Frog crunch
- Sit on the floor, placing your weight on your sit bones. Bend your back to maintain balance, bend your knees and lift your feet off the floor.
- Exhale, draw your belly button toward your spine and lean back, opening your arms and straightening your legs.
- Inhale and return to the starting position with your knees near your chest.
- Repeat 20 times.
Sitap
Sitap - this abdominal exercise came to us from CrossFit. Very effective, but will be more difficult than twisting.
Execution: lie on the mat, bend your knees, extend your arms towards your head.
Vigorously raise your arms and quickly pull your body behind them until you are in a sitting position, as shown in the photo. Lift your body as you exhale. Then, while inhaling, smoothly return to the starting position. The sitap should be performed without pause, continuously raising and lowering the body. The same rule of contracting and stretching the abdominal muscles applies here as in the crunch exercise. Stretch your abs when you lie on the mat and contract them as much as possible when you sit.
If, when performing a sit-up, your feet leave the floor, you can catch them on a fixed support: a sofa, a closet, an exercise machine, etc. Or ask a training partner to hold your feet while you complete the set.
The situp is performed at a fast pace in 3 sets of 15-25 repetitions.
Bike
- Lie on the floor, press your lower back to the floor, put your hands behind your head.
- Pull your knees to your chest and lift your shoulder blades off the floor.
- Straighten your right leg low from the floor, and turn your body to the left, touching your right elbow to your left knee. This movement rotates the entire chest, not just the elbow.
- Perform the exercise in the other direction. This is one repetition.
- Complete 25 reps.
Pulling your knees to your chest on the horizontal bar
Most likely, this abdominal exercise will not be suitable for most women, since it must be performed while hanging on a horizontal bar. This requires strong hands. But if ladies still dare to do it, I recommend using special gloves so as not to get calluses on the palms.
Execution: you need to hang on the horizontal bar so that your feet do not touch the floor. The abdominal muscles should be relaxed and stretched.
As you exhale, vigorously pull your knees toward your chest while bending your knees. Stay in this position for a moment, feeling the tension and contraction of your abdominal muscles. Then slowly, while inhaling, return your legs to their original position. Perform leg raises continuously, without long pauses between repetitions.
When performing leg lifts, body sway inevitably occurs. Don't try to eliminate it. On the contrary, it is a very useful training factor, significantly complicating and developing your abdominal muscles.
Leg raises on the horizontal bar are done at an average or slow pace - 3 sets of 12-25 repetitions, depending on your level of training.
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Reverse crunches
- Lie on the floor, place your arms on either side of your body, palms down.
- Raise your legs with your knees bent so that they are at chest level.
- Lift your hips off the floor, lifting your legs higher.
- Lower your legs back to the floor and repeat 2-3 times.
- Do not use inertia, the movement must be performed using the muscles, so perform it slowly.
Oblique crunches
This version of the twisting exercise is very useful not only for the abdominal muscles, but also for the oblique abdominal muscles, on which not only the appearance of the abdomen, but also health depends. Plus, it's a great flexibility exercise! And don’t worry if you can’t do everything right right away. Flexibility and technique of the exercise are developed gradually.
Execution: lie on the mat, hands behind your head, bend your knees. Then gently lower your legs to the side so that one thigh rests firmly on the side of the floor. As a result, you should find yourself in a position that resembles the shape of a lightning bolt when viewed from above.
As you exhale, try to lift your body, focusing on contracting the muscles of the side of your waist located on top. The lifting of the body may be quite insignificant if you have not done such twists before. But the main thing is to feel the contraction and tension in the muscles of the side of the waist - the oblique abdominal muscles.
Perform continuously 12-25 contractions on one side, and then, changing position, on the other. This counts as one set of the exercise. An important point: try to achieve symmetry for each half of the body. It is especially important to achieve symmetry in sensations.
Oblique twists are performed in a slow rhythm - 3 sets of 12-25 repetitions on each side.
Cross fold
- Lie on the floor, straighten your legs, place your arms along your body.
- Slowly lift your body and right leg. Turn your body to the right and touch your right foot with your left hand. Hold for one second.
- Also slowly lower yourself back to the starting position and repeat on the other side.
- Perform the exercise 15 times, alternating sides.
Combined crunches
This abdominal exercise consists of two different movements combined into one. Bicycle kicks and body rotation with hands behind head. It turns out to be a very powerful and effective exercise that develops the abs, thighs, and oblique abdominal muscles!
Execution: lie on the mat, hands behind your head.
Start making movements with your legs that imitate pedaling a bicycle. At the same time, complement them with rotational movements of the body so that when you pull your left knee to your chest, you can touch it with your right elbow. Conversely, when your right knee is pulled up to your chest, touch it with your left elbow.
You can breathe during the exercise as you wish, as comfortable as possible. As long as you have enough breath until the end of the approach.
Combination crunches are usually performed in 3 sets of 12-25 repetitions on each leg. That is, the total should be 24-50 movements.
Slow leg lift
- Lie on the floor, lift your straight legs up, arms along your body.
- Press your lower back to the floor, slowly lower both legs, then raise them just as slowly. The slower you move, the more difficult the exercise.
- Repeat 10–15 times.
- If you want to make the exercise more difficult, do not lower your legs to the floor, hold them at an angle of 20-30 degrees, and then raise them again. In this case, the abdominal muscles will not relax throughout the entire exercise.
Fold in prone position
I bet no trainer has ever shown you abdominal exercises like this! And completely in vain. This exercise combines good muscle stretching and powerful contraction.
Execution: take a lying position, as for push-ups.
Perform a fold by lifting your pelvis up and feeling the contraction of your abdominal muscles. Then gently lower your pelvis down, feeling a good stretch in your abdominal area. Try to keep your legs straight. Continue to smoothly raise and lower your pelvis, contracting and stretching your abdominal muscles. In this exercise, the abdominal muscles work with the widest amplitude of all known exercises.
If you feel tension or pain in the lower back, stop exercising for a while.
The fold in the prone position should be performed smoothly - in 3 sets of 12-25 repetitions or more.
Raising arms and legs
- Lie on your stomach, raise your arms above your head. Lengthen your belly to protect and lengthen your lower back. Raise your legs, arms and head straight.
- Raise your right leg and left arm a little higher, then lower them lower and lift your left leg and right arm.
- Continue to slowly alternate arms and legs, do not dangle, keep your body in place.
- Repeat 20 times.
If you want to increase the load, try abdominal exercises with dumbbells and a medicine ball, or do abdominal exercises while standing. And don't forget about your diet! Even super intense exercise will not give you beautiful, sculpted abs without proper nutrition.
Exercises for the abs. Top ten.
Why these exercises? And why are there only ten of them? I learned about the effectiveness of these exercises for the abdominal muscles from my own practical experience of training and working as a trainer. It is these abdominal exercises that have proven highly effective in dozens of training programs for completely different people. My clients and I used these exercises to pump up powerful abs when bulking and to effectively lose weight in weight loss programs. Of course, when bulking up, we used additional weight on the head or hooked it to the legs. And in weight loss programs, we pumped up the abs with supersets, trisets and circuit training. But more on this in a separate article about training the abdominal muscles. It will also present other equally effective exercises.
Ab exercises and how to use them
Thus, insert no more than 2-3 abdominal exercises into your training program.
Perform them at the very beginning of your workout - as a warm-up - or at the end of the session.
Do each abdominal exercise for 3 sets of 12-25 reps unless otherwise suggested. It makes sense to do some exercises in 30-50 repetitions or more.
Perform abdominal exercises no more than 3-4 times a week. Every day is not an option, because the abs are the same striated muscles like all others. And they must have time to recover.
Remember to balance your abdominal training with exercises for your buttocks and back. Don't forget about the oblique muscles.
Straight leg raises while hanging on the horizontal bar
This is another purely male abdominal exercise, performed while hanging on a horizontal bar. Raise your legs straight until they touch the bar! This is one of the most difficult abdominal exercises in our selection. But also one of the most effective!
Execution: hang on the horizontal bar. Feet should not touch the floor.
Vigorously lift your straight (or almost straight) legs forward and upward until they touch the bar above your head. Feel how your abdominal muscles tense and contract. Then slowly, under control, lower your legs down. Repeat as many times as necessary. When raising your legs, exhale, when lowering, inhale. Exhaling helps to contract the abdominal muscles more strongly.
Consider the appearance of body swaying as an additional training factor. Rocking can make lifting your legs easier, or it can make it more difficult. Seize the appropriate moment and use it to develop your abdominal muscles.
Straight leg raises should be performed in 3 sets of 12-25 repetitions, depending on your level of training.
