How to Do Ab Exercises
When it comes to strength training, it is not as important what exercises you do as how you do them. Proper exercise form, especially with abdominal exercises, is essential to getting results. You must teach your brain and your muscles to communicate effectively. Exercise all the different abdominal muscles and do the right number, or repetitions, of exercises.
Instructions
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How to Do Ab Exercises
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Lie on your back on a mat. Bend your knees and put your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands on your stomach just below the belly button. Squeeze your abs by imagining pulling your belly button into your spine. Hold this position until you feel confident in your ability to activate your abdominal muscles at will.
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2
Stand up and try to do the same thing. Put your hands on your stomach, tuck your hips, and pull in your abs. Hold this position for 30 seconds while breathing normally. Do not attempt to do core exercises until you can easily get these muscles to activate.
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3
Lie back on your mat and bring your knees in with feet flat on the floor. Cross your arms across your chest or hold them an inch off the floor to your sides with palms facing down. Engage your ab muscles by pulling your belly button in and pushing your lower back flat into the floor. Exhale and crunch your shoulders up off the floor. Keep your chin lifted and your neck relaxed. Hold this for three seconds. Inhale and lower yourself slowly to the mat without releasing your ab muscles or allowing your back to lift off the floor. Do two sets of 12 repetitions.
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4
Roll onto your right side with your knees still bent. Stretch your right arm straight along the mat and lie on your right bicep. Put your left hand on your left hip to feel your oblique muscle. Pull in your belly button and imagine pulling the left waist muscle inward as well. Feel the muscle in your waist tighten. If you cannot do this after practicing a few times, try crunching your torso up to the side. Bring your left hand behind your head once you are able to feel the left oblique muscle activate. Do two sets of 12 oblique side crunches on your left and then roll over and do the same on your right, resting for 60 seconds between sets.
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5
Lift onto your hands and toes into a plank or push-up position. Place your hands under your shoulders and your feet hip-width apart. Lift your hips until your back is flat. Look in a mirror to check your position. Pull in your abs again and hold the position for 30 to 60 seconds. This will work your deep stabilizer muscles. Squeeze as hard as you can while maintaining a flat back.
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Tips & Warnings
Doing these simple exercises correctly will teach your body how to easily activate your ab muscles in preparation for more-advanced exercises. These are the muscles you'll use anytime you're standing, moving, or even sitting up straight. Practice pulling in your abs while you're waiting in line at the store or sitting in front of the TV. When you feel confident you've mastered these exercises, try their counterparts on a stability ball. The ball crunch, ball side crunch, and ball plank (with either your feet or hands on the ball) are excellent exercises for intermediate exercisers. See the Resources section below for more information.
Do not be tempted to try advanced ab exercise with weights, balls, or resistance cables until you have mastered these basic exercises. If done correctly, the above exercises will work your muscles harder than doing advanced exercises incorrectly. Advanced exercises can injure the muscles of the lower back, which try to compensate for the lack of strength in your abdominal muscles.
