Best Ab Exercises 

There are many, many great exercises to help you sculpt your abs.

What are the very best, most effective exercises?

There are many, many ab exercises out there, but the very best ab exercises are not complicated, nor do most of them require expensive equipment.

In fact, all you really need to buy is an exercise ball, and they can be had for very cheap ( around $20 or even less if you look around online).

You don’t even NEED a ball to do many of these top exercises, but since they are so inexpensive (and since they do enhance the overall quality of your workout), it makes sense to go ahead and buy one.

In 2001, the American Council on Exercise announced the results of a study comparing the effectiveness of the thirteen best ab exercises for firming and toning the rectums abdominus muscle (abs) and the obliques (the muscles on the sides of your stomach).

The top four very best ab excises as verified by that study are as follows:

• The bicycle maneuver
• The “Captain’s Chair”
• Crunches using an exercise ball
• The vertical leg crunch

Of these four exercises, the only one that requires gym equipment is the “Captain’s Chair”. The other three can all be done at home and combined into a very effective abs and obliques routine.

The above exercises are performed as follows:

The Bicycle Maneuver – Lie flat on the floor to begin this exercise. Make sure your lower back is pressed flat to the floor. Then, placing your hands behind your head, elevate your knees forty-five degrees off the ground.

Then, breathing deeply and regularly, touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee, moving your legs as if peddling a bicycle.

This exercise really works both your abs and your oblique muscles, giving you a full ab workout.

The “Captain’s Chair” – To do this, you need a piece of gym equipment known by the same name. This exercise is also known as a vertical knee raise.

You start by lifting yourself off the ground, letting them dangle in the air, your arms resting on the padded arms of the “chair”, your hands grabbing the set of hand-holds, and your back and shoulders resting against the back of the frame.

You then slowly, in a controlled motion, bring your knees up towards your chest, then slowly lower them back down again until your legs are dangling once more, completing the rep.

Exercise Ball Crunch – Sit down on the exercise ball, your feet flat on the ground. Then, carefully, slowly, allow the ball to roll backwards a bit (but keep sitting on the ball).

Then, lay back against the exercise ball until your back is parallel to the ground. (Your mid and lower back will be resting against the ball at this point, the ball giving your support.)

Then, either place your hands behind your head or cross your arms over your chest and slowly lift your torso off the exercise ball, pulling your upper abs towards your hips. Make sure you keep the ball stable as you move.

Then slowly lean back down against the ball, letting your abs stretch.

The Vertical Leg Crunch – To perform the great exercise for the abs and obliques, lay down on the floor, preferably on a mat. Then, extend your legs straight up in the air, crossing them at your knees.

Then, slowly lift your shoulder blades off the mat by contracting your abs, making as if to lift your breast towards your elevated feet.

Make sure you keep your legs still as you elevate your shoulder blades about thirty degrees off the mat. Hold the pose for a moment, then slowly lower your shoulders back to the mat.

You can also perform this exercise with your lower legs resting on a chair. This might be easier for novices.

So, those are the very top four best abs exercises. A combination of three of them, done in sets of 14-18 reps, is a great way to start. You might begin with one or two sets of each, then work your way up to three sets.

Remember, with ab exercises, proper form is far more important than speed or quantity. So do each exercise slowly and properly. And again, run your proposed routine by your doctor before your begin, especially if you have a history of back problems.

These very best ab exercises are an excellent way to get ripped abs as fast as possible.