What kind of ab exercises should you do to get flat abs?

Answer 1

Here are a variety of opinions from WikiAnswer contributors:

• Here is a good one. You don't have to do many, but they work great for some people. Lay on your back on a weight bench. Scoot down the weight bench until your but is completely off the weight bench. The edge of the bench should be at your lower back. Grab on to the bench with your hands above your head. Lift your legs up and pull your knees up to your chest and then extend your legs out until they are parallel to the ground, and then pull your legs back in to your chest again. Try to repeat this about 10 times. Do 3 sets of 10 about 3 times a week and you'll notice a difference. You may want to start off doing 3 sets of 5 or 6 reps due to the difficulty of this exercise. Making sure your butt is completely off the bench is key.

• Make sure you are slim enough in the region before you start ab exercises. Otherwise, you will have a layer of muscle under a layer of fat and you will make yourself look worse. This is one of the easiest exercises there are, simply because you don't need any machinery to do it. Crunches, pull ups, push ups, curls, running, sit ups, and many more are a few of the simple things to do. If you discipline yourself enough then you will do these exercises daily. A personal trainer can help you or you can easily do it yourself. Alternatively, you can use the diet plans and exercise routines shown further down this page, under Related Questions and Sources and Related Links.

• In my opinion, dietary changes are first needed to help reduce the fat and reveal the muscle. You need to first remove excess body fat. Otherwise, your abs will not show. You will have muscle under a layer of fat, and you will look worse. Therefore, eliminate or limit refined processed carbohydrates (apart from the occasional treat). Refined processed carbohydrates are a major cause of insulin resistance and excess body fat accumulating around to stomach or abdomen area, unwanted weight gain, Heart disease, hypertension, and many other diet related diseases. Replace those foods with 'fat burning' foods and make full use other the fat burning thermic effect of those foods. If you are unsure what these foods are, you will find a list of refined processed carbohydrates further down this page under Related Questions.

• In my opinion, if you have fat on the exterior of your abs, the only way to lose that and expose the abs underneath is to lose the fat. This means that you will have to make dietary changes like those already mentioned, and you will need to do aerobic activity or cardio exercise along with your weight training to lose the fat. Contrary to popular belief, doing ab exercises do not target the fat around your mid section. There is absolutely no way to target specific areas of fat. Period. For best results, you must make the dietary changes, do aerobic activity or cardio exercise, and weight training if possible, to lose fat. Your body burns the fat as a whole, not from specific areas. We are not saying that ab exercises are bad or that they shouldn't be done. Doing proper ab exercises will definitely define them. However, you must first burn the fat that's hiding them.

• In my opinion, dietary changes and cardio exercise is the key with weight loss in any area. To show your abs you need to burn off the fat that is covering them. Cardio exercise can be such things as brisk walking, running, jogging, elipticals, trampolining, cross-country skiing, stairmasters and the bike, etc. If you belong to a club try body pump or a high impact cardio class that they may offer. As you are in the process of burning the fat with these try and tone as well. If you have targeted your ab area then try Pilates. Some people see improvements within the first few weeks. Also try the Swiss ball. There are so many different ab exercises that work it is difficult to claim that one works much better than the other. Results differ from person to person. Don't give up though. If it is exceptionally tough for you personally to lose the fat down there it could be in the jeans. Your family history has something to do with the way that your body stores fats. This does not mean that you cannot take it off, it may just take a little more for you than for others.

• Yes, in my opinion too, dietary changes are first needed to reduce the fat. Otherwise, your abs will not show. Strictly limit refined processed carbohydrates and replace those foods with fat burning' foods. Cut down or better yet cut out; butter, lattes, pop, holiday drinks - egg nog, Hot Chocolate, beer and alcohol. That doesn't leave much to drink that's fun and that's why most guys have a fat stomach which gets bigger as they get older.. but use moderation and be happy.

• Here's how Britney Spears and Usher might do it in addition to dietary changes; 1,000 SIT UPS every single day. But not all at once, break them down, example: 250 in the morning, 250 midday and 250 after work/school and 250 later at night. PS you have to be committed to get flat-ab's.

• Many ab exercises like crunches may cause your abs to thicken, to get long lean strong ab muscles you may want to look more towards plank exercises and those that focus on your outer obliques. You will also need to look into your overall total body-fat percentage. So, first begin with the dietary changes.

• In addition to the required dietary changes, sit-ups on a fitness ball are a great way to get your abs going as it keeps pressure on the abs at all times. Lie with you back on the ball; the only part touching the ball is your lower back. Then start doing the crunch movement, leaning further back and coming up slower making it more difficult for you and having to make your abs contract more! The second best exercise will have to be the bicycle movement. Get into sit-up position with your legs not on the floor but raised in the air at a 90c angle. Now with your right elbow touch your left knee and the other way around. As it works your whole abdominal region it's a sure way of toning yo those abs! Leg lifts or leg raises are really effective. You can do them hanging , lying down or even while sitting.

• In addition to dietary changes and cardio exercise to remove fat, you might try yoga exercise with help of pilates. Pilates is meant to be done in one smooth-flowing sequence. Pilates is a great way to tone up abs. Pilates moves are by far the best abdominal exercises. Some of them are 'The Hunderd', The Roll-Up, The Teaser etc.

• In my opinion, you can huff and puff doing crunches every day but that effort will be for nothing unless you first reduce body fat. So, restrict refined processed carbohydrates, eat more fat burning foods and take advantage of the thermic effect of those foods, engage in regular cardio exercise, with optional strength training if you are able, and of course your ab and core exercises.

• For the free plans and lists to either get you started or to advance you further, see the pages, further down this page, listed under Related Questions and Related Links.

• In my opinion, one cannot lose the fat first; one will lose "the fat" as one continues to exercise. 1) One cannot spot reduce with respect to burning off excess fat, 2) Although one should strictly limit foods with a high glycemic index it makes little difference in what form one's calories come from as long as one is eating a sufficient amount of protein and getting the vitamins and minerals they need whether they come from food or supplements, and 3) What food one eats in excess does not determine where on one's body the fat is stored. My one clarification is that one is not on an extreme diet like the Atkin's Diet or the South Beach Diet. Some medical professionals believe that the very high protein or very high fat or very high fat and very high protein diets are not healthy. Also, if a person's diet is very high in carbs and very low in protein and oils/fats, that can affect the appearance of where excess calories are stored as fat. This is because if someone is not consuming a sufficient amount of protein and/or they are not exercising, then they will lose muscle tissue if they lose weight. Actually, if one loses weight without exercising, their percentage of body fat will not change significantly, even if they look substantially thinner. There are two primary receptors on adipose tissue (body fat) named alpha receptors and beta receptors. In the vast majority of persons, male or female, fat around the belly have a much higher percentage of alpha receptors. When the body wants fat to burn, most of it will come from the fat with the alpha receptors. I think that just about anyone who has even thought about losing weight knows that fat around the belly comes off much faster than that on the hips and buttocks. We know that hormones have a lot to do with where fat is stored. In general, men store most of their excess fat around their waist while women store significantly more fat on their hips, thighs and buttocks. Personally, I wish that I had more fat where women tend to put it. I don't have much body fat, but I would prefer that what I do have were stored on my buttocks rather than my waist. One more issue is "visceral fat." This fat that is not just under the skin surrounds the internal organs. It is particularly dangerous and I contend that because overweight men store a higher percentage of fat as visceral fat, that puts men at a higher risk of heart disease. (However, it's important to point out that heart disease is also the leading cause of death of women.) Lastly, I am responding to this in large part because I have not seen any previous discussion of anaerobic exercise. This is exercise that is strenuous enough such that the body cannot supply enough oxygen to the muscles to "burn" glucose via the Citric Acid Cycle followed by the Electron Transport System. Those two processes require oxygen to function. The Citric Acid Cycle can function for a very short time (perhaps five, maybe ten seconds) without oxygen. One's muscles can still operate without oxygen by producing the energy molecule it uses to contract (and relax) muscles through the fermentation of pyruvate to lactate. Depending on ones age, level of health, fitness level and even one's bone density, some people should start out much more slowly when adding anaerobic exercise to their routine. The more exercise that is performed anaerobically, the more calories the exerciser will burn. Whether it involves lifting heavy weights where one cannot perform more than 12 repetitions no matter how hard they try, or it involves sprinting as hard as they can until their muscles are near failure, that person's muscles are operating almost entirely without oxygen. If you want to burn an unbelievable number of calories in the same amount of time as your regular workout, then you should incorporate as much anaerobic exercise as possible into your routine. Other might say: "Yeah, but you are not working out your cardiovascular system." In my opinion, yes you are. Perform a set of let's say 10 bench presses, because that is all you can do; your muscles have reached their failure limit, and see if you are not sucking air just as much or more as you would while jogging. One will improve their VO2 max faster performing anaerobic exercise than they would doing wimp exercises like jogging or biking. A quick anecdote: I still recall when a college friend, who didn't quite make it, but tried out for two olympic teams ('84 & '88) for the event the 1500 m, and I played racquetball for the first time. He ran 8-10 miles/day, took Sat. off, and ran 15 miles on Sundays. I never ran, and I rarely do, but I lifted heavy weights for over an hour four days/week. We hadn't played for ten minutes before he was so winded that he could hardly play anymore. In fact, he had to take a break about every ten minutes. At right about 200 lbs, I would burn approx. 145 Cal/mile while running. If I ran five miles at eight min./mile, then I would burn about 725 Cal in 40 min. That's not bad, but I would not be building any muscle and I wouldn't be strengthening any muscles to a significant degree. I've looked at no fewer than six independent tables of Cal. burned vs. type of exercise. The value they all have for "Heavy Weight Lifting (Body Building") is grossly under calculated. In these tables, the value is about 550 Cal/hr. From personal experience and from my knowledge of biochemistry, it is clear to me what the authors of the tables are doing is not taking into account that heavy weight lifting is primarily an anaerobic activity, or they assumed that 100% of the lactate formed from anaerobic metabolism is reconverted to pyruvate and then all is used aerobically. But there is a finite lactate loading the body can tolerate since the product of pyruvic acid fermentation is lactic acid, and the body will go into lactic acidosis, a dangerous condition, when the liver cannot get enough NAD+ (i.e. oxygenated blood supply) to reconvert lactic acid to pyruvic acid unless lactic acid is reconverted, metabolized or excreted by the kidneys, which is what happens. Hence, when one exercises under anaerobic conditions for a sufficient time period, much of the lactic acid is never reconverted. This is exactly equivalent to burning the calories in the sense that the nutrient from which they would come is not available. This is my calculation of the actual number of Cal. burned by lifting heavy weights: Note that in general fats cannot be converted to glucose, and even biochemistry textbooks will state this. That is not entirely true. Fats are not converted to glycogen, but there are certainly pathways for fats to be converted to pyruvate, the final species of glycolysis. Ketoenolates from fat metabolism can enter the Citric Acid Cycle and exit as pyruvate. Glycerol from glycerides is converted to pyruvate and glucose. Fats with an odd number of carbon atoms will result in a three-carbon species, acetoacetate, to enter the Citric Acid Cycle where it can leave as pyruvate. One of the three Ketone Bodies resulting from fat metabolism when the glucose concentration is low can end up as pyruvate and even glucose. The calculation is: anaerobic/aerobic useful energy = 1/19 (min. value). Therefore, 4 Cal/g for glucose = 4/19 = 0.211 Cal/g. As mentioned earlier, some of the lactate is reconverted to pyruvate and is ultimately completely metabolized. Part of my assumption is that the subject works out for one hour and does not rest for more than an average of one minute between sets or exercises. That is why it is very important to work out when one is in the gym and not lolly gag around. For my calculation, I assumed that 50% of the lactate is excreted or metabolized by the kidneys. I don't consider the 50% number high because there is certainly some fat metabolism taking place, and it is certain that the glucose level would be low. That means that ketone bodies would be formed from the fat metabolism, and a significant amount of the ketone bodies are also excreted rather than being metabolized. Similar to lactic acidosis, too many ketone bodies will result in ketoacidosis unless either the two primary ketone bodies are excreted or one of them is converted to acetone, all of which is excreted. Using 50% reconversion takes the Cal/g for glucose to 0.211/50% = 0.422 Cal/g. I conservatively assumed that lifting heavy weights is 85% anaerobic and 15% aerobic. Thus, this raises the 0.422 Cal/g to (85% x 0.422 Cal/g) + (15% x 4) Cal/g = 0.959 Cal/g. The 4 Cal/g and the 0.959 Cal/g can be used to determine the correction factor to be used in the exercise table for the lifting of heavy weights. The correction factor is 4 Cal/g ÷ 0.959 Cal/g = 4.17. Thus, in my strong opinion, working out with heavy weights where one cannot perform more than 10-12 reps maximum before muscle failure will burn within 5% of 550 Cal/g x 4.17 = 2,294 Cal/hr. I did not include the calories in the form of amino acids that must be used to repair the inevitable muscle damage that occurs with heavy muscle use. Presently, I do not know of an accurate way to measure that, however it would certainly add to the effective calories burned.

• Attempting to reduce fat in just one part of your body at a time is likely to be disappointing.

  Fat reduction works like this: When you try to lose fat through calorie-burning exercises, the reduction occurs all throughout your body. Unlike muscle-building, it cannot be specifically targeted to one region. Also, the reduction in fat will not be quickly apparent because it will not be focused on only one spot on your body. So it's helpful to have a "slowly but surely" attitude.

  Here's a program for the period in which you want to lose weight:

  Plenty of moderate aerobic exercise, no sweetened liquids at all, and no junk food at all. Preferably no sugar, and as little added salt and processed foods as possible. Eat 3 small-portioned meals/day; do not skip breakfast; and avoid snacks. Limit your calories (better to consult a doctor or nutritionist concerning the amount), and weigh yourself 2-3 times/week. Ignore the sensation of hunger. If you see your weight diminishing at a safe, reasonable rate (1-2 pounds/week), keep it up.

  Once you've reached your target weight, increase your calorie intake somewhat. And you can then have small amounts of sweetened foods or junk food on occasion (if at all), along with your regular foods (not instead of them). But keep checking your weight 2-3 times/week.

  Avoid crash diets, diet pills etc. Avoid fatty cuts of meat. Walk as much as possible. Bicycling and swimming are good too.

  More guidelines:

  Don't concentrate on specific foods so much as on a balanced, healthy diet plus exercise. Plenty of moderate exercise rather than intense exercise, which can damage your joints.

  Good nutrition means eating what your body needs, while ingesting as few harmful things as possible. It has also been described as getting enough of each of the major food categories (grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, etc.; plus plenty of water).

  This will vary somewhat from one person to another; and I don't believe that there's any universal diet that can be prescribed for everyone. Avoid best-sellers with their perennial fad diets. And think twice before using any dietary supplements or weight-loss pills.

  In general, one's starting point can be a menu of whole grains, whole-wheat bread, a good amount of vegetables, some fruits and nuts, fish, lean meats (in not-large amounts), and some dairy. However, this must be tweaked according to one's health, weight and other factors at the outset; and also adjusted over time, as one sees what works for him/her in particular.

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