The best abdominal muscle exercises for a spectacular result

Abdominal muscles — next to dorsal muscles and thoracic muscles — belong to the core muscles of the human body. They have a crucial role in the processes of breathing, coughing and sneezing, but also in supporting the internal organs, and in terms of women, they contribute to childbirth too. They are assisting every bigger muscle exertion, moreover, in case of a bigger expenditure of force, limb muscles also come into action. The well-shaped and well-defined abdominal muscles look good from an aesthetic point of view, too, as they can be really attractive both on men and women.

One of the key advantages of abdominal muscle exercises is that mostly they can also be exercised at home, or at least they are transformable to meet the circumstances there.

Most of the times you only need a horizontal ground, a towel, a little bit of water and a lot of persistence. So, enough from the excuses, it is time to let it rip and start doing abdominal muscle workouts!

Exercises for the well-shaped abdominal muscles

1. Sit-up on the ground (hereinafter referred to as the basic exercise!)

During this exercise, mainly your rectus abdominal muscle will do the work, but your external abdominal and your internal oblique abdominal muscles will also join the motion as auxiliary muscles.

Lie on your back on the ground, bend your knees and make sure your soles are on the ground. It is important to gently press down your dorsal and lumbar spinal sectors to the ground. Put both of your hands onto the back of your neck, and raise your trunk until the bottom of your shoulder-blades. Make sure your neck does not take over the role of movement. In order to achieve this, it may help you to focus on a certain point on the wall, and imagine an apple that can fit into the place between your chin and your collar-bone.

For the advanced: In case you are a pro in basic sit-ups, you can make the exercise more difficult, for example by keeping your arms in frontal centre hold position, or by raising your soles up from the ground.

2. Sit-up on Fitball, namely, go on to the next level!

In terms of muscle work we have the same situation: emphasis is on your rectus abdominal muscle, being the main working muscle, but your external abdominal and your internal oblique abdominal muscles are also active.

Chose a ball appropriate for your height, and settle your back onto it in a way your knees are bent rectangularly and your soles remain on the ground. Keep your pelvis in a neutral position in relation to your spine, and keep your hands on the back of your neck.

The principle of executing this exercise is mainly the same as it was in the exercise carried out on the ground. However, as there is an unstable instrument under your body, it makes the situation more difficult, moreover, due to the presence of the ball you can move your upper body within a much greater angle. As a result, your abdominal muscles work on a greater scale.

You can perfectly prepare for the abdominal wheel workouts with this exercise.

3. Diagonal sit-up

Now we are changing the roles! We will now concentrate on the external abdominal and the internal oblique abdominal muscles and they will be in the spotlight with the help of the other abdominal muscles!

The task will be the same as in the basic exercise carried out on the ground, but the direction of motion changes during execution. You need to raise your trunk until about the bottom of your shoulder-blades, but it is crucial to also do lateral turns, in other words, trunk bending sideways.

First try to draw your left shoulder close to your right knee, then do the same motion in the other direction. It is important not to turn only your head left, then right continuously, but make sure emphasis is on lifting and turning your trunk!

4. Diagonal crunches

When you look at this exercise as a passive observer, it totally seems to be a simple movement that is easy to execute. Then you start actually doing it, and realise: THAT’S NOT BAD!

This exercise includes everything: leg lifting, sit-up, trunk bending sideways…and a considerable amount of pain you feel in your abdominal muscles. However, it is also sure that you will already feel the effect after a couple of movements, and you will definitely not be disappointed of it!

Take up the basic position on the ground that will almost be the same as the little siblings of our exercise you could read about before.

There is only one difference: leave your legs on the ground with stretched knees. While keeping your right leg tightly on the ground, lift your left leg slightly upwards and make it come closer in the direction of your right elbow. Do your best to stretch your knees throughout the whole exercise. After you have let your leg go back to the starting position, repeat the exercise with your other leg too, in the opposite direction.

5. Bicycle crunches for the strong oblique muscles!

Include this exercise in your abdominal muscle strengthening workout plan to shape your oblique abdominal muscles, as in terms of this exercise the internal and external oblique muscles do the agonist movement. Naturally, it is also a non-negligible fact to know that besides the above mentioned ones, during this workout you are strengthening your rectus abdominal muscle, your spinal erector muscles and your rectus femoris muscle!

Lie on your back on the ground, raise your legs, and make sure your thigh-bone and shin-bone are rectangular to each other. It is important to place your dorsal and lumbar spinal sectors tight to the ground. Keep your hands on the back of your neck, make sure your head is raised 2-3 cm above the ground, you should look ahead in the direction of your knees. Start moving your legs as if you ride the bicycle, and in the meantime, first do your best to make your left shoulder approach your right knee, then it is time for your right shoulder to approach your left knee.

Make sure you carry out trunk lifting and trunk bending sideways in this exercise too.

6. Everyone’s favourite: the plank!

Which muscle does the work here? Plank is the exercise that has an effect on your whole body, and almost all of its particles participate in the movement.

Settle in a shoulder-wide forearm support position on the ground. Make sure your elbows are in line with your shoulders, and your forearms are parallel with your body. Make sure your palms face upwards, while your body is kept in a straight line from your crown of head to your heels. With your legs you can take up a hip-wide straddle position.

By the time you can do the basic exercise as a pro, you will find a vast number of variations to enhance the “plank experience”. From now on, you will have only one thing to do: just continuously keep the position as far as you can, while breathing evenly!

7. Hanging knee raise – Push off from the ground!

For this complex exercise, you will need a workout frame. Settle in it in forearm support position, and seize the handgrip of the frame in bird’s grasp. Fit your dorsal and lumbar spinal sectors to the back-board, and keep your legs in a position even to your trunk and parallel with the ground. Look ahead, and in the meantime, draw your pelvis close to your chest that is in a fixed state. After raising your knees, let your legs go back to the starting position slowly, while continuously concentrating on the movement.

Training and body shaping starts within your mind. If you would like to have a well-shaped, squared and flat stomach, then do not keep waiting anymore and start body shaping today! Shaping the abdominal muscles can be carried out without respect to environment and time limits.

Make sure you chose exercises suitable for your fitness level, and carry them out correctly in order to avoid injuries and to reach the appropriate level of muscle work.

Make sure you chose exercises suitable for your fitness level, and carry them out correctly in order to avoid injuries and to reach the appropriate level of muscle work.

Take your time to train your abdominal muscle every day, and within a few weeks you will most probably be very grateful for the present day yourself! But you should not forget one thing: you can shape your muscles with training, but in order to obtain a spectacular outlook, you might as well pay attention to healthy nourishment!