When ranking the best exercises for this muscle group, it's sure to spark a discussion. These are muscles whose work we feel in a very individual way.
Muscle strength or appearance?
For many, the abs are a key part of building that dream physique. Deprived of unnecessary fat tissue, flat, but with outlined shape of muscles, for many this is the goal. It doesn't have to be the legendary "six-pack" right away, for many it’s just a great showcase how hard they’ve been working and how far they’ve come. However, the strength of the abdominal muscles must also go hand in hand with their appearance - they are stabilizing muscles after all and they work in many activities that are absolutely necessary in virtually every sport.
Everyone has their own exercises.
Discussions about which exercises work for whom and which do not work are probably one of the most popular topics of conversation at gyms. Feeling a lot of abdominal exercise and that ‘soreness’ is a very individual thing. Classic sit-ups performed even in the immortal "6 Weider" is a deadly exercise for some, and a complete waste of time for others. So how do we choose a set of exercises for yourself? Simple, the trial-and-error method. However, remembering that we must devote time and attention to each new exercise we test. It's not enough to do five repetitions sloppy and say it doesn't work. Let's train precisely, even perfectly and for several training sessions. If we don't see results, then we look for another set of exercises.
The belly likes variety.
For several months now, you've been doing the same abdominal exercises at every workout and you're happy because your muscles are clearly tense. Or maybe it's still worth trying something new and surprising your muscles? In the case of abdominal muscles, "boredom" and lack of efficiency occur quite quickly. We also have little possibility to operate with additional load, because some exercises are performed completely without load, and reaching for the weight may even result in a compromise in form. So, it's time for a change. Even if only for a while.
Incorporate NEAT and isometric exercises into your abs routine.
We recently wrote about NEAT - it is a spontaneous physical activity that we perform during the day. This is not training, but any movement related to daily activities. It depends on us whether there will be a lot of this traffic or whether we will save ourselves (simple choice: stairs or elevator, car, or shopping). Any additional activity helps you burn excess calories and therefore affects the appearance of your belly. If you add to these isometric exercises (several seconds of muscle contraction without shortening their length) during everyday activities
According to scientists, the best…
Scientists took a closer look at the most popular exercises for the abdominal muscles - classic crunches, kneeling cable pulls, lifting the knees to the chest, "penknife" type clasps and a few others. A total of 12 exercises where abdominal muscle tone was tested. In the study, the best results were achieved by four exercises:
Diagonal abdominal crunches combined with a bicycle.
Lying on your back with your hands clasped behind your head, lift your upper torso, tensing your abdominal muscles. We bend our legs at the knees and slowly make the movement as when pedaling on a bicycle. At the same time, during the movement, we bring the right knee to the left elbow, and then the left knee to the right elbow. The torso is lifted all the time, the position is maintained by tightening the abdominal muscles.
Lifting knees hanging on the handrails
The forearms rest on handrails, the back is supported. We raise our knees to the chest slowly, using only the strength of the abdominal muscles. This is an exercise where it's very easy to cheat - just swing your legs and you'll be fine. However, it's not about having completed repetitions, but about making the stomach very tired. The results depend only on your honesty. Advanced option: the more straight your legs are in the knees, the harder it is to do.
Abdominal crunches lying on the floor with legs raised.
Lie on your back, hands clasped behind your head or along your torso. Legs slightly bent at the knees raised perpendicular to the ground. The movement consists in lifting the torso up towards the feet without changing the position of the legs. The range of motion is very small, but the effort can be huge.
Abdominal crunches on an exercise ball
Lie on the exercise ball so that your buttocks and part of your torso rest against it. Shoulders and head should be off the ball. Legs bent at the knees, feet resting on the ground provide balance. Keeping hands clasped behind the head, tighten your abdominal muscles, lifting your head and shoulders. A more advanced option: hold the weight with your arms straight and perpendicular to the ground and lift your torso, trying to lift the weight as high as possible.
Maybe one of these exercises will become your favorite and you will confirm in this way the scientific research results?