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Exercises for shaping and toning your abdominal muscles
The "Flat" Stomach
The most desired body part is most likely a "flat" stomach. Can exercise guarantee a flat stomach for anyone? Truth be known, the answer is no. For men, flat abdominals (technical term for the stomach area) is significantly easier and more obtainable than it is for women. Most of you can guess why. Yes, because of childbearing. Women who have not had children or have never been obese can also obtain flat abdominals successfully. For mothers and older females, unless your genes allow you to have them, surgery with exercise will be needed to get the flat abdominals. But don't give up!!! Keep doing the abdominals exercises to maintain the best looking stomach you can. Also, your abdominals region is the center of your core which supports your day-to-day activities and functions. Strong abdominals help support your spine and protect your organs. And, though your stomach may not be flat, strong abdominals will help you look thinner. To see "cut" abdominals, cardiorespiratory exercises are needed to burn fat. Burning fat will improve the appearance of all your muscles.
Good Exercises for the Abdominals
The most common abdominal exercise is the "crunch". It can be described as a half situp. A full situp is not recommended for the average person because it compromises the spine. Also, the abdominals muscles do not benefit much more from a full situp versus the crunch. The crunch is a basic yet GREAT exercise for the abdominals. It can be the only exercise you do for your abdominals and you will still gain benefits.
How to do a crunch?
Begin the exercise by lying down on your back (supine position). The legs can be straight with toes to the ceiling (for beginners) or knees up (intermediate/advanced). NOTE: Even an "advanced" exerciser can benefit from performing the beginner's form. The arms can be across the chest in a "X" pattern (beginners-no more than 12 repetitions per set), one or two hands behind the head (beginner/intermediate/advanced), or along the sides (advanced). I recommend keeping the hands or a hand behind the head for neck support until the neck is well developed. NECK SUPPORT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SAFETY aspect of any abdominal exercise. While resting your head on your hand or hands, lift your chest towards the ceiling. You will feel your lower spine curve towards the floor. Lift to a comfortable height, hold for 1 to 2 secs, then lower the chest, but do not rest the back of the head to the floor. Practice this motion as many times as you can. Once you are able to perform 20 repetitions, add another set, with 30-60 seconds rest between sets. You can do up to 5 sets of the same motion, anymore will lead to little or no benefits. You can perform up to 50 repetitions, with more being little to no benefits. As your abdominals become stronger, you can reduce the rest time between sets to 10 or 20 seconds. Perform this exercise 2-3 times per week for 4 to 6 weeks. By then, your abdominals will be strong enough to go to the next level. There are an endless number of modifications to the abdomial crunch. (That's why you will always gain benefits from this exercise.) Once you have mastered the basic crunch as described above, this may be the best time to get a trainer or work with an experienced exerciser. Group fitness classes offered at most health facilities offer a wide range of abdominal exercises, but minimum abdominal strength is required to perform the exercises safely. Performing the crunch slower will strengthen the muscle better and safer.
How often should I do abdominal exercises?
Many of you have probably heard that you can work on your abdominals everyday, which conflicts with the one day rest recommendation commonly advised by fitness experts. The truth, you can do abdominal exercises everyday which will help maintain a thinner tummy. (Look at the word "maintain." This means that you already have the thin tummy.) The best advice, give your abdominals at least one day rest to allow them time to grow and develop from the exercises. You use your abdominal muscles ALL THE TIME, which technically means you're exercising them everyday. This exercise is something you do to live, called breathing. The best breathing technique is to lift your chest when you inhale (breath in), which uses the abdominal muscles, expands your lungs (using the lung muscles), and lifts your shoulders (using shoulder and back mucles) . Then exhale (breath out) by lowering the chest towards your abdominals. Deep breathing exercises are great for the abdominal muscles and the other muscles mentioned. When performing deep breathing exercises, push the air out of the mouth during the exhale. Perform deep breathing exercises regularly during the day, with 3-5 repetitions per instance.