflated with air. Dr. Susanne Klein-Vogelbach, the director at the Physical Therapy School in Basel, Switzerland, was successfull using the ball as exercise for physical therapy treatment. Researchers in Australia and New Zealand conducted a study that measured muscle activity during the performance of several popular ab exercises versus using a stability ball and found that the rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle) and obliques could be worked more effectively than common ab exercises such as situps and crunches. When American physical therapists began to use those techniques in North America after witnessing their benefits in Switzerland, the ball became commonly known as the Swiss Ball. The ball is also known by a number of different names, including balance ball, birth ball, body ball, exercise ball, fitness ball, gym ball, physioball, pilates ball, Pezzi ball, sports ball, Swedish ball, therapy ball, or yoga ball.
Fitness experts as well as the American Council on Fitness agree that working out your abs with a stability ball is considered one of the most effeciive methods to work your abs. The reason the stability ball is so effective is that while you are performing the motion for a particular exercise your ab muscles are constantly engaged to maintain your balance during the movement. There are a variety of exercises for the stability ball. One of the most common and most effective is the Swiss Ball Rollout.
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Fitness experts as well as the American Council on Fitness agree that working out your abs with a stability ball is considered one of the most effeciive methods to work your abs. The reason the stability ball is so effective is that while you are performing the motion for a particular exercise your ab muscles are constantly engaged to maintain your balance during the movement. There are a variety of exercises for the stability ball. One of the most common and most effective is the Swiss Ball Rollout.
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by pjammer11
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