The Best Work Out With Regard To The The The Ab Muscles

Many fitness enthusiasts desire to develop their abdomen more than any other area. Some fail to realize that the abdominal area is not merely one muscle. The abdomen is made up of a group of muscles. Because of this fact, one should utilize a group of different exercises in order to get the best work out for this group of muscles. There are many different exercises to choose from that are excellent for developing the abs.

The abs exercise with the highest popularity is the crunch. This exercise is executed by lying face up on the floor with the knees slightly bent and then lifting the upper-body off of the floor towards the thighs. To deepen this exercise, one can execute the crunch while holding an exercise ball between ones legs.

A nice variation on the popular crunch is to bring the left foot up and rest it on the right knee across the body. Repeat the crunching action while in this position. Follow this by placing the right foot across onto the left knee across ones body. Alternating the crunch exercise provides different stimulation for the muscle group which is an excellent work out for the abdominal muscles.

A way to provide variety to the crunch is to perform the reverse crunch. The reverse crunch is done by lying on ones back and, instead of lifting the torso, one would lift the lower half of ones body. This exercise should be done slowly with controlled motion. The form should be proper in order for this exercise to be effective.

The hanging knee lift is an exercise that is also excellent for the abdominal muscles. The hanging knee lift is executed by holding a chin-up bar and elevating the bottom half of the body bringing the knees into the chest. To perform this exercise properly, one should refrain from moving the upper body and lift the lower body at the pelvis, not the hip. Bending at the hip is a good hip flexor exercise, but does little for the abdomen.

Another workout for the abdominal muscles is known as the bicycle. In this exercise, one would lie on ones back and motions the legs in the same motion as one would when riding a bike. The hands should be interlocked and rest comfortably behind the head and the abs should be contracted the whole time in order to get the maximum benefit from this exercise. Also, one should twist the body while moving the legs to cause each elbow to alternately touch the opposite knee in the bicycle motion.

An alteration to the bike exercise is to change the speeds of ones legs from fast to slow and then fast again. The changing of the speeds causes different levels of resistance for the abs which helps them improve. One more alteration to the bike exercise is to extend one leg fully and hold it above the floor for a few seconds leaving the other leg in a crunched position. Alternately switch to the other leg and hold it fully extended above the floor for a few seconds while crunching the first leg.

To get the best effect, the same exercise should not be executed every day. One should do different exercises to avoid working-out the same group of muscles in the exact same way on consecutive days. By using different exercises, one can potentially obtain the best work out for the abdominal muscles.