Most ab workouts designed for home use usually involve nothing except a variety of boring and oftentimes useless floor crunches. I can assure you that these very typical workouts never deliver the results that we are looking for.
For starters, the floor crunch only provides enough resistance to cause a training effect in beginners. Once you develop a base of strength, the crunch will only serve as an exercise capable of maintaining your current strength level.
Secondly, the crunch only trains the abs in one range of motion: flexion of the trunk. Flexing the trunk is only one of the many ranges of motion that your abdominal muscles are capable of. Any well designed ab workout will include exercises that target all major ranges of motion. The bottom line is, the crunch alone can never provide a complete ab workout.
Instead, you need to perform several different ab exercises, each targeting a different abdominal function and/or region. This may sound confusing, but once you understand the anatomy and function of your abdominals, designing an effective ab workout is quite simple.
Don’t worry, I promise I’m not to give you a boring anatomy lesson. Instead, I’m going to take all of the guesswork out and provide you with a ready to use workout. Additionally, this workout will require no equipment at all, making it “just what the doctor ordered” for those of you who train at home.
1a) Reverse Crunch On Floor 3×20-25 30 sec rest 1b) Straight Body Side Crunch On Floor 3×12 (5sec hold) 30 sec rest 2a) Plank 3×60 sec 30 sec rest 2b) Seated Russian Twists With Leg Cycle 3×20-25 30 sec rest
Now I will give you a detailed description on how to properly execute each exercise:
Reverse Crunch On Floor- Lie on your back on the floor. Bend both your knees and your hips until they make 90 degree angles. Bring knees toward chest by contracting your abdominal muscles. You butt will rise off the floor. Be sure to maintain a constant knee angle throughout the range of motion. Return until hips are again at a 90 degree angle. Repeat for the prescribed number of reps.
Straight Body Side Crunch On Floor- Lie on your side on the floor. Keep your hands straight out above your head, in line with your body. Keep legs straight. Lock your hands together. Simultaneously raise your arms and legs up so that neither are in contact with the floor. Hold this position for the prescribed number of seconds.
Plank- Get on the floor in a push up position. Support your body on just your forearms and your toes. Be sure to keep the abs flexed and hold your body in a perfectly straight horizontal line. Do not let hips drop or raise them up at all. Hold this position for the prescribed number of seconds.
Seated Russian Twists With Leg Cycle- Sit on floor and cross your arms across your chest, grabbing the opposite shoulders. Lean back until your upper body makes a 45 degree angle to the floor. Rotate trunk to the right while simultaneously bringing your right knee towards your chest. At this point your left elbow will be touching your right knee. In a smooth motion rotate to the left and repeat this on the other side. Continue to alternate until you finish the prescribed number of reps. One full rotation equals one rep.
Now you have a result producing ab workout you can perform with no equipment whatsoever. Do this workout two or three times per week for the next month. After this month is over, it will be time to progress to a more advanced ab workout.
A great six pack is only a few weeks away! Start today and sculpt your stomach faster than you thought possible!
Click here to learn more techniques on how to get a six pack as quickly as possible with tips, tricks and the most effective six pack abs workouts