There are probably as many opinions regarding which ab exercises are the best as there are people who work out. However, there was a study done a few years ago to try and determine which stomach exercises really gave the best results. The study was done at San Diego State University and conducted by the American Council on exercise. They used Electromyography (EMG), which evaluates the electrical activity of muscles, to detect muscle stimulation in the "six pack" area (the rectus abdominus) and the "love handle" area (the oblique muscles).

What they found was somewhat surprising to many people. The exercise that ranked best for working the rectus abdominus was the "bicycle". This is somewhat of an old school movement where the exerciser lies on their back with their hands behind their head and alternately touches each elbow to the opposite knee. This exercise also rated as second best for working the obliques, so you'd have to rank it as the overall best of the thirteen movements tested.

The exercise that earned the second-highest rating for stimulating the six pack muscles reqires a piece of abdominal exercise equipment sometimes referred to as the 'captain's chair', but you may also know it as the 'knee raise/dip station'. The equipment has a vertical pad and a couple of handles, and as you might expect, it's also used to perform the upper-body exercise called the dip. To do this particular abdominal exercise, enter the apparatus with your back facing the pad and grab the handles. Press your back firmly against the pad and raise your legs, trying to use only your abdominal muscles. Don't swing your legs or you won't be working your abs. This exercise was the top-ranked exercise for the oblique muscles.

The exercise ball crunch came in with the third best effect on the six pack area. Basically, it's pretty much what it sounds like. You lean back on a Swiss ball, place your hands behind your head, and curl your shoulders up using only your stomach muscles. Try to keep the ball stationary. Be sure not to overstretch your back in the lowered position, although with time you'll probably find you can go lower to get better results. This exercise was ranked sixth for its effect on the love handle area.

Finally, the movement that ranked third most effective for the love handles is the reverse crunch. To perform, lie on the floor. You can move your hands around to wherever they are comfortable, and will probably find that some positions make the exercise easier than others. This means you can start the movement with your hands located in a position that makes the exercise more difficult, and move them to an easier position to eke out a few more reps at the end of the set. The movement simply entails bending the knees to around ninety degrees and then curling your hips up, thereby raising the knees. Once again, concentrate on using the ab muscles to perform the exercise, and move at a deliberate pace. This one came in seventh as a rectus abdominus movement.

There are certainly tons of other exercises you can do for the abs, and of course gyms have all those abdominal machines. But with these exercises you can really give it your all because you know that your effort will be rewarded.

Remember, you can't spot reduce fat. Ab exercises only build and strengthen your abdominal muscles. They're not intended to, and do not, strip away any fat you have on your stomach area. You can do abdominal exercises until the cows come home, and just might build a great looking six-pack. That is, assuming anyone can see it. If you've got adipose tissue (fat) covering all your hard work, then it was for naught. So you need to make sure you include diet and aerobic/anaerobic exercise in your program. And, sad to say, while these will remove the fat, they won't do it just for your stomach. Your body will lose fat just as it gained it - wherever it wants. Many people, unfortunately, find that the area they most want to lose fat from seems to be the last place to do so. But this shouldn't discourage you. Lowering your body fat percentage is great for your health, and if you keep at it, eventually all your hard work on those stomach muscles will show!

How can it be putting fat over my abdominal muscles?

Good question. First of all, let's set the record straight. There's nothing remotely healthful about drinking soda, be it diet or regular. They're full of garbage, but the sweeteners are the worst part. Regular soda has high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and diet versions have aspartame or some other unnatural concoction. This lens is about ab exercises, not health or diet, so I really don't have room here to go into all the possible health implications from ingesting either HFCS or any of the current artificial sweeteners. I suggest you check your favorite search engine for further info.

Anyway, back to diet soda and why guzzling it might be impacting your fat loss. Well, we actually don't know why. All we know is studies show it. The researchers couldn't come up with any definitive reasons - they just saw that soda drinkers were fatter than non soda drinkers (that sounds logical), but diet soda drinkers were even fatter!

The author of one study said that "There was a 41% increase of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day". Forty-one percent for EACH can! Most diet soda drinkers have three or four per day, at least, so that means they have over a hundred percent increase in their chances of being overweight.

Like I said, no one yet knows for sure why this is. Some theories include the possiblity that artificial sweeteners cause a hormonal response, ramping up the production of certain hormones that increase fat storing and also increase hunger for additional sweets.

Other experts have postulated that people who drink diet sodas subconsciously feel because they have saved calories with the soda, they can eat anything else they want, which obviously is going to result in a higher intake of calories overall.

Whatever the reason, if you want to reduce your fat level and/or be healthy, you need to minimize and preferably eliminate diet soda (and all soda). What can you drink? You know the answer! Ok, I'll say it. Drink water. And that's about it. If you have drink something sweet occasionally, try some organic apple juice mixed with water 50/50, or some iced tea, unsweetened if possible, otherwise with a little stevia added. Stevia is an herbal sweetener that's been used for thousands of years, so it's safe in small quantities.

Oh, and this should probably go without saying, but when I recommend that you drink water, I mean plain, pure water. Not the popular flavored sweetened water, be it sweetened with fructose, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, or whatever caloric or non-caloric sweetener the manufacturers have been able to come up with. Now, if you can find a water that has only flavor, and no sweetener added, that's fine. There are a few like that. I personally think plain old water tastes better, and I know it's a heck of a lot cheaper, but it's your call on that one.

Twenty or thirty years ago, the sit up was THE abdominal exercise. Anybody who wanted to trim their middle did situps. However, in the past ten years or so, it's fallen into disfavor. Many fitness experts claim that the exercise puts too much stress on the lower back and mainly works the hip flexors, which don't usually need to be strengthened.

However, at least one fitness guru claims that the situp can be a valuable addition to our abdominal exercises. He says it is a multi-joint or compound movement such as a deadlift or squat. At one time many exercise physiologists claimed that those exercises were dangerous, but now the prevailing wisdom is that, done correctly, they're a couple of the best movements around.

So Christopher Guerriero says to perform a proper sit up we should lay flat on our back and place a rolled up towel under the lower back. Bend the knees at about a 45 degree angle and put our heels on the floor with the toes pointing up, without anchoring our feet. Keep the knees about 6 to 8 inches apart.

Then extend the arms between your legs, exhale and lift your shoulders off the floor while keeping the neck in a lower position and the hands between your legs. You should concentrate on trying to move the lower portion of your ribcage into your knees by curling the spine upward into a sit up position. Be sure NOT to curl your neck.

Then slowly lower back down by uncurling your spine until you feel the rolled up towel supporting your back. That's one rep. Guerriero claims that both ends of the abdominal muscle will full contract together and be stretched through the full range of motion. If you'd like to read more about Mr. Guerriero's ideas, check out his course Maximize Your Metabolism.