Here are some of my favorites when it comes to the best abs exercises.
Some may be unfamiliar to you and seem strange and out of place among the other "best of" lists you've seen.
While putting together the best abs workouts for myself I always make sure to include a number of these.
The best abs exercises for burning fat and building muscle - mix them into your ab workout
These may not all be some of the classic best ab exercises you've come to know, but the reason why some of them gets listed here is because of their fat burning qualities as opposed to exercises that only target the abs with little aerobic benefit.
Stomach flattener
This was used by legendary wrestler Farmer Burns. Warning about this exercise - the first few times you do it, it can cause you to pass out if you're not very fit. Hold the contraction for only 2 counts at first. Your body will soon adapt to the exercise, but take it easy to begin with. People have passed out from holding this too long. To be safe, make sure you are doing it on a well padded surface with no obstacles to hurt you.
Standing relaxed with your arms by your sides, inhale deeply, pulling your abs slightly in. After a full inhale, try to force the air from your lungs with your abs but at the same time resist the air escaping by closing your throat. Contract your abs powerfully while trying to force the air out. Hold for 5 seconds, then exhale and repeat. You will probably feel dizzy the first few times you do this exercise if you're not used to deep breathing - that's normal. This will go away after a few repeats.
Do the exercise over and over for about 5 minutes. It's a great way to start the day and one of the best ab exercises you can do - it fills your lungs with big chunks of fresh air and the powerful contraction of the abs along with the deep breathing and holding of the breath will create rock hard abs.
Bicycle crunches
Lie down on your back. Put your hands behind your ears like you would with a normal situp or crunch (don't lock your hands behind your neck!). Be sure to push your lower back into the ground so it doesn't arch (you'll have to lift your shoulders off the ground to do this), then hold that position.
Bring your legs in to your chest, then extend the right leg at about a 45 degree angle and touch your right elbow to your bent left knee. Now extend the left leg and bring the right in, and touch your left elbow to your bent right knee. Keep doing this for about 15-20 reps, or however many you can do. Right up there among the best abs exercises.
Static jumps
Go down into the pushup position, arms about shoulder width apart. Now jump both your feet forward so that they land between your hands. Kick back again into the pushup position and repeat. The reason this features among the best ab exercises is because it not only works your abs, but also your legs and even arms to a lesser extent, creating close to a full body exercise. Again, exhale when you jump your feet, inhale when you go back. Do as many reps as you can.
The crunch
Yes, scoff all you want. Just like with the pushup, the great thing about the crunch is the amount of variations you can do, placing it firmly among the best ab exercises. Simply by changing the position of your legs you can create almost unlimited variations. Here are just a few:
- The frog - In the crunch starter position, drag your legs up and push the soles of your feet together (your knees should be pointing outwards and upwards).
- The coffin - keep your legs straight and crunch without the usual bent knees. Keep your legs on the ground, not allowing them to lift.
- Spread eagle crunches - keep your legs spread wide apart
- Crossover crunches - cross your left leg over your right with your left ankle resting on your right knee. Now touch your right elbow to your left knee. Do 5 reps, then switch legs and do it the other way round.
- Leg up crunches - either keep your legs straight in the air, or simply draw up your knees halfway towards your body and then proceed with your crunches.
Important: never lock your hands behind your neck when doing crunches or situps. Simply hook your fingers behind your ears, not so that you can pull on your ears, but simply to keep them steady.
More of the best abs exercises
There are many more exercises like this to be found on this website. The ones above will certainly help you build powerful abs while burning fat at the same time, but they're hardly the begin and end.
I'm sure you may not have heard of something like the static jump before - keep reading through the site for more great, little known exercises. It's well worth it to combine your six pack abs exercises with aerobic and strength routines. Next we're going to look at an example of such a workout.
