By
eHow Sports & Fitness Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Things You’ll Need:
Step1
Plan to do your abdominal exercises four to five times a week.
Step2
Review "Do an Abdominal Crunch." (See Related eHows.)
Step3
Do at least two sets each of standard, reverse and oblique crunches, 15 to 20 repetitions per set. Add the following advanced exercises to your routine only when you can complete these sets. You should see results in 4 to 6 weeks.
Step4
Perform 10 repetitions of jackknives. Lie flat on your back with your legs straight out together and your arms extended on the floor above your head. Raise your upper and lower body simultaneously, extending hands to feet. Concentrate on using your abdominals to raise your upper and lower body. Pause at the top of the exercise, when your abdominals are contracted, then slowly lower to the starting position.
Step5
Do 10 repetitions of side bends. Stand up straight with a dumbbell in your right hand and your left hand placed on your hip. Bend to your right slowly, lowering the dumbbell until you feel the muscle in your side (oblique) contracting. Pause, then slowly rise to your starting position. Switch the dumbbell to the other hand and repeat.
Step6
Incorporate cardiovascular exercise into your program. Exercise for 20 to 30 minutes at a moderate pace, four days a week. A moderate pace is 55 to 75 percent of your maximum effort. You should be able to carry on a conversation while exercising. Track your heart rate by wearing an arm or wrist heart rate monitor while you work out.
Step7
Maintain variety in your schedule. Running, swimming, cycling, and using some home gym equipment like a stair-stepping machine or treadmill are all excellent forms of cardiovascular activity.
Build and Define Your Abdominals
Comments
scaro said
on 5/13/2007 CAUTION- I do not know what effect this will have on your back. My back seems to be fine, but if you have a bad back you might want to use caution or not perform the exercise at all.
The easiest way to get great abs is to simply lift your legs off of the ground while you are sitting at your desk. I usually lift them off the ground while my legs are at a 90 degree angle. You can also extend them out fully and lift them off the ground, but this might look a little strange to someone sitting near you. Also, I usually either press my hands, forearms, or elbows on the desk for support.
Do this for a few minutes a few times throughout your day and you'll have great abs in a few months. (At least that's how long it took me to get good abs.) Do this along with other ab exercises and you'll get them even sooner.
P.S. I also found doing this tended to distract me from my work.
Anonymous said
on 4/16/2007 The best way to squeeze out the fat in your abs, as well as define them, is to stay in a push up position for as long as you can.
Anonymous said
on 4/16/2007 Mix and match cardio and ab strength training. People who don't have abs have two problems:
-Their abs aren't defined enough.
-There is too much fat over the abs.
Believe it or not, losing the fat is the hardest part. Almost everyone has abs, it's just a matter of being able to see them and defining them.
Do your strength training before your cardio workout. You need your energy for the strength training. Doing your cardio before strength training will hinder your results, but doing strength training before cardio has little effect on your cardio intensity.
Push yourself to your limit, always try and do more than you did last time, and give yourself at least a days rest in between strength training. The muscle needs time to rebuild itself. Keep the reps down and the intensity up. Work your other muscles as well; especially your pecs and back.
I also suggest a high protein (1.5g of protein per 1 pound), low-fat diet, but keep the calories the same. I have to eat 3200 calories, 200g protein, and less than 300 carbs, as a diabetic. It's hard, but not impossible.
Anonymous said
on 8/5/2006 Determination is very important. You need it in whatever you do! I do crunches about five days a week each time about 70 reps in 3 sets. This really works for me, even though I am female. Do different types of crunches and sit ups. You can also try doing push ups, this might help, too.
Anonymous said
on 7/23/2006 Do crunches on a large exercise ball. It works your whole stomach at once, including the sides, rather than just the top or bottom. Staying balanced also works your legs. Start out with a couple, then when your body gets used to it, do 25 right when you get out of bed, any time your sitting around during the day, and right before you go to sleep.
Also, putting your feet on the ball and doing push ups is a great abdominal, arm and full body work out.