AB EXERCISES

Quick-fix exercises are generally poor substitutes for hard work, but the following exercises are simple enough to do in the comfort of your own home without sacrificing effectiveness. If you perform these easy ab exercises a few times a week, you will stimulate your abdominal muscles enough to keep your core strong. But beware: You probably won’t see the results you’re hoping for unless you combine these easy ab exercises with a healthy diet and a regular cardiovascular regimen.

For all of the following easy ab exercises, make sure to suck in your stomach, which will activate your transversus abdominis, the muscle that should always fire before any other core muscle.

Crunches

Lie flat on your back on the floor. Take a deep breath, suck in your stomach, keep your eyes focused on the ceiling, and raise your upper body off the ground until it is at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Don’t pull on your neck, as this can lead to forward head posture, neck pain and, in extreme cases, migraine headaches. Hold the contraction for 2 to 3 seconds and slowly return to the starting position. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Standing side bends

Stand up straight and suck in your stomach. Keeping your legs straight and your arms at your sides, lean from left to right. Make sure you don’t rotate at the hips; rather, keep your upper body in a forward-facing position and simply tilt your body left and right. This easy ab exercise primarily works the obliques, but it also engages the entire abdominal wall and some of the lower back muscles. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Torso twists and double crunches will engage your obliques and your lower abdominal region in the next set of easy ab exercises…

Torso Twists

The torso twist is one of our favorite routines for tightening up the midsection and it's among the best easy ab exercises. Stand up straight, suck in your stomach and rotate your upper body from left to right while keeping your legs straight. As you turn, you will engage both the internal and external obliques, which are very important core muscles. The contraction produced in this exercise will hit the obliques from a different plane of motion than the side bends. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Double Crunches

Whenever you do a crunch, you work the entire abdominal area, but there are ways to add a little more emphasis to certain sections of the abdominals. The double crunch combines the crunch and another exercise called the knee raise, which will place more emphasis on the lower abdominal region.

Lie flat on your back against the floor with your legs in the air and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle so that your calves are parallel with the floor. Take a deep breath, suck in your stomach, keep your eyes focused on the ceiling, and raise your upper body off the ground until it is at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Once again, make sure not to pull your neck. Hold the contraction for 2 to 3 seconds and slowly return to the starting position. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Easy Abs

If you follow these easy ab exercises, you will effectively work your core muscles. In combination with good nutritional and cardiovascular plans, they will help you achieve those chiseled muscles in no time. Also, don’t forget to include stretching in your regimen, as resistance training exercises tighten up the muscles.