The Most Effective Ab Workouts:

The best Ab workouts can give you results.  Most of us would love to have ripped abs, so most us would figure we better start on those crunches, because that’s the only way to get them right? Well, most of would be wrong.

Which ab exercises should I do? Toned six pack abs are not the result you’ll get from doing crunches and sit ups. To get a six pack, Arnold style, the first thing you need to do is lose that belly fat.     Start by cutting back on saturated fats, processed grains, and sugars—this will go a long way to slimming your waistline.For those abs to really show, you’ll want a body fat ratio of less than 12%.  

Doing exercises that provide resistance, which will develop and tone your muscles, is the next step. Crunches offer virtually no resistance, and aren’t that great besides not a great abdominal exercise.    Even if you do five hundred crunches, because there’s isn’t resistance, it won’t do any good. 

You need an ab workout that will burn fat, especially that belly fat, and increase your metabolic rate. 

The best way to do this is work out your whole body, and not focus solely on the abs.  By training large muscle groups like the back, legs, and chest, your metabolism will increase.  You’ll start to get lean and have tone and definition in your muscles.  

The best exercises for abs  are the bicycling maneuver, the captain’s chair, and using an exercise ball.

The bicycling maneuver works every muscle in your abs, and as an added bonus, is great for cardio. The exercise ball challenges your abs, as well as your glutes.

The Bicycling Maneuver-  Many consider the bicycling maneuver to be the best work out for your abs.  To perform this exercise, lie on your back on the floor and put your hands behind your head, like you would if you were going to do crunches.  Now bring your right elbow to your left knee, then switch and bring your left elbow to your right knee.  Just keep alternating sides.

The Exercise Ball-  One great way to use the exercise ball is to put it under your knees with your back on the floor. Contract your abs and use them to lift your hips off the floor. Use small movements; don’t swing or use momentum to help you up.

Other terrific exercises for 6 pack abs include hanging leg raises, and lying leg thrusts.  To get the maximum benefit when doing hanging leg raises, curl your pelvis up as you raise your hips.  This will really add to the definition in your midsection.  Squats, lunges, and climbing walls are also very good exercises to work your abs.

A few drills you can say sayonara to (aside from the dreaded crunch) are hanging knee raises, straight leg raises, sit ups, as well as kneeling crunches.  These exercises simply don’t work in developing abdominal muscles, so go ahead and cut them out of your regimen.  Move on to better exercises.  Some other tips to help in your quest for ripped abs:  firstly, remember that a healthy diet is the key.  Always perform 20 minutes of cardio activity at the beginning of every workout, and abs should be contracted and flexed between sets. 

Train on an empty stomach if you can, and allow for forty-eight hours between ab workouts and training sessions.