Exercising without an aim or a goal in mind is as
silly as moving your body around at random and expecting to get good
results from it. If you want good-looking abs, like most people do, then
you’ve got to do the right ab-focused exercises. But these exercises
aren’t at all hard to find out about… in fact, if you’ll just keep
reading, we’ll tell you everything about the best ones available.
The bicycle exercise is the first place to start… and no, it doesn’t involve an actual bicycle! Rather, it’s just a term for an exercise where you lie on your back, hands at your head, and bring your knees towards the corresponding elbows, one side at a time. This imitates bicycle pedaling crudely, and is one of the best ways to strengthen your core abdominal muscles.
Then there’s the beloved yet sometimes ridiculed exercise ball. It’s a very effective tool, more so than you might expect, allowing you to work out your body for longer periods while not straining yourself. The crunch is the most relevant exercise for your abs when using this helpful spherical tool.
But if you don’t have an exercise ball handy, or don’t care to head to the gymnasium, then a non-ball-based crunch might be more up your alley. In that case, try the vertical leg crunch. It does require a certain amount of flexibility and endurance, though, and may not be suitable for those with husky frames.
Not tired of crunches yet? Good! We’ve got one more to go: the long arm crunch. This is a reversal of the former crunch. Instead of having the legs in the air and the arms on the ground, you position yourself the other way around. It’s also a bit easier to maintain, which is helpful for beginners.
Last of all, you can always give the plank a try. It’s a slightly modified pushup, in that the forearms support your weight instead of just your hands, and the objective is to maintain a straight air-based position for up to a minute instead of doing as many lifts as possible. This is an intuitive exercise that almost anyone can do, and also has the benefit of making progress obvious.
So before you’ve given up on Hollywood abs, try these out for size. They’re not as hard as you might think at first, and all of them are easy to work into even the busiest daily schedule. They might just build you a better body: the one you deserve.
The bicycle exercise is the first place to start… and no, it doesn’t involve an actual bicycle! Rather, it’s just a term for an exercise where you lie on your back, hands at your head, and bring your knees towards the corresponding elbows, one side at a time. This imitates bicycle pedaling crudely, and is one of the best ways to strengthen your core abdominal muscles.
Then there’s the beloved yet sometimes ridiculed exercise ball. It’s a very effective tool, more so than you might expect, allowing you to work out your body for longer periods while not straining yourself. The crunch is the most relevant exercise for your abs when using this helpful spherical tool.
But if you don’t have an exercise ball handy, or don’t care to head to the gymnasium, then a non-ball-based crunch might be more up your alley. In that case, try the vertical leg crunch. It does require a certain amount of flexibility and endurance, though, and may not be suitable for those with husky frames.
Not tired of crunches yet? Good! We’ve got one more to go: the long arm crunch. This is a reversal of the former crunch. Instead of having the legs in the air and the arms on the ground, you position yourself the other way around. It’s also a bit easier to maintain, which is helpful for beginners.
Last of all, you can always give the plank a try. It’s a slightly modified pushup, in that the forearms support your weight instead of just your hands, and the objective is to maintain a straight air-based position for up to a minute instead of doing as many lifts as possible. This is an intuitive exercise that almost anyone can do, and also has the benefit of making progress obvious.
So before you’ve given up on Hollywood abs, try these out for size. They’re not as hard as you might think at first, and all of them are easy to work into even the busiest daily schedule. They might just build you a better body: the one you deserve.