Three Great Exercises For Your Abs

There are few things lovelier than a toned mid-section. Of course, well-toned abs aren’t just attractive – they also help to protect your back from injury and make your entire body work better together. If you need a little help getting to six pack abs, check out the following three exercises for your abs.

The first exercise is a killer crunch – one that will target your abs and make sure you’re really working the right muscles. Begin by lying on the floor on your back on an exercise mat. Bend your knees and place your feet on the floor. Your arms should be lying next to your sides on the floor. Pull your abdominal muscles in towards your back, scoop and tilt your pelvis up, roll your chin in towards your chest and roll your shoulders up off the mat, as if you were trying to look into your belly button. Lift your arms about 3 inches off the floor. Breathing regularly, slowly pulse your upper body forward and backward, as if you were trying to reach your ankles with your hands. Try to work your way up to 100 pulses. You should feel your abdominal muscles contracting, but don’t use your leg or neck muscles to help you up.

This next abs exercise is designed for people who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. Begin this exercise sitting in a chair. Sit forward in the chair so that you have plenty of room between yourself and the back of the chair. Pull your chin down toward your chest, and while rounding your back, slump down just a bit until you feel your abdominal muscles engage. Slowly pulse back and forth, feeling your abdominal muscles engage and release. Start with as many repetitions as you feel comfortable with, and work your way up to 50. Remember to breathe normally throughout the exercise.

It’s also important to note that either of these first two exercises can be modified to work the muscles along the sides of your abs as well. In the first exercise, instead of curling up both shoulder blades, curl only one side toward the opposite knee, then after working one side, repeat on the other. In the seated exercise, do the exercise the same way, except as you pulse forward, bring one shoulder toward the opposite knee.

However, neither of these exercises focuses on the muscles in the lower abdomen, which are notoriously hard to target. But here’s an exercise that does just that. Begin again by lying on your back on the exercise mat. Your arms should again be down by your side. Bend your knees and place your feet on the floor. Now, let your knees fall open and out, and bring the soles of your feet together. From this position, pull in your abdominal muscles, scoop and tilt your pelvis and do some crunching. As you perform this exercise, you’ll quickly see how it works different muscles from the killer crunch.

Building strong abs takes time, patience and diligence. Begin from where you are and work your way up slowly – eventually; you’ll be rewarded with increased strength and tone in your abs.

**Before beginning any exercise program, check with your healthcare provider.