How To Train Your Abs

Crunches are a mainstay of most abdominal training and toning programs. And there is a reason for that. They are simple and easy to learn and perform and they get results very quickly.

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However, as seemingly simple as crunches may be, there are a number of key points that you need to be aware of if you are to get the maximum results from using crunches to tone your abs quickly.

Firstly you need to consider what the abdominal muscles are designed to do.

Our abdominal muscles connect our breast bone to our pubic bone. And when they contract, the action draws the pubic bone and breast bone closer together.

So in order to get the maximum benefit from doing crunches the focus of the exercise should be on bringing the pubic bone and breast bone closer together.

This is in stark contrast to how many people do crunches by pulling their neck up attempting to get as high off the ground as they can. This is not how to do crunches to tone your abs quickly.

When doing crunches the emphasis should always be on pushing the lower back into the ground as you compress your abdominal muscles causing the breast bone and pubic bone to be drawn closer together.

There will be a natural rising of the shoulders off the ground when you do a crunch correctly but this occurs as a consequence of pushing the lower back into the floor and contracting you abdominal muscles. It is not the objective of the crunch it is a side effect of doing the crunch correctly.

Don't be surprised if you can't do as many repetitions when you do your crunches in this manner. And don't be surprised if you very quickly develop an impressively firm and flat set of abs when you perform your crunches in this way.

So how do you decide which ab exercises are likely to give you the results you want and what exercises are little more than a waste of time?

Firstly, it's crucial to note that the best abdominal exercises are those that an individual is prepared to actually do.

Irrespective of how powerful a particular abdominal exercise may be, if you're not prepared to do those exercises regularly then you shouldn't expect to get much in the way of results. Obvious isn't it. As much as ab training can be hard work you must at least start with abdominal exercises that you CAN do and are WILLING to do.

Make sure you don't limit your selection to those exercises that need equipment or gadgets to perform. Some of the very best abdominal exercises can be done without any equipment other than your body and a floor. That's not to say that there aren't some exercises and some training devices that can't be useful just don't think you NEED them in order to train your abs successfully.

When you choose a specific physical fitness routine that incorporates abdominal exercises, you need to make sure it includes abdominal exercises that target all the different sections of your abs.

If you merely focus on one area of your abs, your training session will be much less effective and result producing. The most beneficial abdominal exercise routines, work by combining exercises that target the oblique muscles (muscles at the sides) as well as exercises that target the various sections of the abdominal muscles ( lower abs, mid abs and upper abs).

Probably the most popular type of abdominal exercise are crunches. This particular type of ab exercise is really effective and can be done virtually anytime and any place adding to it's effectiveness. There are many different types of crunches you can do, but as a basic routine normal front crunches and side crunches (obliques) should the foundation you add to as you see fit

Many individuals believe the most beneficial abdominal exercises can be found in Pilates.

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The main reason why the Pilates style of ab training is so effective is because during a Pilates workout, the focus at all times is on the core of the body that is comprised of the ab muscles. All motion in a Pilate's session works the abdominal muscles either directly or indirectly.

Another great ab exercise considered to be one of the best exercises if you are new to ab training is The Plank.

When doing The Plank you start by lying face down on the floor. You bend your arms to 90° resting on your elbows, forearms and hands which are being held as fists. You place the balls of the feet on the floor as if you are going to do a push-up, which in effect you are doing when you do The Plank.

You then push the feet into the floor, lifting your body off the ground so you are now resting on your forearms and elbows and on the balls of your feet with your body suspended off the ground.

And then you hold this position for as long as you comfortably can. Even if it's just for a couple of seconds performing the plank regularly will strengthen your abdominal muscles as well as numerous other muscles needed to hold your body in place.

Remember to always test out an abdominal exercise to see if it's right for you. All exercises should be safe and allow you to gradually increase the intensity as your strength and fitness levels improve.

Irrespective of what your ab training goals are, you may find it most useful to learn and experiment with a number of different types of abdominal training exercises. If you find a particular exercise painful or too difficult to do safely you then need to look for alternatives that work better for you.

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While information on how to train your abs is freely available allowing anyone to put together a routine to help tone and flatten their abs you need to be aware that there is the correct way to perform these exercises and numerous incorrect ways.

Working out the wrong way can lead to at best no physical improvement at all, or worse, serious injury. When doing abdominal exercises or any other exercise for that matter, be sure to know specifically what you are doing. If need be get some advice from a personal trainer or someone experienced in how to train abs.

Here are some basic "No Nos" that you will do well to keep in mind when training your abs.

Keep Your Knees Bent

While performing crunches, you need to keep your knees bent and in most cases your feet should be flat on the floor. In this position your knees will be pointing upwards and aligned with your centre. When doing basic crunches keeping your knees aligned with your centre line is important for spinal stability and safety. Allowing your knees to drift off the centre line alignment can create vertebral pressure often causing pain and injury to the spine.

Give Sit-Ups The Flick.

The time-honoured situp in reality does virtually nothing to train your ab muscles and everything to train your hip flexors.

Plus even with the best intentions it is far too easy to cheat and use momentum rather than the specific contraction of your abdominal muscles that is essential if you are trying to build and tone your abs.

In order to build our ab muscles, or any muscle you are training, you need resistance applied in a very specific way to the specific muscles you're training otherwise you will simply be building a sweat and not getting the ab training benefit you want. Basic crunches, performed correctly (see previous article and crunch video) will give you a much better result while keeping your back safe.

Just Say NO! To Straight Leg - Leg Raises

Another time-honoured traditional abdominal exercise that really does nothing of the kind but rather exercises the muscles of your lower back. The potential for lower back strain and injury with this particular exercise is very high as many people simply do not have the core strength needed to be able to perform straight leg raising safely. Best to avoid this one.

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Higher Reps Does NOT = Six Pack Abs

For some reason over the years people have believed that there was something magical and mystical about their abdominal muscles that meant that they had to perform endless repetitions in order to train and tone their abs.

Only two things are required to build any muscle including our abs.

Specific focus on contraction of the muscles we are trying to develop and a steady progressive overload that allows us to make the specific exercise more difficult and challenging which then leads to increased strength and toning.

As far as sets and reps go tody most people in the know will agree you train your ab muscles the same as you would train any muscle using a normal rep range as determined by your training goals.

Performing hundreds of repetitions of abdominal exercises is not the key to developing an impressive looking six-pack and can fatigue your ab muscles and potentially led to strain and injury

No progressive overload = NO Results

All exercises including abdominal exercises need to be hard (although not impossible) to perform in order for them to be effective.

The need to apply progressive resistance and overload in our training exercises is critically important. How we apply and create this resistance is the stuff that will continue to generate Ab training DVDs for years to come. However, the principle remains the same we must find a way to increase the resistance and difficulty in exercises we are doing.

Today there are an endless array of training devices, machines and ab training "gadgets" all designed to increase the effectiveness of our abdominal training by providing increased resistance in a manageable and safe way.

So if you're performing endless repetitions of waist twisting and side bending with no, or little, resistance you're wasting time that could be better spent performing exercises that would actually strengthen and tone your abdominal muscles.