Thursday 16 June 2011

Ab exercise request

One of the comments on my previous post was asking about ab workouts. I'd recommend starting ab workouts after your body fat percentage has been cut down a bit. As for actual exercises, I'm not going to tell you to do hundreds of crunches and sit-ups because to be completely honest they're not all that effective for abs compared to others.

In a study done by the American Council on Exercise they found that the best exercises were as follows: the bicycle maneuveur, the vertical leg crunch and planks

The Bicycle Maneuveur - Don't rush it, form is key.
- Lie on the floor with your hands at the side of your head.
- Raise your legs and bend your knees at a 90 degree angle
- Lift your shoulders off the ground
- Straighten one leg out in front of you and bring the other to your chest
- You should twist your body so the opposite elbow meets the knee at your chest
- From this position you should mirror your current position to complete a rep.

Vertical leg crunch - Simple but you'll start to feel it.
- Lie on the floor and raise your legs 90 degrees in the hair
- Contract your core towards your legs

Planks - A good core stabilising exercise.
- Lie on your front on the floor using your elbows to support you
- Raise yourself off the ground leaving only your toes and elbows in contact with the ground
- Keep your back straight making sure not to round it or let it sag
- Hold for as long as you can

Hopefully these are of some use to you!

Note: I only included exercises that require no equipment

14 comments:

  1. Nice. Would be cool if you could writing something about how many reps and sets you should do.

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  2. Good advice, and I really enjoy that you don't post a bunch of stuff that requires expensive or bulky equipment. Makes the exercises more accessible for everyone.

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  3. Sulter:

    For the bicycle maneuveur go for 3 sets of 24 reps (each rep is a full movement back to the starting bicycle shape). For the plank, as long as you can for 3 sets with 40-60 seconds rest in between. For the vertical leg raises do at least 20 per set, 3 sets.

    Hope that helps!

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  4. swimming helps, specifically the butterfly stroke AND its dolphin kick. The strain it puts on your abs is high, plus it helps build shoulders

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  5. Agree with the swimming, I started swimming for 2 hours/day this summer and I really feel it in my core

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  6. I've been doing ab ripperx for quite awhile, looking for a new routine, good tips.

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  7. That Bicycle Maneuveur looks pretty good, I think I will start doing that one.

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  8. Swimming is pretty solid cardio too so you'll be burning the calories as well.

    I haven't tried Ab Ripper X, never got round to purchasing P90X, not sure if I will or not but if I do I'd imagine it'd be good review material.

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  9. Vertical leg crunch is very hard for me

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  10. It's nice to see that you can actually work out and watch results on your body without having to pay for equipement.. Thank you for this collection of exercises.
    followd

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  11. If you find it hard Alex it's all the more reason to do it. It'll improve your flexibility and improve your ab endurance.

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