Achieve Powerful Results from Your Abdominal Exercise Program

What does your abdominal exercise program consist of? If your answer is only crunches, or crunches and sit-ups, then this is the article for you. People are continually writing in forums, asking gurus, and chatting with fitness enthusiasts and professionals on MySpace, solely because of a lack of results in their abdominal exercise programs! Nothing is more frustrating than feeling the burn of working out your abs, and then not seeing the six-pack on yourself that you continually see on celebrities or other people at the gym.

You cannot get there by going halfway. Just as it is to achieve any goal that is worthwhile in this world, you must work hard at training your abs. By doing only one or two abdominal exercises, you are literally cheating yourself of the results that you want. You must devote yourself to getting what you want, and put in all of the work necessary to do so.

Variety is the key to getting clean and cut abs! Your abdominal exercise routine must consist of several exercises, a handful to be exact. This will allow you to work out your abdominal muscles with a well balanced abdominal exercise routine which focuses on the many sides of your abdominal muscles. Yes, I said many sides!

Your abdominal muscles are complex in their shape. Your abdominal muscles are round, which means that they can flex parallel to your body, allowing you to bend forwards and backwards, as well as perpendicular to your body, allowing you to bend sideways. If this isn't enough, they can also bend at many angles in between parallel and perpendicular to your body length! All in all, this means that to get the perfect shape and proportion to your abdomen, you must utilize many abdominal exercises.

I usually do abdominal exercises everyday. However, I do not do the same abdominal exercises each day. With four days of exercise routines, I perform abdominal exercises three out of four days. I perform three abdominal exercises for each of the three days, and give my abs a day of rest on the fourth day. My abdominal exercise routine may seem harsh at first, but I guarantee results from it.

My abdominal exercise routine is revealed! Now, I'm not saying that it is perfect, or that it is for everyone. However, after doing this abdominal exercise routine for years, I still have my six-pack and a strong midsection to show for it.

Day One: Consists of resistance crunches (using weighted crunch machine), incline sit-ups (last two repetitions with weights), and resistance oblique crunches (using weighted oblique machine).

Day Two: Consists of floating crunches (lying on floor with your arms crossing your chest and hands resting on shoulders, bringing knees and elbow together, allowing them to float there until pain is unbearable), roman chair crunches, and flutter kicks.

Day Three: Consists of lying leg raises (front), cross-over sit-ups (bringing left elbow to right knee and right elbow to left knee), and corkscrew (Lie on your back, with your legs raised directly over your hips, with your hands at your side palm down. Lift your hips off of the floor and elevate your feet towards the ceiling. Next, twist your hips to the right. Hold this position, and then return to the starting position. Repeat, while twisting to the left.)

Work up to my routine or surpass it with a more advanced one! In the beginning doing the above abdominal exercise routine may be too difficult for you to do, on top of your regular workout routine. So, choose one abdominal exercise for you to do each day which works a different part of your abdominal muscles. If you take turns with these abdominal exercises, conducting one of them each day that you exercise, you will definitely see a significant improvement in your abdomen. Ensure that you give your abs one out of every four days off to allow your abdominal muscles to recuperate. Before long, you will be teaching your friends everything that you know. They will be asking you what abdominal exercises gave you your amazing six-pack!

Discover The Extreme Weight Loss and Fitness Secrets [http://www.fitnesstuning.com] That Personal Trainers In Hollywood Charge $97/Hour To Teach FOR FREE at [http://www.fitnesstuning.com]

Best Abdominal Exercises - How Do Ab Exercises Really Work?

For any person that is overweight with a pile of fat on their belly and is looking to shed serious weight, trying to find what the best abdominal exercises is can be a daunting experience. I know for a fact when I was overweight and carried an excess burden of weight around my belly, trying to find what the best abdominal exercises to do was a nightmare. Ab crunches, running, sit ups, ab machines, a plethora of information on the web on what the best abdominal exercises are. Go on, type the words "best abdominal exercises" into Google and see what you get. If you look underneath the search term "best abdominal exercises" you will find 639.000 thousand results for that keyword.

Who do you believe and where do you start?

This happens to be the most confusing part on where do you start and what are the best abdominal exercises. Bad or excess abdominal weight can actually be detrimental to your health. You don't have to be overweight all over to actually be unhealthy. Before we go any further, lets examine some of the downsides to excessive weight gain or excessive belly fat.

High Blood Pressure. Not that many people think of this when they are eating the next lot of take out but when you are overweight with excessive body fat, this leads to high blood pressure. With high levels of body fat also comes excessive levels of sodium. How is this dangerous to your health. Simple! Excessive levels of sodium causes high blood pressure, which in turn makes your heart work harder.
Cholesterol. Excessive weight gain also leads to dangerously high levels of cholesterol. The average level of a normal weight in a person usually reads between 3.5 to 5.0 points for levels of cholesterol. Any higher than this and you are in danger of an oncoming heart attack. Most doctors will tell you to lose weight or completely cut out fatty foods altogether with special diets for reducing cholesterol. Sometimes even medication. Cholesterol is a fatty substance which builds up in your main arteries which stem from your heart. If these block up, your heart stops. This is a gradual occurrence. As your arteries slowly block up, your heart starts to work harder, eventually leading to a heart attack.
Diabetes Another silent killer.When you have excess weight or belly fat, your body slowly becomes resistant to insulin. This slows down or reduces your energy. This is why overweight people find it difficult to go through their everyday lives.
Stroke. A stroke occurs when an artery carrying blood to the brain is blocked.The human brain constantly needs the supply of oxygen, and if blood ceses to flow, the brain area of that artery starts to die. A result of excess fats in the artery system
Osteoarthritis A major killer in body joint wear. Excess weight will always couse excessive wear on your joints. Especially your back nees and hips.
Cancer. It has now been proven that overweight people are more suceptable to getting cancer, purely because of lack of exercise.
Sleep Apnea Sleep apnea is also brought on by excessive weight. The higher the weigh, the worse the disease.
Overall Physical Discomfort Most people who are overweight with loads of belly fat tend to feel uncomfortable. This is generally caused by excessive fat around the human organs which constricts the organs. Often, overweight people tend to have breathing difficulties, which also severely limits the exercise potential of losing weight.
Lower Back Pain. Due to excessive weight on the front of your belly, your back starts to suffer from a severe unbalance from weight to the front as to the back. your back muscles actually work together with your abdominal muscles for the purposes of keeping your torso nice and straight. The best abdominal exercises combined together with weight loss help achieve this and many other benefits.Now Some Of The Benefits To Weight Loss

Much increased levels of energy
Much lower cholesterol levels
Much reduced blood pressure
Reduced joint pain from less weight
more agile mobility. Well feeling of lightness. Ability to move at much quicker rates
Improved levels of breathing. Higher levels of oxygen, leading to higher energy levels and well beeing
Sleep better at night. Less back pain in the morning
Much lower levels of angina attacks, with much higher levels of oxygen to the heart
Much decreased risks of heart attack or stroke.
High prevention rate of diabetes
Better improved levels of blood sugar.
Much decreased risks of cancerThere you have it, these are just some reasons as to why it does not pay to be overweight.

Now to get back to the main dilemma of the best abdominal exercises and how to get started. As stated earlier, there is magnitude of information on the web on how to lose weight fast, how to get abs, how to get a six pack, how to get great abs. These are people that are legitimately trying to find information on the best abdominal exercises. However, where do you start.

Lets Go Back To Basics Shall We!

Commitment. Are you really committed to losing weight and gaining the high benefits of being a light weight human being? If not, not even the best abdominal exercises in the world are going to work for you. Commitment before anything is a must have for any abdominal exercises to work.

Many people start A weight loss program only to fail dismally because they don't keep going before the magic happens. Why? because it is extremely difficult when your overweight, because of the lack of energy, the pain on your joints, you breathing labor. All these to many people are deterrents to further exercising. If you can get past the first couple of weeks with your new habits and commitments, you will definitely see improvements in fast weight loss and getting closer to great abs becomes a reality.

Once this is noticed, there is an instant uplift to continue. The more weight loss you see, the harder you workout, shedding even more weight. Don't give up when you get started. I guarantee you with the right diet and the best abdominal exercises, you will see results, and get those great abs, as well as getting ripped all over.

Keep it up, don't stop with your new healthy lifestyle. Everything is hard in the begging, but the strain on your body will subside. Once you see noticeable results of well being, you will not want to stop.

Diet In order to lose weight and lose weight fast, one must have a drastic change in diet. The best abdominal exercises in the world will not work if you do not change your diet

What does this mean. No more fast food. Take out hot food contains lots of trans fats which are absolutely lethal to the human body and also contain lots of artery chocking cholesterol and fat which instantly just adds up on your body. Fat intake has to stop for the purpose of achieving great abs and losing weight fast. The signs of shredding weight quickly are instant. Better physical appearance, feeling on top of the world, energy to do things and be active.

Exercise Exercise is a crucial element in rapid weight loss and in a general overall feeling of well being. The effect exercise has with a given diet greatly aids in weight loss and achieving great abs or an awesome six pack.

Now The Hammer Falls. What you need to know is that you don't need the entire web to find what the best abdominal exercises are. You only need to apply common sense. Anyone who tells you that "A" is the best abdominal exercise or "B" is the best abdominal exercise is really just trying to sell you a gimmick and very much trying take you for a ride.

To put it simply, we have just disclosed to you that the best abdominal exercises are only effective if you are ready for change.

Three Key Elements Required For Even The Best Abdominal Exercises To Work

Diet. This has to change for the purposes of abdominal exercises and general weight loss to be effective.Whether you like it or not.

Exercises This is also a must, as it greatly aids in fat burning and greatly improves health

Now the biggest secret for the best abdominal exercises. Commitment. If this is missing from any of the three key elements, you are doomed to fail. There is a multitude of abdominal exercises that are extremely effective with getting a six pack when combined together with diet, exercise, and commitment.

Exercise

Diet

Commitment. Put these three key elements together, and a multitude of the best abdominal exercises in the world will work for you. All abdominal exercises work, but you must have these three key elements.

If you need more information on getting a great six pack, visit Mike Geary abs If your after professional results, you will find this information from this world recognized certified trainer absolutely invaluable.

Abdominal Fat - Losing That Belly For Good

Middle age spread, and abdominal fat is a great threat to our health. The single most important fact that you should know about losing abdominal fat is that there is no magical formula that can make your abdominal fat vanish in a jiffy. Excess abdominal fat is a risk factor for diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Not only is a firm, flat stomach the ultimate symbol of sex appeal, researchers have found that losing abdominal fat is one of the hardest and most important steps you can take to stay healthy for life.

Abdominal fat is described as having three compartments: visceral, retroperitoneal, and subcutaneous. Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it's a key player in a variety of health problems -- much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Abdominal fat is also associated with a disruption of blood sugar control that can result in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body. But they need to understand that both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are very serious health risk factors.

Science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities. Besides, a side effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

Abdominal fat is nothing to take lightly. Abdominal fat is often the last fat you'll lose. Fat doesn't just get stored any where in our bodies - the pattern of fat storage is genetically wired into our systems.

Generally speaking, abdominal fat is either visceral (surrounding the abdominal organs) or subcutaneous (lying between the skin and the abdominal wall). But a simple tape measure may be all you need to determine if your intra-abdominal fat is posing a risk to your health.

Remember, straining to losing just the abdominal fat is not the right approach. The best way to lose abdominal fat is through a healthy combination of diet AND exercise. Beware of plans, programs and pills that promise almost instant, easy results. The only thing easy about abdominal fat, is putting it on in the first place.

To recap, the formula for losing abdominal fat is as follows: Losing fat takes time, so get started now.

The author hosts The Better Home Living Guide website, with informational topics to improve your life and family living.

For complete information on the correct way to get started regaining your health and your self image, visit Truth About Abs

3 Simple Tips on Abdominal Exercises

There is no doubt that finding tips on abdominal exercises is not hard to find with all the information available today! The major question for most people is what are the right abdominal exercises and what is a good plan for achieving good results?

In this article I would like to help answer those questions by giving you tips on abdominal exercises and help you be able to get the results you are looking for.

Tips on abdominal exercises # 1- Put more focus on your diet

One of the first things you must focus on when trying to achieve results with an abdominal exercise plan is to focus on your diet. You must realize that while it is important to exercise your abdominal muscles by crunches or sit-ups if you have a layer of fat covering your abdominal muscles you will never be able to get that 6 pack look.

Take for instance the guy with a big gut. If he does 500 crunches or sit- ups per day but has a layer of beer belly covering his muscles all he will have achieved is a big hard beer belly!

So the first thing you should concentrate on and one of the best tips on abdominal exercises I can give you is lose that belly fat first!

Tips on abdominal exercises # 2- Do a variety of different abdominal exercises

Second step to achieving a great looking abdominal section is to shake up your exercises regularly.

Find a couple of really good abdominal exercises that you like doing for instance crunches or sit-ups and alternate them on a regular basis.

The main reason for this is your abdominal muscles can adapt to change very quickly. As soon as they start adapting to one particular exercise you will stop seeing results. So again the second thing you should focus on to achieve great looking abdominals is to shake up your exercise routine.

By keeping them guessing as to what's coming next, you keep the results coming as well. Don't make the mistake of doing the same abdominal exercises day in and day out.

Tips on abdominal Exercises # 3- Implement A Good Cardio Workout

Lastly, for getting that nice looking chiseled abdominal muscles you must be performing some type of cardio exercise. Now I'm not saying that you have to start doing hours on the treadmill.

All I'm saying is that you need to add a few quality sessions of cardio work a week. For instance, 30 minutes of walking 4 times a week will really help your body become more efficient and allow you to lose that belly fat much quicker so you can actually start seeing results from your abdominal exercises.

In conclusion:

If you stick to these 3 simple tips on abdominal exercises you will start seeing real results. This may take sometime to achieve so be patient. Think about this. How long did it take you to get to where your at now? Year, Two Years? Give your abdominal exercise routine sometime to work and I'm positive you will be able to achieve the results your looking for before you know it! Best of luck!

Do You want a firm and flat midsection? If you click the link below I will share with you 6 "Little Known" Reasons Why You Can't Get Rid Of Your Stubborn Belly Bulge! Plus 10 free video lessons that will teach you exactly what to eat and how to train to reduce your waist line, get rid of your pot belly and finally gain the respect and confidence you deserve!

http://tipsonabdominalexercises.blogspot.com/

Abdominal Muscle Exercises - Learn How To Get Rid of Abdominal Fat Today

Abdominal muscles exercises are the most sought exercises inside and outside the gym because everybody is in dire need to get the flattest abdominals that reflects a flat stomach. It is true that our society today is becoming beauty and health conscious. As a result, there has been an increase focus on exercises and fitness programs which pave the way of the demands and fascination from the exercises in abdominal muscles.

Our abdominal muscles are mainly located between the ribs and hip bone and in front of the body. They works to support the upper body, allow movement and contraction and to hold vital organs on a proper place by regulating pressure from the abdomen. Our abdominal muscles have different vital works under the body and cannot be seen by the naked eye. When you are extremely obese, fats can accumulate in the abdomen, and fats can cover the muscles which then can give you an abdominal fat. In this case, even if you have the best and great muscles in the abdomen, it is useless when covered with fats.

Abdominal exercises or ab workouts are focusing on the abdominal muscles, doing it properly can help you tone and strengthen the abdominal muscles, but when incorrectly done, it may result to unnecessary strain on the back and other muscles of the body.

Spot Reduction? Oh No!

There is no such things as spot reduction for fats, so never believe any equipment that promise to decrease fat around the tummy. Abdominal exercises cannot reduce fat, it will train your abdominal muscles while leaving layers of fat in the abdomen unchanged. Even if you do thousands of crunches and sit-ups, fat will not reduce especially when you have extreme fat accumulation around the tummy, and take note, muscles are lying under the fats, so muscles are evidently seen when fats are gone, and spot reduction is the ways. Diet and combination of exercises are always the best choice.

The Flat-Stomach Myth:

Being obsessed with a flat abdominal area can lead you to frustration, anxiety and even some eating disorders which are not at all healthy. The truth about flat stomach is that it cannot be possible to achieve. In the first place, our abdominal muscles are not designed to be flat. It will always be rounded and not flat and your gender, age and genetics can greatly affect the size and shape of our abdominals.

Again, abdominal muscles exercises are not meant to flatten your tummy, it just strengthen the muscles and building ab muscles little by little. It also allows proper function of the abdominal muscles. Now, when you decide to add exercises for your abdominal muscles in your exercise program, you have to take precaution in choosing such exercises because they can be straining and dangerous to the body.

Tips Before The Exercise...

A proper warm-up before starting the abdominal muscles exercises for 15 minutes is important to prevent muscle strain.
Use an exercise mat when exercising to ensure back safety.
Do the exercises regularly for proper strength training and to build your ab muscles.
Always bring a towel while exercising to swipe off the sweat.
If you are a beginner and would want to do abdominal exercises using gym equipment, ask for an assistant by a gym instructor for proper usage.

The Bicycle maneuver or the TWISTING CRUNCH

Lie flat on the floor with your back pressed against the ground.
Place your hands behind the head and bring your knees as much as possible in a 45-degree angle and slowly do a bicycle pedal motion.
As you do the pedaling, twist the upper body and trunk by allowing left elbow to touch your right knee, then right elbow to left knee.
Perform the exercise in a slow and controlled manner as possible.

Captain's Chair

This is one of the most effective exercises for muscles but the most difficult as it stabilizes upper body. This exercise is contraindicated to lower back problems or for a beginner.

Sit upright on a chair while legs dangling from the chair.
Slowly, lift knees up going towards the chest and hold in that position for a few seconds.
Lowered the knees and get back to the starting position and repeat.

Crunch on Exercise Ball

In choosing an exercise ball for you, you must be able to sit on it and your knees bent and soles of feet resting on the floor.

Roll the ball slowly and lie on the ball with your back until your thighs and chest are parallel with each other.
Placed arms across the chest and chin down to the chest.
As you contract your abdominal muscles, raise your chest at least 45 degrees angle.
To make the exercise easier for you, spread you legs and feet wider apart for total support while lying on the ball.
Repeat many steps as you can.

Among other crunches, these two are known to be the most effective and the safest abdominal muscles exercises that can be done either at home or in the gym.

Vertical Crunch

Lie flat on the floor with your back pressed against the ground.
Place your hands behind your head for proper support.
Slowly raise your crossed legs at the ankles with a slight bend in the knee.
Now, as you contract your abdominal muscles, lift your upper body toward your knees and then lower down.
Do as many steps as possible.

Reverse Crunch

Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed against the floor.
Place hands beside your head or place then flat on your sides (whatever you feel the most comfortable).
Cross your feet at the ankles and then slowly lift your feet from the floor up to a 90-degree angle.
Once you are stable and comfortable in this position, press your lower back on the floor and contract your abdominal muscles as you move down the crossed legs few inches from the floor and then up and down again. Make sure feet are not touching on the floor during the exercise.

Next, learn the correct way to Get Rid Of Abdominal Fat and lose weight fast.

Find out which weight loss program is suitable for you through our Compare Weight Loss Programs page here. Click on the above link to discover which programs can help you lose weight today.

Is There a Best Abdominal Exercise?

One of the biggest problems we face when attempting to get fit is to tone up our stomach muscles.

Stomach muscles are stubborn and painful to exercise. They also tend to stay hidden from view even after doing hundreds or thousands of crunches.

Developing an impressive set of six-pack abs takes a combination of strategy, good nutrition, hard work, and patience. Don't expect to develop perfect abs by resorting to one best abdominal exercise but to a combination of exercises that work your stomach from different angles.

Failure in ab development comes in many forms, all easily fixed. Here are a few examples of why people fail in abdomen toning.

1. Expecting instant results.

Depending on your genetics/body type, getting ripped abs will be more difficult for some than for others. A thick bodied person will have a more difficult time producing perfect abs than a thin bodied person.

Please be patient. Your abs are there, it'll just take some time to get them to show.

2. Expecting abs to show before weight loss.

Ain't gonna happen! It's physically impossible to build up your abs big enough to appear if you have a beer belly covering them.

If you are grossly overweight you'll have to lose a lot of belly fat before you can expect to see your abdominal muscles.

3. Stop working out abs through sheer boredom.

Doing endless repetitions of the same exercise always ends in failure. Partly because we get bored and partly because our bodies adapt to certain exercises and stop producing results.

Our first two problems, expecting instant results and expecting to see our abs while still being overweight are really common sense issues. You just need a little patience and you need to lose weight.

But what about the third one, "Boredom"? How do you overcome that one? It's actually fairly easy. Here's how.

You have to mix up your abdominal exercises from week to week so that you're not just doing sit-ups.

You'll be happy to know that I've come up with a list of 44 abdominal exercises that you can choose from. Many of them don't require any extra equipment other than a floor mat to work out on.

Some of the ab exercises do require extra equipment but you may already have the equipment available.

Here's a checklist of equipment you need for some of the exercises.

- Barbell

- Dumbbell

- Chin-Up Bar

- Flat/Incline Bench

- Exercise Ball

- Medicine Ball

- Ankle Weights

Here are 44 different ab exercises that should slay the boredom dragon once and for all! The list is broken up into three categories, lower ab exercises, middle and upper ab exercises and oblique exercises.

Lower Abdominal Exercises:

- Abdominal Flutter Kicks

- Abdominal Flutter Kicks with ankle weights (This one's tough!)

- Bent Knee Abdominal Hip Raises

- Decline Abdominal Crunches

- Exercise Ball Abdominal Pull Ins

- Flat Bench Abdominal Leg Pull Ins

- Flat Bench Abdominal Leg Raises

- Hanging Knees To Chin Raises

- Hanging Abdominal Leg Raises

- Hanging Knees To Head Raises

- Inverted Exercise Ball Leg Pull Ins

- Lying Reverse Abdominal Crunches

- Medicine Ball Leg Raises

- Parallel Bar Abdominal Knee Raises

- Reverse Abdominal Crunches

- Reverse Decline Crunches

- Weighted Hand To Leg Ab Crunches

Middle And Upper Abdominal Exercises:

- Abdominal Butt Raises

- Abdominal Cable Crunches

- Abdominal Crunches

- Abdominal Crunch Machine

- Abdominal Sit Ups

- Abdominal Toe Touchers

- Abdominal Tuck Crunches

- Barbell Abdominal Rollouts

- Exercise Ball Abdominal Crunches

- Fingers To Toes Abdominal Crunches

- Legs On Exercise Ball Abdominal Crunches

- Medicine Ball Crunches on Exercise Ball

- Overhead Abdominal Crunches

- Raised Knee Barbell Crunches

- Straight Arm Abdominal Crunches

Oblique Exercises (more commonly called love handles):

- Barbell Oblique Side Bends

- Dumbbell Oblique Side Bends

- Elbow To Knee Oblique Crunches

- Fingers To Heel Oblique Touchers

- Flutter Kick Oblique Crunches

- Hanging Oblique Knee Raises

- Lying Oblique Leg Raises

- Lying Side Oblique Crunches

- Oblique Crunches

- Oblique Decline Crunches

- Oblique Plate Twists

- Oblique Twists

- Seated Oblique Barbell Twists

Conclusion

With a comprehensive list of best abdominal exercises like this to choose from your ab workout routine should never be dull or boring. By adding a few pieces of low cost exercise equipment to your home gym you'll be able to create the perfect set of killer abs!

About the Author:

Mark A Hanson specializes in fitness and weight loss. Subscribe to his body transforming "Inside Secrets To Killer Abs" eCourse at http://www.FastKillerAbs.com/. Learn how chubby guys and gals can get killer abs without boring cardio workouts, supplements or strict dieting.

All About The Best Abdominal Exercises

It is only natural, most people want to look their best, and exercising their To discover over 27 more abdominal fat loss and metabolism-boosting secrets, muscles is usually a huge part of most fitness programs. If so much time and energy is going to be focused on this muscle group, it is a good idea to know what the best abdominal exercises are. There are many resources available for finding the best abdominal exercises, and plenty of people to say what they consider the best, so how can a person decide for themselves which truly are the best exercises for working their abdominal muscles?

First of all it is important to note that the best abdominal exercises are those that a person is willing to do. No matter how effective the exercise is, if a person isn't going to do them consistently the exercise will not benefit that particular individual. It is also important to note that the best abdominal exercises do not necessarily require equipment to perform them, although some machines and equipment may work quite well for some people.

When a person decides on a fitness program that includes abdominal exercises, it is best to include abdominal exercises that work the different parts of the abdominal If a person simply concentrates on one area of their abdominal, there workout will not be as effective. The best abdominal exercises, combine working the oblique, which are the side muscles, the lower abdominals, the mid section and also the upper section.

Some of the most popular abdominal exercises are crunches. These are a very effective exercise and very convenient since they can be performed anywhere without any equipment. The next abdominal exercise that is also very popular and goes along with the basic crunch is the side crunch, which works out the oblique.

Some people consider the best abdominal exercises to be included in a Pilate's workout. The reason for this is because in Pilates, the whole focus is on the core of the body which is the abdominal, or abdominal muscles. Every movement in a Pilate's workout will work the abdominal muscles either directly or indirectly. These exercises can be found on the internet, either the exercise itself or video's that can be purchased.

Another good exercise that some fitness experts considers to be one of the best abdominal exercises involves laying flat on your abdominal, leg straight and then raising your body up using your arms as your hands are clasped together and keeping your body straight as if doing a pushup. Hold this position as long as you can stand. This is an excellent movement to strengthen the whole abdominal.

Remember again though that just because one person may consider a specific exercise to be the best abdominal exercise that does not necessarily mean it is the best for everyone. Each person's body is different and will respond differently to certain movements. Any one serious about working on the abdominal muscles will find it most helpful to try several different abdominal exercises and then determine which one they can both feel and see results with. If one exercise is simply too hard to do correctly, or does not feel like it has done anything for the muscle group worked, that exercise is clearly not the best and the person should find what works best for them.

To discover over 27 more abdominal fat loss and metabolism-boosting secrets, go to Abdominal Exercise to download a FREE report revealing the strategies of the super-lean.

Abdominal Exercises - Finding the Right Abdominal Exercises

When striving to get the fabled six-pack, it' an easy task to get baffled by the many "ideal abdominal exercises" out there. You'll probably realize that there a ton of abdominal exercises to pick just one, so making sense of which of them works the most beneficial is usually confusing.

The one thing to keep in mind is that often any time you are attempting to drive your core, almost everything functions, for just a particular time period. From high repetitions, low repetitions, weighted work, bodyweight work, balance ball workouts, and BOSU ball workouts - everything functions right up until the body changes at which point it won't make any further adjustment unless you supply it with a fresh motive to change.

Your abdominal training needs to be advanced from steady groundwork with one's body weight to an unsteady surface with weighted work. Moving on to actions which will lessen your base of support whenever possible are the most useful abdominal exercises simply for the reason that they will summon into play every one of the muscles inside the core, particularly those actually deep that secure ground work are unable to focus on.

Such instances of ground abdominal workouts that will do this could be sit-ups, crunches and leg lifts. Ultimately you should do the workouts in opposition to gravity, then a weight and after that on unstable surface area such as a balance ball. Bodyweight workouts like "front planks" and "side planks" needs to be the basis of a core method and advanced to one-arm planks in the front and side planes and after that ultimately using a balance ball or BOSU ball for additional recruitment.

The most effective abdominal exercises to generate your abdominal muscles "pop" might be a selection of weighted motions. You've more than likely seen skinny men having a smooth stomach but no "eye popping" ab muscles - that is certainly due to the fact they haven't yet produced the specific ab muscles, the same as every other part of the body. A part of obtaining perfectly ripped ab muscles will likely be establishing the muscle mass beneath the extra fat, and weighted stomach crunches with cables or on the balance ball using a large dumbbell is going to do this most effective.

Throughout all of your abdominal exercises make sure to obtain a complete stretch throughout the eccentric stage of one's abdominal workouts. Under-going a complete array of movement on the way up (if carrying out a abdominal crunch on the ground or ball) is not required, even so, you need to be "crunching" your upper abdominal muscles onto your lower abdominal muscles throughout every single repetition to optimize the burn, employment and complete advancement.

Usually the one weighted workout you won't get in many plans is weighted side flexes, because this could cause you to appear broader within the waste, drawing attention from developing a toned impression.

Just one worrying doubt almost everyone has is concerning lower abdominal exercises, often the most bothersome area. Indeed, hip flexion (focus much more on lower abdominal muscles) is essential to carry out and ought to be done initially within the exercise, but a realistic look at the issue is that you simply can not exclusively separate your abdominal muscles into upper and lower elements. When you execute any kind of abdominal motion you need to be concentrating on performing both lower and upper section simultaneously.

The best workout to absolutely direct a bit more pressure to the lower region could be the development of lying leg lifts, lying leg lifts on the slope and ultimately hanging leg lifts completely vertical. Lying leg lifts using a stability pull can also be an incredibly difficult and superior workout to produce razor sharp abs.

Lastly, the final thing to take into account is when you are likely to carry out your abdominal exercise is exercising regularity. Once again, in most cases, the more the better presuming your abs have restored. Regardless of whether you intend to complete it at the conclusion of the exercise routine, prior to your exercise routine, within your exercise routine or using a day of it's own is perfectly up to you. A lot of abdominal routines combine all techniques according to if you're a novice, advanced beginner or advanced. Some of these concepts advise you not to begin with ab muscles simply because abs act as a synergistic muscle for so many of the other workouts you'll do, should you pre-fatigue them prior to the beginning of the exercise, you might not advance equally as much throughout your other exercise. Most don't accept this and when you're ab muscles are your most fragile link then they must be granted first precedence when you find yourself by far the most fresh, the beginning of your exercise routine.

Including a particular abdominal exercise is just a modest area of the struggle - diet regime, way of living and all round calorie disbursement through weight training exercise and cardio are definitely the real foundations to making an attractive and preferred abdominal area.

Trainers interested in a rock solid workout program, common sense muscle building strategies and motivational tactics will find what they are looking for with this complete step-by-step muscle building success system. This is the same system that has helped hundreds of skinny hardgainers get super buff, ripped and strong! The experience and results you gain from following this program for a consistent period of time will be priceless. Find out more Here

Abdominal Benches And Other Abdominal Exercise Equipment

As much focus is given to the abdomen area when it comes to exercise and exercise equipment, Abdominal Benches and other Abdominal Exercise Equipment are amazing. Not only do these items keep one fit and in tip top shape, they are also geared to limit back pains, as well as help reduce exercise related injuries. Quite ideal for those who wish to trim down, keeping their bodies and their health in good shape.

As there are a number of abdominal benches and other abdominal exercise equipment abounding exercise stores and fitness centers all over the world, options with which to ideally use, let alone which to purchase, is totally dependent on what an exerciser deems as ideal for his/her.

Here are some of the most popular types of abdominal benches and other abdominal exercise equipment.

Stretch Toner

A stretch toner isn't exactly an abdominal bench, but it yields similar results. They are compact, portable fitness solution devices, which mostly come with instructional videos which deal with their proper usage. Most stretch toners focus on abdominal and torso stretching, shoulder, arm, and chest stretching, back stretching and hamstring stretching.

They are ingenious devices which yield effective results, with a systematic approach to fitness, keeping in mind the general safety of exercisers. Again, they are different from abdominal benches in terms of form, but not so much with results.

Exercise Bench

Also known as weight benches and abdominal benches, an exercise bench is pretty much the "foundation exercise equipment" for those aiming for strength training. The most basic of exercise benches are actually flat benches, with ample cushion support for the back, which could be used for complete dumbbell workouts.

Abdominal benches are fitted with feet holders on their sides, and can be inclined at adjustable intervals. They are ideal for sit ups, which are exercises which focus on the abdomen area of an exerciser.

An exercise bench isn't simply limited for abdomen fitting, as the exercise equipment can tone other parts of an exerciser's body.

Inversion Tables

Inversion tables are ideal for back stretching as well as abs toning. As an abdominal bench, exercise equipment of this breed pretty much yield the same results, with other portions of an exerciser's body coved in its exercise target.

They somewhat aren't the most common of exercise equipments in gyms and fitness centers, but this doesn't mean an Inversion table's inadequacy when comprehensive exercise is concerned.

Of course, there are other abdominal benches and other exercise equipments which focus on the abdomen. The abovementioned three are simply among the most popular.

Milos Pesic is a professional fitness trainer who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Abdominal Training web site. For more articles and resources on abdominal exercises, abdominal workout tips, abdominal fitness equipment and much more visit his site at:

http://abs.need-to-know.net/

The Psoas Muscles and Abdominal Exercises For Back Pain

Common opinion notwithstanding, the proper purpose of abdominal exercises is to awaken control of the abdominal muscles so they coordinate better with the other muscles of the trunk and legs (which include the psoas muscles). It is that better coordination that improves alignment, and not merely higher tone or strength. When the psoas muscles achieve their proper length, tone (tonus) and responsiveness, they stabilize the lumbar spine in movement as well as when standing, giving the feeling of better support and "strength". Mutual coordination of the psoas and other muscles causes/allows the spine and abdomen to fall back, giving the appearance of "strong" abdominal muscles -- but it is not the strength of abdominal muscles, alone, but the coordination of all the involved muscles that gives that appearance.

To improve psoas functioning, a different approach to abdominal exercises than the one commonly practiced is necessary. Instead of "strengthening," the emphasis must be on awareness, control, balancing and coordination of the involved muscles - the purview of somatic education. I will say more...

... but first: A discussion of the methods and techniques of somatic education is beyond the scope of this paper, which confines itself to a discussion of the relation of the psoas muscles, abdominal exercises, and back pain. For that, see the links at the bottom of this article.

The Relationship of Psoas, Abdominal Muscles and Back Pain

The psoas muscles and the abdominal muscles function as agonist and antagonist (opponents) as well as synergists (mutual helpers); a free interplay between the two is appropriate. The psoas muscles lie behind the abdominal contents, running from the lumbar spine to the inner thighs near the hip joints (lesser trochanters); the abdominal muscles lie in front of the abdominal contents, running from the lower borders of the ribs (with the rectus muscles as high as the nipples) to the frontal lines of the pelvis.

Take a moment to contemplate each of these relationships until you can feel or visualize them

In the standing position, contracted psoas muscles (which ride over the pubic crests) move the pubis backward; the abdominal muscles move the pubis forward. (antagonists)
In walking, the ilio-psoas muscles of one side initiate movement of that leg forward, while the abdominals bring the same-side hip and pubis forward. (synergists)
The psoas major muscles pull the lumbar spine forward; the abdominal muscles push the lumbar spine back (via pressure on abdominal contents and change of pelvic position). (antagonists)
The psoas minor muscles pull the fronts of attached vertebrae (at the level of the diaphragm), down and back; the abdominals push the same area back. (synergists)
Unilateral contraction of the psoas muscles causes rotation of the torso away from the side of contraction and sidebending toward the side of contraction (as if leaning to one side and looking over ones raised shoulder); abdominals assist that movement.

Now, if this all sounds complicated, it is -- to the mind. But if you have good use and coordination of those muscles, it's simple -- you move well.

Words on Abdominal Exercises

Exercises that attempt to flatten the belly (e.g., crunches) generally produce a set pattern in which the abdominal muscles merely overpower psoas and spinal extensor muscles that are already set at too high a level of tension.

High abdominal muscle tone from abdominal crunches interferes with the ability to stand fully erect, as the contracted abdominal muscles drag the front of the ribs down. Numerous consequences follow:
(1) breathing is impaired,
(2) compression of abdominal contents results, impeding circulation,
(3) deprived of the pumping effect of motion on fluid circulation, the lumbar plexus, which is embedded in the psoas, becomes less functional (slowed circulation slows tissue nutrition and removal of metabolic waste; nerve plexus metabolism slows; chronic constipation often results),
(4) displacement of the centers of gravity of the body's segments from a vertical arrangement (standing or sitting) deprives them of support; gravity then drags them down and further in the direction of displacement; muscular involvement (at the back of the body) then becomes necessary to counteract what is, in effect, a movement toward collapse. This muscular effort
(a) taxes the body's vital resources,
(b) introduces strain in the involved musculature (e.g., the extensors of the back), and
(c) sets the stage for back pain and back injury.

The psoas has often been portrayed as the villain in back pain, and exercise is often intended to overpower the psoas muscles by pushing the spine and abdomen back. However, it is obvious from the foregoing that "inconvenient" consequences result from that strategy. A more fitting approach is to balance the interaction of the psoas and abdominal muscles.

When the psoas and the abdominal muscles counterbalance each other, the psoas muscles contract and relax, shorten and lengthen appropriately in movement. The lumbar curve, rather than increasing, decreases; the back flattens and the abdominal contents move back into the abdominal cavity, where they are supported instead of hanging forward.

It should be noted that the pelvic orientation, and thus the spinal curves, is also largely determined by the musculature and connective tissue of the legs, which connect the legs with the pelvis and torso. If the legs are not directly beneath the pelvis, but are somewhat behind (or more rarely, ahead of the pelvis), stresses are introduced through muscles and connective tissue that displace the pelvis. Rotation of the pelvis, hip height asymmetry, and/or excessive lordosis (or, more rarely, kyphosis) follow, all of which affect the psoas/abdominal interplay.

Where movement, visceral (organ) function, and freedom from back pain are concerned, proper support from the legs is as important as the free, reciprocal interplay of the psoas and abdominal muscles.

More on the Psoas and Walking

Dr. Ida P. Rolf described the psoas as the initiator of walking:

Let us be clear about this: the legs do not originate movement in the walk of a balanced body; the legs support and follow. Movement is initiated in the trunk and transmitted to the legs through the medium of the psoas.
(Rolf, 1977: Rolfing, the Integration of Human Structures, pg. 118).

A casual interpretation of this description might be that the psoas initiates hip flexion by bringing the thigh forward. It's not quite as simple as that.

By its location, the psoas is also a rotator of the thigh. It passes down and forward from the lumbar spine, over the pubic crest, before its tendon passes back to its insertion at the lesser trochanter of the thigh. Shortening of the psoas pulls upon that tendon, which pulls the medial aspect of the thigh forward, inducing rotation, knee outward.

In healthy functioning, two actions regulate that tendency to knee-outward turning: (1) the same side of the pelvis rotates forward by action involving the iliacus muscle, the internal oblique (which is functionally continuous with the iliacus by its common insertion at the iliac crest) and the external oblique of the other side and (2) the gluteus minimus, which passes backward from below the iliac crest to the greater trochanter, assists the psoas in bringing the thigh forward, while counter-balancing its tendency to rotate the thigh outward. The glutei minimi are internal rotators, as well as flexors, of the thigh at the hip joint. They function synergistically with the psoas.

This synergy causes forward movement of the thigh, aided by the forward movement of the same side of the pelvis. The movement functionally originates from the somatic center, through which the psoas passes on its way to the lumbar spine. Thus, Dr. Rolf's observation of the role of the psoas in initiating walking is explained.

Interestingly, the abdominals aid walking by assisting the pelvic rotational movement described, by means of their attachments along the anterior border of the pelvis. Thus, the interplay of psoas and abdominals is explained.

When the psoas fails to lengthen properly, the same side of the pelvis is restricted in its ability to move backward (and to permit its other side to move forward). Co-contracted glutei minimi frequently accompany the contracted psoas of the same side, as does chronic constipation (for reasons described earlier). The co-contraction drags the front of the pelvis down. The lumbar spine is bent forward, tending toward a forward-leaning posture, which the extensors of the lumbar spine counter to keep the person upright; as the spinal extensors contract, they suffer muscle fatigue and soreness. Thus, the correlation of tight psoas and back pain is explained.

As explained before, to tighten the abdominal muscles as a solution for this stressful situation is a misguided effort. What is needed is to improve the responsiveness of the psoas and glutei minimi, which includes their ability to relax.

A final interesting note brings the center (psoas) into relation with the periphery (feet). In healthy, well-integrated walking, the feet assist the psoas and glutei minimi in bringing the thigh forward. The phenomenon is known as "spring in the step."

Here's the description: When the thigh is farthest back, in walking, the ankle is most dorsi-flexed. That means that the calf muscles and hip flexors are at their fullest stretch and primed for the stretch (myotatic) reflex. This is what happens in well-integrated walking: assisted by the stretch reflex, the plantar flexors of the feet put spring in the step, which assists the flexors of the hip joints in bringing the thigh forward.

Here's what makes it particularly interesting: when the plantar flexors fail to respond in a lively fashion, the burden of bringing the thigh forward falls heavily upon the psoas and other hip joint flexors, which become conditioned to maintain a heightened state of tension, and there we are: tight psoas and back pain. (Note that ineffective dorsi-flexors of the feet prevent adequate foot clearance of the ground, when walking; the hip flexors must compensate by lifting the knee higher, leading to a similar problem.)

Thus, it appears that the responsibility for problems with the psoas falls (in part, if not largely) upon the feet. No resolution of psoas problems can be expected without proper functioning of the lower legs and feet.

SUMMARY

The psoas, iliacus, abdominals, spinal extensors, hip joint flexors and extensors, and flexors of the ankles/feet are all inter-related in walking movements. Interference with their interplay (generally through over-contraction or non-responsiveness of one or more of these "players") leads to dysfunction and to back pain. The strategy of strengthening the abdominal muscles has been shown to be a misguided effort to correct problems that usually lie elsewhere - which explains why, even though abdominal strengthening exercises are so popular, back pain is still so common. Sensory-motor training (somatic education) provides a more pertinent and effective approach to the problem of back pain than abdominal strengthening exercises.

See video on the program, Free Your Psoas, on the channel for Lawrence9Gold at YouTube.

To see a FREE PREVIEW of "Free Your Psoas -- All Most People Need", send blank email to psoas.v2@somatics.com

PURCHASE PROGRAM (guaranteed satisfaction) Free Your Psoas.

Lawrence Gold is a long-time practicing clinical somatic educator certified in The Rolf Method of Structural Integration and in Hanna Somatic Education, with two years' hospital rehab center experience (Watsonville Community Hospital Wellness and Rehabilitation Center: 1997-1999) and articles published in The American Journal of Pain Management (Pain Relief through Movement Education: January, 1996, Vol. 6, no. 1, pg. 30) and in The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients (A Functional Look at Back Pain and Treatment Methods: November, 1994, #136, pg. 1186 ).

Abdominal Exercise Routine - Factors To Note

Millions of people in the whole world definitely know how helpful doing an abdominal exercise routine is in losing weight. Many of them, in fact, have been doing a variety of exercises that are developed to tone and strengthen the core muscles of the abdominals. They go to gyms and fitness centers to attend trainings and practices, and it's nice to know that all of them have achieved certain changes not just on their body weight, but also in the appearance of their tummies.

Although a regular abdominal exercise routine is valuable in obtaining a toner and well-shaped abs, there are still certain factors that people must know about this considerable practice. First is that, the abdominal exercise routine must not be overdone for too much of them can make you feel uncomfortable. So just do whatever you can in a limit. If you want to do some sit ups, for instance, then you can eliminate the excess fat on your abdomen by simply doing the standard or recommended numbers of this exercise.

Another important thing to note about doing an abdominal exercise routine is that to obtain better results, the exercises must be coupled with proper diet. Too much dieting won't help, so to stick with the right amount of meals a day. If what you are opting is not just a toned and well-shaped abdominals, but a slimmer waist, then it's now time for you to cut your calorie intake. While doing all these things, you need to keep one fact in mind - your abdomen is going to look perfect if you will just stay focus on your abdominal exercises and diet.

While a regular exercise that is coupled with proper diet can help you get the look you want, it is still necessary for every interested individual to consider his or her overall health prior to taking any of the above mentioned steps. Yes, keeping a regular track of your health will make a big difference. One easy way to do this is to consult your doctor about your health condition and everything that will affect your weight loss and abdominal strengthening and toning purposes. If you are pregnant, for instance, then the more you need to consult a physician. He or she will help you determine what particular practices or movements you need to incorporate into your abdominal exercise routine. Note that pregnant women are generally not allowed to do heavy exercises because of their condition. So, just the basics of abdominal exercises will work.

Now, are you thinking of starting an abdominal exercise routine? Want something healthy? As mentioned, there's nothing else you can do than to consult an expert to know more about your condition, and then perform abdominal exercises coupled with proper diet.

Milos Pesic is a professional fitness trainer who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Abdominal Training web site. For more articles and resources on abdominal exercises, abdominal workout tips, abdominal fitness equipment and much more visit his site at:

http://abs.need-to-know.net

Washboard Abs With Abdominal Exercise Techniques

Abs are among the most focused muscles when it comes to personal fitness and exercise routines. What many don't know about developing abs is that they aren't built up through regular abdominal exercise techniques alone.

Proper abdominal exercise techniques are paired with a low carbohydrate, high protein diet, as abdominal exercise techniques don't "convert" fat into muscle. Abdominal exercise techniques are simply geared for ab strengthening, as well as back strengthening. If cutting down one's waistline is an exerciser's goal, abdominal exercise techniques alone wouldn't be enough.

Abdominal exercise techniques primarily target the rectus abdominis, the muscle stretching over the ribs down to the stomach. The internal and external obliques, the muscles with run from the stomach's sides to the waist, are also targeted. Aside from vanity reasons, the primary reason for strengthening ones abs would involve back strength, paving the way for better postures with exercisers.

When it comes to building up washboard abs, here are five helpful tips.

Focusing On Diet

A saying among personal fitness trainers goes: "Abs are made in the kitchen, and not inside a gym". Indeed, what one eats would reflect on how one's abs would look. As abdominal exercise techniques simply strengthen abdominal muscles, and not eliminate fat through and through, an exerciser's diet is pretty much important when it comes to building up washboard abs.

The Value of Rest Times

Over fatiguing one's abdominal muscles could prove disastrous, resulting to workout related injuries. Understanding one's body limits would greatly enhance a workout, as most abdominal exercise techniques would require exercisers to consider. Though they are geared to put abs to work, giving the muscles time to recover from the work fatigue they are put on would result to injury-less workouts, as well as desired workout results.

Flexing and Contracting

As with most exercise techniques, including abdominal exercise techniques, flexing and contracting muscles in between workout sets helps build muscle definition.

Cardio Warm Ups

Warming up before jumping into an abdominal exercise routine is rather recommended, as cardiovascular warm ups would result to better muscle contractions during the workout set. Cardiovascular warm ups are known to let exercisers "feel the burn" as they go thorough a work out routine.

The Value of an Empty Stomach During Training

By working out on an empty stomach, an exerciser is able to burn body fat more, instead of burning carbohydrates to fuel the workout exercise. This is where one's diet work hand in hand with abdominal exercise techniques, eventually resulting to abs of steel.

All in all, between a steady balanced diet, a regular abdominal workout regiment and the application of the tips mentioned, washboard abs are bound to develop in an exerciser.

Milos Pesic is a professional fitness trainer who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Abdominal Training web site. For more articles and resources on abdominal exercises, abdominal workout tips, abdominal fitness equipment and much more visit his site at:

=>http://abs.need-to-know.net/

Get a Toned and Trimmed Body With Abdominal Exercises For Dashing Looks!

Fit and firm body is the dream of everyone who believes in looking fabulous. A well trimmed body gives an edge to your personality. In addition to looking not great physically, additional body weight is the cause of many health problems in the body. In most of the people, the area where accumulation of fats tends to be the most is abdominal. The excess fats in the belly area will result into a bulge in an abdominal area.

As time progresses towards metabolism slows down and subsequently the ability of the body to break food decreases. Abdominal exercises have become significant in the process of losing extra fats in the abdominal area. The deposition of fats in the abdominal area in the form of layers is more dangerous since the majority of vital organs are situated in the abdominal area. Fat accumulation in the abdominal area may result into adverse effect on heart.

The best abdominal exercises are those which produce the desired result - loss of fats in the abdominal area. To know about these exercises and get them into your daily routine exercises requires proper knowledge of various workouts. Here are few tips to select the best abdominal exercises. The first thing to be kept in mind is only exercising without paying any attention on the diet will not provide the best of the results.

Exercise may correct the metabolism but correct diet will complement your efforts for losing extra fats from abdominal area. The next thing that you should pay attention to be a variety in workouts. Only crunches will not get the best results. Also there should be resting period in between the workouts to produce desired results in getting rid of extra fats from the area near abdominal using abdominal exercises.

The frequency of such exercises should be 2 to 4 times in a week. Lastly, the type of exercises selected should be such that they put tension on muscles of the entire abdominal area instead of lower or upper abdominal area. The confidence level increases in a person with perfectly toned body and to achieve the perfect body is not a thing to worry. The abdominal exercises will make your dream come true with ease.

The reduction in fats in the abdominal region so as to reveal abs is the best way to make your life healthy as well as dashing. The most effective abdominal exercise is sitting on the floor with legs stretched in front keeping them straight. Use your hands by the side of hips so as to support the upper part of the body. Breathe normally as you raise the legs about 12 inches above the ground. This is to be done for about 30 repetitions. There are number of abdominal exercises to work for getting body without excessive fats. You have to work sincerely for anticipated results.

Visit us here: http://www.truth-about-sixpack-abs.com

The Truth About Abdominal Exercise Programs

With today's workout regimens focus on abs toning and strengthening, it really isn't a wonder why a number of abdominal exercise programs prevail.

Abdominal exercise programs are pretty much exercise programs which target the rectus abdominis, in common terms the "six pack" area, and the obliques, the waist area. They are among the most common of exercise programs, as well as among the most wrongly done, wasting time, energy and effort.

Here are some truths about abdominal exercise programs, which could save exercisers from "waste of time" mistakes when it comes to abdominal exercise programs.

Muscle is Muscle

The belief that abdominal muscles are different from the other muscle types in the body is wrong. The only difference abdominal muscles have over other body muscles would be their location in the body. There is no physiological difference between abdominal muscles from other muscles in the body, no difference with how it contracts, or how it strengthens with regular exercise.

Muscle is Muscle. Plain and simple.

Daily Abdominal Exercise Programs

One doesn't have to do abdominal exercise program routines on a daily basis. It is advised that they be done every other day, giving the abdominal muscles time to recover, just like any other muscle group in the body.

As most abdominal exercise programs aim to fatigue the ab muscles, recovery time is needed in their successful flow.

Abdominal Exercise Programs and Fat

Abdominal exercise programs aren't exactly geared to reduce the fat in one's abdomen area, as a combination of an overall workout regimen and a balanced diet successfully resolves this issue with exercisers. What abdominal exercise programs do is build more muscles, as well as helps raise an exerciser's metabolism rate, keeping an exercisers abs fit. Again abdominal exercise programs don't convert the fat over the abdomen area into all muscle. They don't melt the fat away.

The Power of Sit Ups

Requiring only the most basic of exercise equipment, proper sit ups are pretty much enough to make an abdominal exercise program effective on an overall scale. Sit ups don't necessarily have to be "full sit ups" as these sit ups basically strengthen muscles with are already strong, and are not the abdominal muscles.

Going on a variety of sit ups, targeting the rectus abdominis, has proven to be quite effective.

The most important reason why training one's rectus abdominis is essential is for back health. With this, it is quite important to incluce the exeternal obliques, internal obliques and the transverse abdominals when doing sit ups.

Bottom line, variety is the key, through the application of proper abdominal exercise program routines, in the making of six pack abs.

Milos Pesic is a professional fitness trainer who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Abdominal Training web site. For more articles and resources on abdominal exercises, abdominal workout tips, abdominal fitness equipment and much more visit his site at:

http://abs.need-to-know.net

Do Not Embark Upon an Abdominal Workout Until You Read This

It is essential to understand the biology of the abdominal muscles before beginning a training programme or routine in order to prevent injury and so that you can better understand the way in which each exercise benefits you and which part it benefits. The abdominals, in relation to other body parts, are relatively simple. There are four main parts and each need to be worked and toned in order to achieve the flat and firm abdominals that you desire.

The abdominal muscles are located between the ribs and the pelvis on the front of the body. The four abdominal muscle groups combine to completely cover the internal organs.

The abdominal muscles are more important than many believe and they most importantly support the upper torso, allow movement of the upper body and hold organs in position by regulating internal abdominal pressure.

The four main abdominal muscles are:

Transversus abdominus - This is the deepest muscle layer. Its main roles are to stabilise the trunk and maintain internal abdominal pressure. It also compresses the abdomen.

Rectus abdominus - Slung between the ribs and the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis. This muscle has the characteristic bumps or bulges, when contracting, that are commonly called 'the six pack'. The main function of the rectus abdominus is to move the body between the ribcage and the pelvis.

External oblique muscles - The external oblique is situated on the lateral and anterior parts of the abdomen. The external oblique muscles allow the trunk to twist, but to the opposite side of whichever external oblique is contracting. For example, the right external oblique contracts to turn the body to the left. It also functions to compress the abdominal cavity, which increases the intra-abdominal pressure.

Internal oblique muscles - The internal oblique muscle is the intermediate muscle of the abdomen, lying just underneath the external oblique and just above the transverse abdominal muscle. These flank the rectus abdominus, and are located just inside the hip-bones. They operate in the opposite way to the external oblique muscles. For example, twisting the trunk to the left requires the left hand side internal oblique and the right hand side external oblique to contract together.

The structure of the abdominals may seem incredibly boring, and perhaps they are, but it is essential to understand before embarking upon an abdominal training programme.

One final thing we must understand is the function of the abs. You may think the only benefit of firmer abs is that you will be presenting a more toned body image but more importantly however, firm abs have strong links to preventing back pain and back injury. The abdominal muscles are key components to providing strength and support to keep the body upright and for movement.

Now that you understand the biology of the abs, you can now begin your abdominal workouts and abdominal exercises so that you can lose the excess abdominal fat that has plagued you for years.

James Penn is an expert at planning fitness training programs and especially abdominal routines. You can learn exactly what he teaches for free including abdominal workouts and abdominal exercises to help you lose abdominal fat.

Get Rid Of Abdominal Fat - 3 Things To Consider To Getting Rid Of Abdominal Fat

Do you want to get rid of abdominal fat? Do you want it totally removed from your body leaving you a flat sexy stomach with no bulges at all? Do you want to wear low waist pants without worries that your abdominal fat hangs over your jeans? Do you want to take the next big step and know where you stand? Majority of the one reading this article will probably say YES. Of course, no one would want to look like getting inflated and bloated especially if having it is not intended, not a choice and never a want at all.

Sometimes, we engage into a certain lifestyle which we consciously know, yet we are not aware the real effect of it. Eating is one of our lifestyles. We know we love to eat yet we do not know where those foods go. Our vise such as alcohol drinking is a part of our lifestyle, we know we are drinking often yet we do not know that alcohol has high in calorie content. You see, this is the most common mistake people do, they keep on blaming their abdominal fat for not looking great, yet the truth of the matter is, they are the ones to be blamed on. When you have it, the only thing in mind is to get away with it. The most important aspect of losing that excess fat around your stomach is to understand what certain factors that creates it. By knowing what causes of your abdominal fat, you will be able to get rid of it eventually. When you want everything to be done, do not get depressed. There are a lot of things you can do to help yourself solve your problem, and remember, it is only a matter of how sincere can you do it.

Losing fat around your stomach has something do more on HOWs. If you are considering losing those fats, you are going to put in plenty of hard work. It is not just about certain viewpoints you see and hear over television commercials that abdominal fat can be removed by sitting and doing crunches. A combination of diet and exercise is the best way to get rid of abdominal fat. So you must be willing to put the efforts on, not just bits and pieces.

1. Diet

Regardless of what they say, exercise alone cannot help you losing abdominal fat and give you the best 6 pack abs. You have to focus on your diet program as well.


The first step for your healthy diet is to find negative calorie foods or commonly called as fat burning foods such as watermelon, apples, oat meals, lean cuts of meat, olive oil, carrots, etc. These foods burn more calories being consumed than they give to the body, in short, you lose weight as you eat them.
You must also think about your fat, carbohydrates and protein levels. To keep things simple and understandable, even you go on a diet, you still have to eat foods high protein, moderate carbohydrates and less fats level.
- Protein is your friend. Protein is a huge help in delivering energy and building muscle.
- Carbohydrates are definitely not the enemy. You need carbohydrates to boost up your energy. Just prevent or at least lessen your intake of whites, such as bread, white rice, pasta.
1) Low fat usually means low fat on your body too. Reduce high fat foods and the weight will drop off.
2) You have to change your diet. Having a poor diet will cause you to have excess abdominal fat. There are a few poor diet can go straight to your waist such as soda, candy, potato chips and fried foods. Before you start thinking about that six-pack abs, you must get rid of the fat first.

2. Exercise

Exercise is a vital component in losing abdominal fat.
The best work out is to start with cardio training. Start hitting the treadmill, stationary bike. You can do jogging and using the cross trainer because it will help exercise your 'core', meaning strengthening the abdominal muscles and dropping abdominal fat which you absolutely need.
You also need to get into weight lifting as well. Some lifts will work much better than others at losing abdominal weight, and if you focus on targeting your core, you will not definitely go wrong.
Designing only a cardio routine or crunches alone will not help you shed excess abdominal fat. In actual fact, your waist will appear bigger if you only do crunches. So to shed that excess abdominal fat, you must exercise at least three to five times a week at a pace that will make your heart pumping and the sweat flowing. That will be very effective.
Also, design an abdominal routine to tone those abs. Abdominal exercises will help to make your six pack dream a reality.
Design a weight training routine. Remember, cardio is not the only key to fitness. Lifting weights is just as important as any other exercise routine, especially losing weight. It helps increase metabolism, and metabolism means burning more fat throughout the day,

3. Take vitamins

On the course of doing ways to get rid of abdominal fat, a good multi-vitamin daily will help boost your metabolism and give you the energy needed to exercise. Remember, the more energy your body has, the more fat it will burn from your body, and that only means an excess abdominal fat will be a thing of the past.

Next, find out more about Get Rid Of Abdominal Fat at our weight loss site today.

Check out which weight loss program is suitable for you through our Compare Weight Loss Programs page here. Click on the above link to discover which programs can help you lose weight today.

Abdominal Core - Three Tiered Approach for a Tighter Tummy

The abdominals are probably one of the most targeted areas in the world of health and fitness marketing. Videotapes proclaiming they can shape your mid-section into the washboard appearance of fitness magazine models, exercise contraptions/gimmicks, as we refer to them, that target your wallet more than your torso, plus dozens of other programs and procedures which isolate abs and lead consumers into the myths and fallacies of abdominal fitness. Based off of the hits our website receives with "abdominal" as part of the search string, and all the misinformation surrounding 'ab training' we were prompted to focus this article on the healthy aspects of torso (core) fitness training.

In reality, most abdominal exercise consumers are seeking to lose body fat in the abdominal area. In order to accomplish this, many factors need to be put into place. Great-looking middle sections are developed from combining cardiovascular exercise several times per week to shed off the unwanted body fat, torso strengthening exercises (see 'Three Part Approach" below), and eating foods low in fat and total calories while paying attention to the portions sizes and amounts. After all, most weight gain occurs from eating too much and exercising too little.

In addition, it is not uncommon to see abdominal exercises performed on a daily basis. Usually a few sets of many repetitions are utilized to enhance the core's endurance, and assist the muscles with one of their main functions within the body. Torso muscles are used as stabilizers, which facilitate many other movements our bodies perform. Because of this, they require much endurance in order to support the spine, enhance lower back functioning, and accommodate our many activities. While this endurance is important, strengthening these muscles is equally important but often over looked.

Choose exercises that bring you to muscle fatigue within 10-15 repetitions 2-3 times per week. Treat the abdominal musculature just as any other major muscle group when you strength-train it. In order for them to appear more muscular, thicker, and six-pack like, abdominals need to be challenged with resistance exercises. At first, just body weight may be all an individual needs in order to challenge themselves, but eventually more weight or an advanced version of the exercise will be needed for further gains.

As with all exercises, be sure to select ones that are appropriate for your level and experiences. Trying to perform advanced movements too soon can not only increase your risk of injury, but also leave you feeling unsuccessful in your attempts to improve. Expensive gadgets and video programs are not always (even rarely) necessary to improve upon your abdominal fitness. Generally speaking, most individuals do just fine and are very challenged with variations of three basic movements as seen below in 'Three Part Approach'.

THREE PART CORE APPROACH

A complete abdominal training program should consist of exercises that work the three areas that make up the abdominal wall. The rectus abdominis is the long sheath of muscle that produces forward flexion of the spine, and has a washboard appearance in well-developed bodies. The external and internal obliques, which are two separate muscle groups, are responsible for flexion, rotation, and lateral (side) flexion of the spine. The deepest of the three areas is the transversus abdominis. Its job is to help expel air out of the lungs and keep the abdomen flat. Each area is essential to good abdominal integrity, stability and health.

The following three exercises are designed for use together in a complete abdominal workout. As the exercises become easy to do, be sure to add intensity by incorporating some variation with the advancing techniques. These exercises should be done 2-3 times per week on alternating days with a 2-3 set 10-15 repetition scheme for strength development, or more often (daily if needed) 1-2 sets of 20 or more repetitions for general endurance. Combine both set and repetition protocols together throughout the week if you really want a challenge!!

Abdominal Crunch/Reverse Curl

Focus-rectus abdominis

Lie on your back with knees bent and arms crossed over your chest. Simultaneously lift your head, neck, shoulders and shoulder blades off the floor in a slow controlled movement (2 counts). Pause for 2 counts and allow all remaining air out of lungs, then slowly lower to start position barely allowing the shoulders to touch the floor before you begin the next repetition. Exhale out as you lift, and inhale as you lower.

Lift feet from floor, knees at a 90 degree angle, contract abdominals into spine, and lift hips in 2 counts until buttocks and tail bone are off of floor (reverse curl), hold for two counts, and then slowly lower. Exhale as you lift, inhale as you lower.

Advancing Techniques

Perform both movements together, place fists at temples, or extend both arms straight from shoulders to add resistance to movement. Add weight plate across chest. Use a decline bench with head at decline and feet at incline or add a Resist-A-Ball (stability ball) for added core stabilization and balance challenge. Foam rollers and wobble discs may also be utilize to add variety.

Twisting Oblique Curl

Focus- obliques

Lie on your back with knees bent and right hand placed across left shoulder, and left arm outside of left thigh for support. Lift your head, neck, and shoulder then rotate at spine bringing right shoulder toward left knee. Keep your hips pressing in toward the floor, and abdominals pressing firmly toward the spine. As you begin to rotate keep traveling up in the movement to get the right shoulder blade off of the floor. Pause at the top of the movement, and slowly lower. Repeat the movement with the left shoulder moving toward the right knee. Exhale as you lift, and inhale as you lower.

Advancing Techniques

Place both hands behind head with thumbs resting behind ears, or extend one arm up from shoulder as you lift toward knee (right side lifting toward left, then right arm would extend). Lift feet from floor with knees at a 90 degree angle, allow knees to drop toward right 2 counts, hold 2 counts, then slowly draw knees back in toward midline. Use a decline bench and perform same movements, add a weight plate across chest, and/or utilize the stability ball or other inexpensive equipment for challenge and variety.

Abdominal Breathing

Focus- transversus abdominis

Lie on your back with knees bent and hand across your stomach. Take a full breath in and expand your belly with air. As you exhale feel the transversus muscle compress in toward your spine. Breath in 4 counts, but breath out 8 counts. Make the last 4 counts of the exhale a deep abdominal contraction. Finally, hold the transversus muscle in for a full 60 seconds and try to keep breathing normally.

Advancing Techniques

Sit up on your knees or with your legs crossed, spine fully extended and neutral. Allow your shoulder blades to pull toward your spine, the chest to open forward, and the chin to rest parallel to the floor. Using a quick, sharp breathing pattern (in yoga this is called 'breath of fire') inhale through the nose, and exhale quickly with a short powerful bursts through pursed lips and out of the mouth for 30-60 seconds. It will make a "shh, shh, shh" sound. Try to perform these breaths from the abdominal region, and let the air come in and out quickly, using forceful contractions from the transversus to exhale out the air.

NOTE-

If this exercise makes you dizzy or lightheaded, stop immediately and return to abdominal breathing.

Amy is the NW Regional Trainer for Resist-A-Ball, Inc. and Faculty Trainer for the American Council on Exercise. Her Bachelor of Science was attained in Holistic Nutrition and is certified as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and yoga instructor. She also offers workshops, lectures and trainings for fitness professionals through her own company http://www.fitlaunch.com FIT Launch as well as providing personal training services locally.

Economical - Safe - Effective Core Strengthening Tools

To learn more and review health, wellness, and fitness products visit the http://www.healthygatherings.com Healthy Gatherings website.

Exercises With An Abdominal Exercise Ball

With today's fitness focus on the body's abdominal area, a number of exercises geared to strengthening one's abdomen area exist, mostly successfully working in conjunction with certain exercise equipment.

Most abdominal exercises aim for strengthening the rectus abdominus, popularly known as the "six pack" area, as well as the obliques. Exercises with an Abdominal Exercise Ball stand to be among the most popular, as an exercise ball is pretty much applicable to most exercise regimen geared for various part of the body, making it a general porpose exercise equipment.

Here are two of the most popular exercises with an abdominal exercise ball.

Abdominal Curl with Exercise Ball

Known as the "six pack exercise" this exercise type is aimed to tone the rectus abdominus, as well as the transverse abdominus and obliques, and is quite popular with abdominal exercise ball users.

Its first step is to position one's self to lie on the exercise ball, making sure that one's knees are at a 90 degree angle, with the rest of the body on a position parallel to the floor. From then on, the exerciser would have to slowly lift his/her shoulders upwards, without bending one's hips.

After this, the exerciser would go back to the starting position, completing the exercise. It is a relatively easy exercise, which produces ideal results.

Exercise Ball Abdominal Roll-ups

Aiming the body's rectus abdominus, obliques and the hip flexors, abdominal exercise ball roll-ups provide quite a workout experience, strengthening an exerciser's general abdomen area.

The exercise type is successfully done by first positioning the exercise ball in front of a kneeling exerciser, who then, after positioning the ball in front, lies on top of the ball. The exercise's second step comes with the exerciser reaching out, letting his/her hands touch the ground, rolling the ball towards his/her thighs. The exerciser then walks his/her hands until his/her shins touch the ball, making sure his abdominals are tightened as well as his/her shoulders are properly aligned with his/her hands.

From there, the exerciser pulls the ball forward using his/her legs, then bending his/her knees towards his/her chest, while the ball is rolled beneath the exerciser until the exerciser's knees touch his/her chest.

After this, the exerciser rolls back into the starting position, then repeating the steps, making a successful Exercise Ball Abdominal Roll-Up.

There are other exercises which utilize abdominal exercise balls. The Abdominal Curl with Exercise Ball and the Exercise Abdominal Ball Roll-ups are simply the most popularly known.

Milos Pesic is a professional fitness trainer who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Abdominal Training web site. For more articles and resources on abdominal exercises, abdominal workout tips, abdominal fitness equipment and much more visit his site at:

http://abs.need-to-know.net/

Abdominal Muscles Exercise - Lesser Known Workout Hints For Abdominals

Ab Physical Exercise - User-friendly Exercise Hints For Abdominal Muscles.

Individuals nowadays are really over-busy. Bustling to the gym for an abdominal workout can take in a lot of time. Many of us don't experience time off from the computer. But you daydream of a different torso. You want a fashion model's physical structure. Along with astonishing six pack abdominal muscles. Do you desire that?

Fortunately there is an ab workout that may be finished along your active agenda. The following is a list of fabulous techniques for your abdominal muscle workout.

Ab Workout Crunches

Nearly all people already recognise how to do this. These abdominal physical exercise aim at the top abdomen. This is one of the best ab workout. Lie Down on a flat floor and turn up your hands under your head or along your thorax. Put your feet level on the ground.

Contract your abs and hoist your shoulders and head above the flooring. Support for 2 seconds then decompress. Practice them smoothly and ceaselessly without jerking your trunk. Centering on your tummy to bring up your uppermost trunk. Do not tense up your neck or shoulder muscles. This is the wrong pose and will cause strain and painful wrenches.

Abdominal Muscle Exercise Sidelong Sit up

These abdominal muscle exercises are similar to typical crunch but are directed at the abdominal external oblique muscle which are what we also name "love handles". The movement uses the corresponding technique only it's utilized to each side of your tummy. This abdominal muscle workout is for the sides of your trunk.

Ab Exercise Resting Leg Elevators

Aim at your lower stomach with this move. With this abdominal exercise, you lead off in the comparable place as with the sit up, flat along your vertebral column, but you arise. This aims at the muscular tissues of your lower stomach. Place your hands underneath your backside for leg lifts. This adds leverage and should aid you to lift your feet. For more of a abdominal muscle exercise challenge, you may tie padded weight units around your ankles. You may discover ankle weight units with variable straps at local athletics equipment stores. If you don't require to purchase exercising weights, you could fill used tubed stockings with clean, new kitty litter to create a 1 to 2 pound weight.

Tummy Workout V Sit up

Start with your chest at a forty five point slant to your legs, just comparable the resting leg hoist. Find a seat near the border of a work bench and position your hands behind you. Lean backwards along your hands. Bring your knees upwards toward your chest. You will end in a V pose. Your abdominals are settled at the base of the V.

Abdominal Muscle Exercise Cat Reach

This motion is analogous to mobilities a cat makes when it reaches its spinal column. This is a smooth and fast ab drill. Begin along your hands and knees and look straight ahead with your muscular tissues made relaxed. Tighten your abdominal muscle muscular tissues and roll your spinal column up as high as possible for you. Obtain the pose for a count of 5 before loosing your back.

Abdominal Exercise Cycle Sit-up

Set About this abdominal work out by lying on the floor. Lay your hands beside your head, support your spine along the flooring and bring up your knees skyward like you're peddling a bike. This ab physical exercise will target your lower abs.

Ab Workout Upright Side Twists

This abdominal workout will tighten up your oblique muscles and tone you in that area. Start Out from a standing up stance with your hands on your side. Support your tummy in and sustain your legs level. Slant your uppermost torso from left to right while holding the

I have seen a few crazy ab workouts in my lifetime. If you want to learn the correct ways to do an ab crunch for a flat stomach - save yourself time, money and headaches by visiting my blog for some fun advice. Also visit to discover the one thing that you must never do while exercising your abs!

Lower Abdominal Muscle Exercises

The muscles in the lower abdominal region (below the navel) do not exist in isolation. The abdominal muscles consist of a series, called the upper, lower and oblique abdominals.

It's not possible to train the lower abdominal muscles and leave out the others, but it is possible to do exercises that emphasize this area. Let's try and understand the function of the abdominal muscles.

Contraction of the upper abdominal muscles tends to bring the ribs towards the pelvis. Imagine you are lying on your back for the abdominal crunch. When your shoulders are raised off the floor, the action is initiated by the upper abdominal muscles.

Contraction of the lower abdominal muscles tends to bring the pelvis towards the ribs. Imagine you are lying on your back for the traditional reverse abdominal crunch (one of the best lower abdominal exercises). When your legs and hips are raised off the floor, the action is initiated by the lower abdominal muscles.

The secret to a flat, toned and trim lower abdominal region lies in aerobic exercise and diet. In addition, you need to do specific exercises, which I am about to teach you.

How to stimulate change when your abs stop responding. As human beings, we are creatures of habit. We tend to do the same exercises over and over again, in the hope that we will see results at some point. This does not work, because the body becomes accustomed to the same type of stress and becomes 'energetically efficient'. This means that when you do the same exercise over a period of time, the body becomes so efficient at it that it burns fewer calories while doing it!

For example, if you use the treadmill 3 times a week, your body progressively burns less calories each time (as long as the speed, incline and duration remain the same). To get results, you need to adjust one of the 3 factors.

Also, following the same exercise regimen over and over not only gets boring, but can lead to exercise plateaus that can decrease your results.

Hence, if you normally exercise for 45 minutes four days a week on a treadmill with the same intensity and time for each workout, over time you will not benefit as much as you did when you began. Your body will become accustomed to the routine, and it can become increasingly difficult for you to meet your fitness goals. The repetitiveness also can be boring - even with music, TV or a magazine for distraction, the exercise might become mundane, which also can decrease the likelihood you'll continue working out.

Mix it up! Do you work out at a gym? Instead of 45 minutes on a treadmill each time, jump on a Lifecycle exercise bike for 30 minutes, then spend 15 minutes on a stairclimber. Swim one day and lift weights another.

What does this have to do with lower abdominals? Everything! Change is good, and stimulates fat loss, which in turn helps the lower abdominal muscles become more visible and defined. Treat your body as a complete unit rather than over emphasizing the waistline. Don't make the same mistake that everyone does - doing hundreds of repetitions of abdominal exercises in the hope of getting a flat abdominal region.

Lower abdominal muscle exercises. These exercises involve the lower body, specifically the gluteals (the muscles in the hip and buttock region burn a lot of calories, the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body) and the quadriceps and calves. Translation - you burn more calories and more body fat. Strength training for the back and shoulders also helps boost metabolism, which is critical to low body fat.

Plank - Lower Abdominal And Lower Back Muscles. Starting Position: Get on an exercise matt on all fours, with your elbows touching the matt directly underneath your shoulders. Extend your legs back as far as you can, and keep the toes on the floor. Movement: Raise the hips up and hold yourself in this 'plank position' with your back completely flat. This is an excellent exercise for the hips, thighs and abdominal muscles. Lower the hips slowly down to the mat. Repeat 15-20 repetitions. (Most individuals find it hard to complete 15-20 reps for this exercise and 8-10 might be a more suitable starting point).

Reverse Crunches - Lower Abdominal Muscles. Starting Position: Lie on your back with your hands at your sides. Raise your legs straight up in the air. Movement: Exhale as you bend your knees while curling your lower body towards your chest. Inhale as you slowly return your legs to the starting position. Remember to squeeze your abs, and repeat as required. Repeat 15-20 repetitions.

Lying Scissors - Lower Abdominal Muscles. Starting Position: Lie on your back on an exercise matt with your palms on the mat under your lower back and your legs outstretched. Movement: Exhale as you alternately raise your legs up in the air with a slight bend in them. Inhale as you lower your legs back down to the matt. Repeat for 8-10 repetitions.

These exercises will help you get results, as long as you are consistent with the program. Good luck on your way to a flat lower abdominal region!

Get a free, full colour exercise routine instantly by emailing home-exercise@aweber.com For more information about these exercises, and to get free full color exercise routines, diet plans and grocery lists, visit Best Weight Loss Programs