The abdominal muscles are some of the most important muscles in the body when it comes to posture and strength. Poor ab strength can lead to severe back problems, and can affect your ability to stand and sit for long periods of time.
Not to mention how a nice 6 pack boosts your self confidence and makes you look great no matter what you wear! Not all ab exercises will help you achieve the results you want. The best ab exercises will assist you in toning this problem area and making you look leaner without straining your muscles.
Stability Ball Exercises
One of the best ab exercises is the stability ball. Just to maintain balance on a stability ball the abdominals have to be engaged, this alone will increase muscle strength. In addition stability balls can modify traditional ab exercises.
Stomach crunches, sit ups and curls can all be done using a stability ball to make each move more intense and provide more effective results.
Floor Exercises
Some of the best ab exercises are still the old school ab exercises that put you down on the floor. Doing ab exercises this way requires the most effort and puts more physical strain on the body, so fewer repetitions are needed.
Traditional mat exercises should always be done on a padded mat to reduce the chances of injuring the back and to provide a comfortable stable surface.
Core Exercises
Core exercise such as Pilates, yoga and tai chi focus on building up and strengthening the muscles that support the spine. Since these muscles include the back and stomach muscles, core exercises are one of the best ab exercises around.
All three exercises focus on deep breathing techniques, and slowly working through a range of movements. The precision used in core exercises naturally target the stomach muscles without putting stress or strain on the entire body. With regular use core exercises can provide a flatter more toned stomach.
Ab Equipment
If you have trouble staying interested when doing ab exercises maybe purchasing one of the best ab exercise machines could invigorate your workout and keep you focused on meeting your goals. Most gyms carry top of the line exercise equipment that specifically targets the abs.
If you want to use ab exercise equipment at home plenty of products are available for purchase. Search online and consult with fitness professionals to get the best recommendations and ensure that you don’t waste your money.
Weight Training
Free weights are one of the best ab exercises because of its ability to increase muscle size, strength, balance and endurance. Curls are a popular exercise to complete using free weights. Injuries with free weights are common as they can slip from the hand.
To reduce your risk of injury try using water weights instead of heavy dumbbells and keep a firm grip on your weight at all times, and have a towel near by to keep your palms from getting to sweaty. It’s important that you use the right size weights for your fitness level. Using larger weights won’t make you use weight any faster it will just make an injury that much more possible.
Whatever abdominal exercises you use it’s important to follow certain guidelines. Vary up your abdominal routine, and try several different best ab exercises each time you work out to ensure the exercise is effective.
Start out each move with only five to fifteen repetitions and gradually increase as each move becomes easier. Only use specific ab exercise two to three times a week and remember to include aerobic exercises to achieve the best results.
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