Posts Tagged ‘build abs’

The 5 Best Abdominal Exercises Most People Are Not Doing

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Everyone has their own opinions about the best abdominal exercises. There is, however, one principle that cannot be ignored when it comes to picking great exercises for building six pack abs.

There should be a distinction between abdominal exercises which tighten the muscles and full body exercises which burns fat in the body. A mix of both exercises should be done to get the desired result.

The list of exercise left out by many people is below…..

1. Mountain climbers.

In this exercise you first lay down in the push up position and then basically “run” on the spot. Move both your hands and legs as if you are climbing an incline. But you actually are not moving and you stay in the same place. First bring up one leg to your armpit, then switch to the other. This exercise is a full body exercise and an excellent fat burner which is really engaging the abdominal muscles

2. Static jumps.

Closely related to mountain climbers, with this exercise you also assume the pushup position. Instead of alternating between bringing your legs forward, here you “jump” forward with both legs at once, landing your feet beneath your chest while keeping your hands planted on the ground. Kick back to straighten your legs and repeat.Done correctly, this is once again an excellent full body exercise. It sounds easy, but after a few repetitions you’ll feel a bit differently about it! One of the best abdominal exercises you can do.

3. Hanging leg lifts.

This exercise is done hanging from a pull up bar. Hang with your arms and legs extended. Now raise your knees, bringing them in towards your chest. Do not jerk, use a smooth, controlled motion. The exercise i even tougher if you do like this- keep legs straight, pull up your legs in front of you up to your waist levels.
Do some pull ups in between the above exercise.

4. Towel slide.

Do this exercise only on a smooth surface. Surfaces which shoe least friction like a tiled floor.

This exercise is simply explained here-  Assume you are using a towel. Get into push up position with your feet on the towel. Now, while keeping your legs and arms straight, slide your feet in towards your hands (until they’re more or less in line with your waist), then slide back into the full pushup position and repeat. Concentrate on your abdomen while doing this.

To turn this into a more involved full body exercise, do some pushups after every two or three slides.

5. Jack knives.

This is also a best abdominal exercise. Lie flat on your back, legs straight and arms stretched out over your head. Now, lift your legs while keeping them straight, and at the same time lift your arms (also keeping them straight) to touch your legs in the air above your waist. Never ever jerk while doing this exercise. if jerking could not be avoided then you must stop doing the exercise lest the benefits of doing this exercise are lost.
The above exercises are really some of the best abdominal exercises. Incorporate them into your exercise regimen for beneficial results.

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Which is Better- Upper Abdomen Exercises or Lower Abdomen Exercises?

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

In fitness training, most people are not clear about lower abs exercises and upper abs exercises. So let me clear the misconceptions here. The muscle which is originally to be discussed in such abs exercises is the rectus abdominus. Rectus means straight, and abdominus means the abdomen. all together we assume the meaning that the rectus abdominus runs straight down the abdomen. Rectus abdominus is the muscle which gives even the lean person a six pack look.

The rectus abdominus is 1 muscle, but it has tendinous intersections that separate muscle fibers forming distinct sections. Many people vehemently argue that rectus abdominus can’t be isolated and concentrated separately which is true when only one section is concentrated while others are not. But you can emphasize one section over another section.So the real problem is that people are confused over using the words isolate and emphasize.

Our nervous system is very complex and intricate with thousands of nerve cells and each muscle has thousands of muscle fibers. This allows us move with accuracy and precision. The rectus abdominus has multiple nerve endings which are coordinated fashion to create a variety of movements. The nerve endings coordinate our body movements and the upper and lower abs are emphasized upon when we do various movements.The upper part of the rectum abdominus, the upper abs are emphasized well when the trunk is mover forward as we move it in crunches and sit ups. Ball crunches, crunch machines and ab training machines have good value as a upper abs tightening methods.The lower abs as well as the upper abs are trained when you do crunches. The entire rectus abdominus is worked out whenever you bend your trunk or flex it.

The lower abs, which form the lower part of the rectus abdominus are emphasized whn the pelvis moves towards the trunk. This happens in reverse crunches. Leg raises and flutter kicks also work out the lower abs.Again, the upper abs work during reverse crunches and leg raises. There is just more emphasis on the lower abs when the legs are moving.

I must warn you that these abdominal exercises will not just like that melt our fat away. Doing upper abs exercises and lower abs exercises alone is not definitely going to melt that fat away.. This is known as sot reduction myth. If you really want to get rid of those irritating fat contet of your body adopt a comprehensive approach including diet control.

You should do ab workout 2-3 times a week and also include both upper and lower abs exercises. Only when you do both and from a various directions and different abs exercises you will have a balanced body.

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