Abs Exercises

Exercises for Six Pack Abs – Work Those Muscles!

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Unless you’re an experienced fitness coach with a six pack abs guide as a bible, you can never know for sure what type of workout your body needs. Effective exercises for six pack absinvolve two types — compound and isolation. These types of exercises have their own advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to understand how they work.

Working on how to get six pack abs with the wrong routine can actually be frustrating. You need to ask yourself this: what specific isolation or compound exercise should I perform to shed unwanted fat in my midsection?

What is a Compound Exercise?

The goal of compound exercises is to stimulate your muscle groups using a wide range of motion. A lot of basketball (e.g. Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Kevin Garnett) and tennis (e.g. Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, Novak Djokovic) athletes regularly use this technique to maximize their post-game workouts and on-court activities.

Experts from various fields of fitness and health regard compound exercises as the ideal fat-burning habit. As you perform numerous compound exercises for six pack abs, not only do you get the most out of your workout, but you also enhance your coordination, balance, and flexibility. Compound exercises for your midsection are what you need when you’re aiming to lift heavier loads without sustaining muscle fatigue.

Here are a few common compound exercises for six pack abs you can start on:

  • Barbell squats
  • Pushups
  • Deadlifts
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Dumbbell overhead presses

 

 

 

 

What is an Isolation Exercise?

Unlike compound exercises, the isolation technique involves only one muscle group that concentrates on developing your muscle strength. Isolation exercises are ideal for those people who easily get injured when stimulating numerous muscle groups at one time.

How to get six pack abs that are rock hard? Isolating those core muscles HARD, that’s how. The isolation techniques listed below are considered highly effective exercises for six pack abs:

  • Dumbbell bicep curls
  • Hamstring curls
  • Leg extensions
  • Rope pull downs
  • Yoga ball rollout
  • Jack knives
  • Barbell curls
  • Cable crossovers

 

Compound vs Isolation: Which is Better?

Picking one set of exercise over the other is unnecessary. In fact, combining both techniques and integrating them with your six pack abs guide can actually give you faster, better results. Always remember that exercises for six pack abs depend on your need, age, health, physical performance, and lifestyle. To get the most out of your workout (and to avoid accidents), follow a Certified fitness professional, I recommend Mike Geary of www.HotSixPackAbs.com.

Work those muscles and stay safe!

Which of these exercises work best for you? Let me know by entering your comments below.

Learn to Exercise Your Abs at Home

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If you want a flatter, leaner stomach it is easy to exercise your abs at home. Without use of special equipment or going to the gym, you can sculpt a tighter stomach with just a few simple exercises a day.

To start with, do some research on different types of ab exercises. There are many modifications on crunches, and techniques for targeting different areas of your abdominal region. Start collecting a file of ab exercises from reputable sources that you can work with.

Once you’ve collected your file, use a different technique each week. This is an effective way to exercise your abs at home. You’ll speed up your results, and you’ll be challenging your ab muscles to do new movements each week.

It is really important to pay attention to your breathing technique when you are working on your abs. Remember: exert = exhale. Anytime you exert pressure on a muscle group (the “crunch” part of your crunches) you’ll exhale. Exhaling makes your ab muscles become fully involved in the exercise.

Mix up your exercise routine with some aerobic exercise, like walking, jogging or an aerobics dvd. Burning fat from all over your body will help reveal your sculpted ab muscles. Try adding a cardio routine to your schedule at least three times a week and note your results.

Eating habits are also critical to the success of your ab workout. You’ve got to reduce goods that have sodium, sugar and preservatives with fresh, natural foods. You know, all the kinds of foods that your doctor encourages you to eat! Drink lots of water and keep your diet balanced.

A special note on drinks….alcohol can be a powerful enemy when you exercise your abs at home. They don’t call them beer guts for nothing!

Studies have shown the beer and other alcoholic drinks can lead to a rise in cortisol in your body. And cortisol is a hormone that steers fat toward your mid-section. Eliminate or reduce your alcohol intake for a leaner stomach.

If you are losing extra body fat by following these guidelines, you may need to increase your repetitions. When you exercise your abs at home, and add cardio and proper diet, your ab muscles will grow in strength.

Pretty soon the 20 to 30 reps that had you “feeling the burn” will feel like nothing at all. Keep adding 10 to 20 more each week to continue challenging your muscles.

The Best Way to Work Abs

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Focusing on just doing targeted abdominal exercises isn’t the best way to work abs. I’ll tell you why…

Back in the day, modern conveniences did not exist. There were no computers, no heavy-duty equipment, and hardly any desk jobs. “Hard labor” was just what the phrase implied – HARD LABOR.

As the early inhabitants of this world went through their day, they would do heavy lifting, travel great distances on foot, harvest the fields of their crops with their very hands, and rely on nothing but their own physical strength to get things done. They weren’t aware of abdominal exercises back then, were they? And yet, many of them had such toned bodies and ripped abs.

Have you ever asked yourself what their secret was?

The best way to work abs back then was to get full body workouts while doing their everyday tasks. They might have broken their backs from all that hard work, but, clearly, it gave them such well-formed physiques.

I’m not suggesting you go back to primitive ways for you to get fit. However, the idea of performing a more holistic workout routine can actually push you toward the right direction.

A complete abs workout is made up of two very important elements:

1. Full Body Fitness. Core-specific exercises are quite beneficial, especially if you want to get ripped abs. But doing exercises that target other parts of your body is also essential. Your abs make up just one part of a whole, and the best way to work abs is by involving the rest of your body.

Athletes need to build muscle and train hard for their particular sport, but you don’t see them performing only one specific exercise. Incorporating a variety of exercises into your routine will get you a complete workout. Only then can you start to get a body as fit and as toned as your favorite athletes.

2. Fast Motion. Keeping a fast pace during your workout will get you to your goal quicker. Therefore, it is the best way to work abs.

You work your muscles and you keep going for as long as you can. Doing your exercises in a continuous, flowing manner will maintain your momentum and push you to greater heights.

Keep in mind, however, that you can’t just throw caution to the wind. You need to be consistent with your workout routine, but not careless. This way, you get the most out of your training without incurring any injuries.

Indeed, the best way to work abs is to constantly work the whole body. Always incorporate these two important elements in your fitness plan and you’ll do just fine.

What other methods do you have to work your abs? Share your secrets below.

How to Get Sexy Abs – Use Side Stomach Crunches

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Side stomach crunches unfamiliar to you? Have you decided that it’s finally time for you to get on top of things, and start developing your abs into the muscle packs that you have always wanted? It’s certainly a noble goal, and there is nothing to keep you from achieving it. There are many ways to develop flat and muscular abs, and some work better than others.

One of my favorite exercises for the abs is the stomach crunch and side stomach crunch. It doesn’t require any workout equipment or trips to the gym, but if you stick with it for any extended period of time, you’re sure to make the desired improvements.

You’ve most likely seen the stomach crunch performed before. All it takes is lying on your back with your hands behind your head, then curling at the stomach and bringing your face and elbows upward. Essentially you are crunching your abs together.

After you have performed your amount of initial stomach crunches, you should do side stomach crunches to effectively hit not only the front of your stomach muscles, but both sides as well. Instead of pushing your elbows straight forward, you will rotate to one side as you lift off of the ground, and put more emphasis onto that cluster of muscles.

This exercise is so simple, yet is the most fundamental ab movement, and therefore extremely effective. The movement of contraction then expansion will rip your muscles to shreds (which, remember, is a good thing) and leave you feeling extremely sore. And with the side stomach crunches thrown in to boot, your ab muscles will be screaming.

The effective number of reps depends on your personal shape and goals. Do you want to go from chubby to lean and mean in just a few months? Well, you had better do crunches until you are physically incapable of doing them any more. Repeat this every day, and you will see maximum results.

But if your goals are a little less extreme and you just want to tighten up the stomach area, you can get by with slightly less rigorous amounts of ab exercises. If you do 50 normal crunches and 50 side stomach crunches, you won’t be off to too bad of a start.

If you want to really improve your abs quickly through stomach crunches and side stomach crunches, then it all depends on finding what a comfortable amount is for you, while still pushing yourself closer and closer to your personal upper limit.

Top 3 Male Yoga Exercises for Abs

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You think male yoga exercises for abs are too…ho-hum and mild for your taste?

Most men have this notion that fast-paced, highly-intense full body workouts and backbreaking targeted abs exercises are the only forms of physical activity that can be done to result in six pack abs. Although there is some truth to that, it’s not necessarily a hard, fast rule. Laid-back fitness routines such as stretching and yoga can also get you great abs without having to constantly gasp for air.

There’s a good reason why yoga has been around for centuries. It promotes good posture, flexibility, builds strength, and conditions your whole body for maximum performance. Similarly, male yoga exercises for abs can target your core muscles, rendering them lean and tough

During yoga, your abdominal muscles, along with other hard-to-define muscle groups, are stretched, elongated, and conditioned. Performing yoga regularly will help sculpt your midsection and tone the rest of your body. It truly is a complete body routine.

There are many yoga positions you can incorporate into your fitness program, but the following are proven to be the most effective in developing abs and other muscle groups as well.

1. Yoga Crunches. Regular crunches have been a popular choice among ab builders and enthusiasts. They can also be adapted as male yoga exercises for abs.

To perform these, simply lie on the floor as you would with conventional crunches. Slowly pull in both knees toward your chest. Straighten your legs until they’re completely flexed and perpendicular to the floor.

Carefully bend your knees close to your chest again while keeping your abs taut. Be very aware of your abdominal muscles because even as you use your leg muscles for this exercise, your abs should also be working hard. Also, avoid arching your back at any time; this would isolate your midsection better. Do at least 10 reps of this exercise in a row to really work your abs.

2. Mountain Tilts. These standing male yoga exercises for abs will greatly define your abdominals, improve your posture, and lengthen your physique.

You must stand up, keep your feet shoulder-width apart, and relax your arms on each side. Lift your right arm above your head and bend to the left. Reach our as far as your fingers will go and hold it there for about 5 seconds. Go back to your starting position and do the same on the other side. Do at least 5 reps of this exercise.

3. Triangle Pose. Like the previous male yoga exercises for abs, the triangle pose requires you to stand on your feet. With your feet further apart than in mountain tilts and planted securely on the ground, point your left foot forward and turn your right foot out 90 degrees. Extend both arms on your sides and slowly bend to your left at the waist. Remember not to pivot so that your torso and head are still facing the same direction as your left foot. Rest your left hand on your leg and stretch your right as high up as you can. Hold it there for around 10-15 seconds then come back up. Switch sides and feet and do the same on the other side. Doing 3 poses on each side should be more than enough.

Male yoga exercises for abs are definitely far from drab. Give them a try today!

Have you tried any of these? Share your experience by posting your comments below.