Have you been working toward a flat stomach for what seems like forever and getting nowhere? There are many myths about ab exercises that are guaranteed to generate six-pack abs, but fail to produce results. If you're ready to target your abs by training your core and maximize your fat burning ability, the following information will be beneficial to you.
Abdominal exercises are a great way to improve the look of your body, giving you a flat, defined stomach. There are many easy, healthy exercises that can tone the muscles around the middle. However, if you're focusing on strengthening and defining your abs by doing hundreds of crunches, you're probably not getting the results you've been hoping for. In order to achieve six-pack abs, you must start by focusing on your core.
Training your core muscles with targeted workouts will maximize your fat burning ability. By taking the basic principles of cardiovascular and circuit training and combining them with challenging core exercises, you will essentially be working out all of your major muscle groups and burning fat.
So, what is the core? The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly, the mid back, the lower back and the hip flexors. Most movements originate with the core, so a strong core is important for preventing and eliminating many common lower back problems.
Many core exercises incorporate the use of a medicine ball. Unlike traditional abdominal crunches that work your abdominal muscles from the top down, medicine balls address the mid-section, the area where most people want improvement. Throwing a medicine ball stabilizes the core, improves your torso and helps reduce the risk of injury due to weak core muscles. Medicine ball training also increases strength and hand-eye coordination by stimulating sport-specific functions like tennis, baseball and golf swings.
Here are two examples of core exercises that incorporate the use of a medicine ball:
Medicine Ball Lunge/Twist
1. Place your feet hip-width apart.
2. With a medicine ball in your hands, lunge forward with one foot as your back knee drops down into a proper lunge. Be sure you keep your back straight so that you aren't leaning forward.
3. Extend your arms in front of you at chest height with the ball in your hands and twist your torso toward your lead foot. This will cause everything from your torso up to twist with the ball, causing a contraction for the abdominal area. Inhale and bring your back foot up and twist back to starting position.
Medicine Ball Crunch/Toss
1. Begin seated on the floor, legs and spine straight.
2. With a medicine ball in your hands, extend out in front of you.
3. Pull your abdominal muscles in and engage the pelvis as you roll down onto the mat, while taking the ball over the head.
4. Roll back up and start taking the ball up and push the ball forward as you come back to a sitting position.
Core exercises, like those with a medicine ball, allow exercisers to set their own pace and increase motivation while the resulting adrenaline rush creates a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment toward their personal fitness goals. Noticeable benefits to core exercises and ab workouts include better balance, more stability, better posture and more energy. They may also eliminate and prevent back pain.
Ab workouts have become one of the most popular forms of exercise in recent times. For most people looking to get into shape, having a well defined and visible six pack is the ultimate goal from all the dieting and exercise. Not only does working out your abs help you to look sexy, but there are other numerous health benefits from having a strong core including improved performance in sports and for improvement of several chiropractic problems.
The most popular and basic way to exercise your abs are by doing "crunches". There are also many different ways to perform a crunch and we will look into how to do several of these below.
1. Basic Crunch
I'm sure most of you have tried this one before, it involves laying on your back with your knees slightly bent with your feet on the floor, and with your hands either on your chest or placed behind your head, you slowly lift your upper body by contracting your abdominal muscles. There is no need to fully raise yourself as you will no longer be using your ab muscles but three quarters of upright position is good.
This is the perfect exercise to begin strengthening your ab muscles before moving on to more difficult and strenuous variations of the standard crunch. As the abdominal muscles are some of the quickest to recover, you may if you like, perform ab workouts daily.
You also need to remember to do them slowly, and make sure your ab muscles are doing all of the work, if you go too fast you will end up using your momentum to lift you rather than your abs.
2. Oblique Crunch
If you really want the visible results of an ab workout you should try oblique crunches. Your obliques are also known as your "love handles" and are found on the sides of your body from your waist down to your hips. This type of crunch also works your upper abs and will give you the quickest visual results.
To perform an oblique crunch, you get into the same position as a standard crunch but instead of raising your upper body straight up, you twist your torso to the left or right (remember to alternate to workout both sides of your body) to work out those other muscles. While doing oblique crunches, try to focus on your oblique muscles by contracting them as hard as you can as you lift yourself off the floor.
Both Bob Lachinet & Robert Kokoska are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Bob Lachinet has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fitness, Treadmill Exercises and Fitness. Bob Lachinet is the owner of Fitness 4 Home Superstore, a specialty fitness equipment dealer recently named the #1 choice for home fitness equipment in Arizona by BestFitnessDealers.com! For the best deals on core machines with medicine balls includin. Bob Lachinet's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.
Robert Kokoska has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acne Treatment, Personal Desktop and Acne Treatment. Do you want the kind of abs that will make you the envy of your friends? Find out in the fastest way possible by visiting: Th. Robert Kokoska's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.