The 5 Best Abdominal Exercises

There are many exercises for toning the abdominal muscles, here are five of the more effective ones

Getting a flat, sexy stomach requires a combination of diet and exercise to achieve the best results.

Nobody enjoys crunches, but in order to really get a flat tummy, you need to do the best abdominal exercises for strengthening those muscles that make your core strong and hold the stomach in naturally.

Here are some of the best abdominal exercises you can do:

5 Effective Abdominal Exercises

1. The Bicycle Exercise

This is a tried and true exercise that everyone knows how to do, but it also happens to be the best abdominal exercise for strengthening the major muscles of the stomach. Lie on the floor on your back.

Bring knees up and lift shoulder blades off the floor. Then move elbows toward the opposite knees in a bicycle motion. Remember not to pull on your neck as you do this exercise.

2. Captain’s Chair Leg Raises

These exercises are done on the Captain’s Chair machine at the gym. Your body is supported by your arms so your stomach muscles do all the work as you raise and lower your legs.

Don’t swing your legs or let momentum do the work. Raise and lower slowly. This is a great exercise for your oblique muscles, too.

3. Crunches on an exercise ball

Crunches done on an exercise ball are more effective than crunches done on the floor. The reason doing crunches on an exercise ball is one of the best abdominal exercises is because your abdominal muscles must do all the work.

When you do crunches from the floor, your legs do a lot of the work.

4. Vertical Leg Crunch

In this crunch, you lie on the floor with legs up in the air, crossing your knees. Lift up off the floor, in a crunch, as though you’re trying to get your chest to your knees.

This exercise is one of the best abdominal exercises because it works the rectus abdominus, which is the primary abdominal muscle and the obliques, too.

5. Reverse Crunch

The reverse crunch is a very small movement, but it is one of the best abdominal exercises because it works the rectus abdominus at the very bottom of the muscle, where it’s harder to work.

To perform this exercise, lie on the floor with hands on the floor. Bring knees to the chest until they’re at a 90 degree angle. Lift hips off the floor, as though you’re trying to bring your feet to the ceiling.

Remember diet is key for revealing the abdominal’s

It’s important to remember that performing abdominal exercises, even when you’re using the very best abdominal exercises, won’t rid you of fat around your abdomen. To get rid of that fat, you must lose weight through diet and aerobic exercise, which burns fat throughout the body.

However, the best abdominal exercises will strengthen the core muscles of the abdomen, helping hold the stomach in and revealing the abdominal muscles as the belly fat is lost. To really get a great looking set of abs, you’ll need to combine diet with aerobic exercise and the best abdominal exercises, too.