You have probably heard the phrase "no pain no gain", well when your doing an abs workout you should feel like they're on fire! We will show you the best ab exercises below!
When you first train abs you don't want to over do it, because you could injure yourself, so you should start off with light weight and build up progressively and add more and more weight (and exercise variation) with each workout!
How To Get Abs:
Just like any other muscle, the abs need to be trained as well, a good abs workout that can be done at home is also shown further down. However because they are in a place of high body fat storage, an appropriate level of fat loss needs to be obtained before the abs will shine through!
Of course, because the abs need to grow before they show, you need to supplement adequate protein and calories to your program before you cut down and let them abs shine, my bulking program may help you achieve this!
Best Ab Exercises:
The abs workout shown below is a good routine to train your abs, you should aim to do 3-4 Sets with 6-12 Reps of each exercise, you don't need to have access to weights or a gym (you only need an ab roller wheel), these can all be done at home.
Sits-Ups:
The sit-up involves both the abdominals and other stabilising muscles, such as those in the chest, neck and lower-back, as well as hip flexors and lower-leg muscles if you hook your feet under something. For this reason it shouldn't be a main choice for an abs workout, but more of an additional ab exercise.
Crunches:
Crunches are a similar abs workout to the sit-up, just with a lesser range of motion, but during a crunch you should keep your lower back on the floor. Crunches are a good way of isolating the rectus abdominis muscle, also known as the six pack!
Planks:
The plank requires you to have your elbows on the floor underneath you and your feet extended outwards, essentially so you're holding yourself up. This abs workout activates most of the the muscles in your legs, glutes, back, arms and core. However, the traditional plank is not that great compared to the rest of the ab exercises, so instead i recommend the long-lever plank! This version is similar to the traditional plank, but instead of having your elbows 90 degrees under you, they should be slightly further out in-front of you.
Mountain Climbers:
Mountain climbers are similar to the plank, but instead of holding your body up on the spot, you're moving your legs forwards and backwards on the spot, as if you was trying to climb a mountain, its like jogging on the spot but in plank form and on your hands. Similar to the sit-up, this abs workout activates most muscles in your body, so you should count it as another additional ab exercise!
There are also many more ab exercises you can include in your abs workout program, these include the ab roller wheel, hanging knee-up, reverse crunch, ab windshield wipers and more!
People often say that a good compound movement such as the bench press, deadlift and squat will improve abs, while this is partly true that it will increase overall core strength and stability, it will not directly cause significant hypertrophy of the abs, you will need a good abs workout for this! EMG data supports this argument, concluding that the squat is ineffective in producing adequate rectus abdominis activation.
Also because some of the common ab exercises are also isometric exercises (such as the plank), we need to change the workout up a bit and include more sets of non-isometric exercises, such as the sit-up, crunches, mountain climbers, ab roller wheel etc. Also, similarly to other exercises and workouts, stick to the 6-12 rep range and a total of 10-15 sets of non-isometric exercises depending on your experience with abs, you can add isometric workouts, such as the plank, on top of the other exercises!
The Best Ab Exercises You Can Do:
- Sit-up
- Crunches
- Long-Lever Plank
- Mountain Climber
- Ab Roller Wheel
So in summary, a combination of crunches, sit-ups, mountain climbers, ab wheeler's and isometric exercises, such as the modified long-lever plank, should yield good results and contribute to your abs workout, soon you may even have a six pack! Good luck and be sure to always warm up prior to any ab exercises that you do, or any exercises at that!
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