A strong core is a valuable asset. For starters, having a solid core may improve your balance, posture, and even assist alleviate your back discomfort. Having a strong core makes every movement you make in daily life and during a workout simpler. When people think of a strong core, they typically picture a six-pack in the middle or sculpted lines running down the sides. However, rock-solid abs require training every layer of your core muscles, including your lower abs.
There are three main muscles in your core: the rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscles that run down the front of your body), the obliques (the muscles on each side of your midsection), and the transverse abdominis (the deepest layer of ab muscles that corset the waist and support the hips). As a result, when you work on building your lower abs, you’re developing your rectus abdominis, which is located in your abdomen.
If you want to exercise your core efficiently, you must focus on the frontal, sagittal, and transverse planes of motion. Performing abdominal exercises in a circuit method keeps the intensity high and is likely to contribute to more fat loss. Listed here are 20 abdominal routines for all levels of fitness, from beginners to expert gym-goers, that you can incorporate into your next workout to get the most out of your time at the gym.
Glute Bridge March
How: Lean back and relax. Heels should be beneath knees, and feet should lie flat on the floor. Extend your arms across your chest with your palms facing in. Your body should be in a straight line from shoulder to knee while you do this. Brace your abs and keep your right leg at a 90-degree angle while you lift it over your hip. Then let go of your right foot and hold for a second. Continue on the left side. That’s one repetition. Continue for 30-60 seconds, then go on to the following step right away.
Mountain Climber
How: Start by performing a plank. Return to a plank and rapidly alternate between driving the right and left knees toward the chest and returning to a plank. That’s one repetition. Continue for 30-60 seconds, then go on to the following step right away.
Leg Lower
How: Start by laying on your back with your arms on the mat and your hands under your butts, palms down. Then, lift your legs 90 degrees off the floor, keeping your toes flexed while you do so. Slowly drop your legs as far as you can without raising your back off the floor. Go back to the beginning. One rep is equal to this amount of work. Continue for 30-60 seconds, then go on to the following step right away..
Butterfly Sit-up
How: Lay on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet together. Take a deep breath and raise your arms to the sky. This is where things get started. Roll your torso up using your core muscles until you are sitting up straight. Touch your toes by extending your leg forward. So, that’s one rep completed. Rep the exercise by slowly lowering yourself back to the beginning position and then performing the exercise again.
Crunches
How: Stack your hips over your knees in tabletop posture while lying face up on a yoga mat. Your low back should be firmly pressed against the mat. As you lift your shoulders off the mat, place your hands behind your back and perform a crunch. Lift your head and shoulders using your core muscles to prevent putting strain on your neck.
Scissors
How: In this position, your low back should be pressed hard on the mat while you lie face upon it. Legs straight out in front of you, hands behind your head, shoulders lifted off the mat: this is the pose you want to achieve. While focusing on your lower abs, raise one leg toward the ceiling while lowering the other to hover above the mat. One rep is defined as lifting both legs off the ground once. To target your low abs effectively, avoid arching your low back and maintain your shoulder blades elevated throughout the exercise.
V-sit ups
How: Lie face-up on a yoga mat with your arms aloft and your feet elevated off the mat. Avoid touching the mat with your shoulders or your head. Rolling up to bring your hands near your feet while using your core is a great exercise. Maintaining your knees in a tabletop position rather than stretched will help you do the V sit-up more easily if you’re not quite strong enough.
High knees
How: Making fists with your hands and placing them by your sides while standing on a yoga mat with your feet hip-distance apart is an excellent way to warm up. Using your lower abs, swiftly drive your left knee up to meet your right hand, then return your left leg to the ground and repeat with your right knee and left hand. Keep your speed up and your weight on the balls of your feet by moving fast.
Reverse Crunch
How: Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your thighs perpendicular to the ground. Lift the hips off the surface by pressing your lower back into the mat and curling your knees into your chest. Take command of the situation once again. That’s one repetition. Continue for 30-60 seconds, then go on to the following step right away.
Heel Taps
How: In this position, you’ll be flat on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Raise chin toward ceiling, maintaining neck relaxed and raising shoulder blades off the floor. Flex your right obliques while you tap your right palm on the outside of your right ankle. Return to the center while maintaining your shoulders off the ground, and then tap your left foot on the outside of your left ankle.
Walking plank
How: Hold a plank posture from the shoulders to your ankles, forearms flat on the floor. Now, one by one, work your way up to the elevated plank position. Taking one hand at a time to go back into a regular plank posture. Repeat with a different leading hand each time.
Seated Rotation
How: Lean back until your abs are fully engaged while sitting on the floor. Legs should be raised and bent at a 90-degree angle, and arms should be bent with fingers clasped and elbows spread wide. This is where you’re going to begin. Rotate your body to the right so that your right elbow is barely off the mat. While spinning to the left side, keep your lower body stationary and your left elbow slightly off the mat.
Deadbug
How: Start by lying on your back with your arms stretched toward the ceiling and your shoulders and knees bent to 90 degrees (knees above hips). Keeping your lower spine pressed into the floor while engaging your abs, drop your right leg until it is almost touching the floor, then your left arm until it is almost touching the floor overhead. Take a break, then go back to the beginning and do it again on the other side.
Dumbbell side bend
How: Hold a dumbbell in your right hand with the palm pointing inwards towards your chest as you stand with your feet hip-width apart. Strive to maintain a straight back and engage your core before bending to the side—but just at the waist. For one rep, hold for one second at the bottom of your range of motion before returning to the starting position.
Barbell back squat
How: Lift a barbell off the rig with your feet shoulder-width apart, keeping it properly distributed across your shoulders. As a result, you should use considerably less weight than you would for a regular back squat when performing this squat variation.) You should feel as if you’re leaning over backward to get into the chair position. Once you’ve returned to the beginning posture, push through your heels to complete one rep.
Resisted Reverse Crunch
How: Wrap the resistance band over your foot arches as you lay on your back on the floor. Make an “X” with the band’s ends by crossing them over and holding them with the opposing hands. Crunch your body off the floor by bending your hips and knees so that your knees are near your chest. Raise your arms above while keeping your shoulder blades off the floor.
Situp and throw
How: Sit on the floor and hold a medicine ball with both hands in front of your chest. Lay back on the floor a few feet away from a brick or concrete wall, with your feet anchored beneath something strong for support. Sit up and toss the ball hard into the wall, then grab it when it bounces back. You can also pass the ball to your partner if you have one.
Weighted Situp
How: Hold a weight plate to your chest while lying on your back on the floor. Put your feet flat on the floor and bend your knees 90 degrees. Sit up straight with your shoulders back and your chin tucked in your chest.
Hip Dip
How: Start in a forearm plank with your forearms on the floor, elbows exactly under your shoulders, hands facing forward so that your arms are parallel, and your legs stretched behind you. Engage your abs, buttocks, and quadriceps by tucking your tailbone. To tap the floor, tilt your hips left. Do the same on the other side. Alternate between the two sides for the rest of the time.
Abs roll-out
How: To get started, carefully roll the barbell or roller away from your knees while bending your knees toward the bar. It’s critical to keep your hips forward so that your knees, hips, and shoulders are all in alignment. Once you’ve got the weights under control, attempt to keep your hips and spine in a neutral posture as you bring them back. Reverse hip thrusts are counterproductive since they require you to lift your hips higher than your shoulders.
Endnote
It’s easy to get six-pack abs since the formula is simple: Work your abs hard, eat healthfully, and cut back on late-night pizzas. Men’s fitness’s uncontested holy grail may give you more than just a confidence boost when it’s time to take your shirt off. But sadly, this is not a procedure that can be completed in a matter of hours. Also, the washboard abs industrial complex has generated a bewildering array of workouts, gizmos, and techniques throughout time. Add them to your current regimen one at a time, or combine all six into an abs exercise circuit if you’re feeling adventurous.
Kristine Decena is a professional editor with over 10 years of experience in the publishing industry. She specializes in editing food and drink, footwear, clothing, and other lifestyle content. She has worked for such notable companies as The New York Times Company, Food Network Magazine, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Hearst Corporation and Condé Nast International. Kristine is a graduate of Ohio University where she obtained degrees in English Literature and Journalism before embarking on her career as an editor.
