When most of us start strength training, especially men, we begin with the arms and chest. We want people to notice us and we go for the most visually noticeable muscle groups first. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that but if you are looking to develop strength and conditioning you should not begin with the arms and chest. Realizing this, many trainers stress exercises that enhance overall strength like the squat or the dead lift. These exercises will enhance strength. But, they are not the “be all end all” of strength training. Thankfully, many trainers understand that there is a great deal of value found in training the abdominal and core muscles.

The core is the center of your body. If your arms and legs were to make an X the vertex of the X would be in the center of your abdominal region. This is the core of the body and provides a foundation for much of the strength the body needs to perform daily tasks, such as the simple task of standing up. So, it goes without saying that the core of the body is very important to work out.

The number of core exercises one can perform are more varied than most would initially assume. For example, the abdominal crunch is probably the recognizable of all abdominal exercises. But is this the best exercise for your abs? Research indicates that the four most effective ab exercises are:

• Bicycle Maneuver
• Captains Chair
• Crunch on exercise ball
• Vertical leg crunch

Of these four “best” exercises only one, the captains chair, requires a specific piece of exercise equipment found only in gyms and fitness centers. This means that 3 of the top 4 exercises you can easily perform at home and only an exercise ball is needed. This is great news for those on a budget and not wanting to spend the time and money to join a gym.

You might ask – how do I perform these “best” exercises? Great question! Here are the instructions on how to perform these top abs exercises correctly:

• Bicycle Maneuver: Lie flat on the floor with your back pressed to the ground. Place your hands behind your head. Bring one knee at a time, as if your riding a bike, up to a 45 degree angle and touch your right elbow to your left knee and then your left elbow to your right knee. Starting to get the picture. Don’t rush it is important to maintain an even pace.
• Crunch on exercise ball: Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the ground. Allow the ball to roll back slowly and lie back on the ball until your thighs and midsection are parallel to the floor. Cross your arms over your chest and tuck in your chin. Raise your midsection to no more than 45 degrees and contract your ab muscles. For increased balance spread your feet wider apart. As you get used to the exercise ball experiment with the width your feet are apart. This will target slightly different core muscles.
• Vertical leg crunch: Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Place your hands behind your head. Cross your legs at the ankles and life them straight up in the air with a slight bend at the knee. Raise your midsection towards your knees contracting your abs. Do not tuck in your chin.

When starting out do not seek to add any additional resistance through the use of weights or cables. Believe me, if done correctly the exercises with just your body weight will be challenging enough. Over time seek to increase your repetitions, but only if, you can maintain form. You will get the most out of these and any exercise if you maintain the correct form. One sure way to know you have reached your limit is when you are having difficulty performing the exercise “right.”

There is one thing that needs to be kept in mind when it comes to abdominal exercises. While many exercises should not be performed excessively, the abs can be worked everyday as they require less rest to react positively to an exercise. With that said, don’t kill yourself by performing hours and hours of exercises seven days a week. Instead, it would be better to work out twenty minutes to a half hour a day three of four days a week. This should be an adequate amount of time for the average person to gain a value from an abdominal and core workout.

Related articles

• Core training myths (exerciserehabfix.com)
• What’s So Important About Core Strength? (huffingtonpost.com)