The Body Care Retreat

Tone Your Abdominal Muscles With These Three Routines

Posted on 04 March 2010

Let’s face it; we are all drawn towards a flat and well-toned belly and we all want those hard to achieve, well defined abs. The muscles of your midsection, namely the abdominal muscle group, are not isolated. They interweave through your torso like a tangled web of tensile steel, and it is critical to train them the right way for body stability. You can do exercises for the obliques, and upper and lower abdominal exercises, for example. So how do you get the results you want as quickly as possible? Let’s take a look.

A traditional sit-up, where you raise your trunk up from the floor with your knees bent or straight, involves the hip muscles disproportionately over the abs. What this means is the hip muscles get more of the workout and the abdominal muscle group gets less. With a traditional sit-up, your abs are not getting trained in the right way. As an unwanted side effect, there is unnecessary and potentially harmful strain put on the lower back during this type of sit-up.

Based on the findings of a certain research study, the three abdominal routines that provide the greatest results are the conventional crunch, leg lifts and v-ups. For the best results from an exercise regime such as this, begin with two or three sets of each of those moves, performing eight to ten reps in each set. Every week, add eight to ten reps until you are doing forty reps in every set. To firm the abdominals, you will want to do two sets of thirty-five to forty repetitions each day; any more than this is excessive.

First of all, there is the standard crunch. To perform this move, you will have to lie down on the floor having your knees a little bent and your feet horizontal on the floor. Squeeze your abdominal muscles by drawing your bellybutton back in the direction of your backbone and cross your arms over your chest. Next, raise your shoulders from the ground while keeping your back straight. Don’t neglect to breathe through your mouth. With your shoulders raised, wait for a moment and breathe out. Now gradually drop your shoulders to the ground without allowing your head to touch the ground.

No abdominal workout would be complete without some leg lifts. To perform a leg lift, lie on the ground with hands next to your sides and your legs horizontal. Lift your legs directly up so that they’re pointing at the ceiling; then lower them down again without letting them touch the ground. Continue raising and lowering your legs for as long as you are comfortable. As a substitute for this move, you may also support yourself on a bar and perform leg lifts by lifting your knees to your chest.

You perform a v-up when you lie flat on a mat with your hands stretched back over your head, touching the ground. Next lift your chest and legs concurrently, while your legs remain straight. Stretch your hands towards your feet and if possible, touch them. Maintain this pose for a few seconds and then return to the horizontal position.

There are a few things to keep in mind when beginning abdominal muscle exercises. If you have lower back pain or an injury, then consult a doctor before you begin, so that you don’t hurt yourself. Consult a physician if you are over the age of thirty-five, have a sedentary lifestyle, have high blood pressure, are a smoker, have ever had chest pains or shortness of breath or have a known joint or muscle injury.

You need to start an abdominal fat exercise program if you want to slim your waistline and get rid of your gut. If you have tried doing abdominal fat exercises but are not seeing results, make sure you are doing them correctly.