Almost everyone wants better defined abdominal muscles, so abs workouts are a widely covered topic. Despite the many familiar exercises you can do for your abs, we see brand new tools and machines coming out all the time. You have to be careful not to experience information overload when looking over all the possibilities for abs workouts. If you’re not sure where to start with your abs workouts, this article will provide you with some helpful recommendations.
You can find all kinds of newfangled abs machines, but the Captain’s Chair remains one of the most effective. This is one piece of equipment your gym will surely have, and it’s been around for quite some time. The leg raise is the basic abs exercise you should be doing on the Captain’s Chair. Grip the handholds in a firm but relaxed manner and stand straight. Pressing your back against the padded support, lift your knees to your chest. Do this in a smooth, controlled motion, and don’t swing the legs. If you can do 3 sets of 10 reps of this exercise using proper form, you’re bound to see results. It’s better to do fewer repetitions using correct form than to cheat and do more of them. A great exercise for your stomach, the basic crunch can really build your abdominal muscles quickly and efficiently. Simply lie with your hands behind your head on your back looking up. This exercise basically includes lifting your shoulder blades toward your chest off the floor. Your legs should be motionless as possible. Reverse crunches are the opposite – they focus on the lower abdominal region or the rectus abdominis muscles of the body. In this case, you raise both the shoulders and the hips, bringing knees towards the chest at a 90 degree angle. If you really want to build your abs, crunches and reverse crunches can work wonders. Remember not to do too many of these exercises – your results will not increase or improve by doing more.
One machine that you shouldn’t neglect when working on your abs is the rowing machine. This is not only a great exercise machine for building upper body strength, but it also builds core strength and endurance. It gives you both an aerobic and strength building workout, and you can accomplish a lot in a short time. A rowing machine, with only 10 minutes of workout time, is better than an hour on the treadmill. Your ads can really develop by simply doing this, plus some crunches to make a well-rounded routine. Abdominal muscles tend to develop very quickly by doing rowing machine workouts every week. As you can see, abdominal workouts should be a part of your regular workout routine and done just as regularly as everything else. To prevent overtraining, it is recommended that you do this to three times a week. We’ve looked at just a few helpful suggestions for abs workouts, and they are all well worth including in your workouts.