Best Abdominal Exercises For Beginners

Best Abdominal Exercises for Beginners

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What’s the definition of the best abdominal exercises? That depends on your goals. You’ll find listings of the best abdominal exercises for men, for women,for post-pregnancy, post C-section, for runners, and so on.

Different people of different fitness levels have varying goals for their abs. Where you’re starting from and your hope for the outcome are factors as are the types of exercise equipment you have access to.

The best abdominal exercises out there will help you strengthen and tone all aspects of your core. For a great set of abs you’ll want to strengthen your upper and lower abdominal muscles, therefore it’s wise to mix things up and strive to target all areas.

Here are 3 of the Best Abdominal Exercises for Beginners*:

Exercise Ball Crunch

An exercise ball, also known as a stability ball, is a great piece of inexpensive and versatile equipment for some of the best abdominal exercises recommended. One of those abdominal exercises is the crunch. By laying on the ball, you’re engaging your core muscles actively so that you don’t fall.

Laying your lower back on the ball and stabilizing yourself (if necessary) by putting your knees against the wall while doing this puts you in a great position for a crunch. Doing a few sets of 12-15 reps is recommended.

Pilates 100

Anyone who does Pilates is familiar with the Pilates one hundred. It’s the warm up exercise to start out with and is done fairly quickly but with great effect as it engages your core muscles and works your heart, too.

Lay back and lift your legs off the floor. You can angle them straight up or at any angle you like. The closer your feet are to the floor (without touching) the more you’ll ‘feel’ it. Lift your back up so that your arms, shoulders and upper back are off the floor and extend your arms so that they’re a few inches off the floor. Pump arms slightly and consecutively, as if you’re patting the air.

Do it 100 times. As you count, hold your breath in for a count of 5 and then exhale for a count of 5. Holding your upper body up and legs out will do amazing things for your abdominals and you can vary the intensity of this exercise by the position of your legs.

Plank

The plank is a bit like a push up except without the pushing motion that gives your upper body a workout. This workout requires that you rest on your elbows with your toes on the floor (you’ll want to be wearing sneakers for this). Hold your core tight. Contract abdominal muscles and breathe continuously.

There are many different abdominal exercises to help you tone up and sculpt your belly. Mix things up so you don’t get bored and so that you keep your muscles actively working.

Tip: Even the best abdominal exercises won’t necessarily get rid of belly fat. In order to trim the excess from your mid-section you’ll want to alter your diet and add some cardiovascular exercises to the mix, too.