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Best Ab Exercises



The best ab exercises are crunches, which are great for getting a muscular stomach, by isolating these key core muscles that help with stability and posture.

Key Muscles:

  • Rectus Abdominus (Abs) - A symmetrical 4-paired muscle, which runs down the abdomen. Can only contract by pulling the back or pelvis up, which helps with posture and breathing. Exercised by crunches and plank.

  • External Obliques - Situated on the sides of your body, this muscle helps with posture, flexibility and upper body rotation. Exercised by side crunches.

    • However some people have the misconception that doing abdominal exercises on their own will give you a flat stomach. This is not true and can in fact increase the size of your stomach, because you will be building muscle underneath all the fat, which will give the appearance of a larger belly. You should only do these exercises once you have attained a flat stomach or are cutting down your tummy fat by doing aerobic exercise.

    The stomach exercises are pretty simple to grasp and the more repetitions you do the better, unlike other muscle groups. Although, you shouldn’t overdo it so take it one step at a time (don’t do 100 crunches on your first day).

    You should also always stretch after doing them, because otherwise you will have a very sore tummy, even if you take protein supplements due to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).

    Crunches

    These are the best ab exercises you can do for your stomach to build up muscle. They cause your abs to contract under body weight, which causes micro tears that are then repaired and strengthened by your body.

    Plank

    Completely the opposite to crunches, the plank is held in one position, which cause the abdominals to be contracted while the position is held. This also works the muscles causes small tears, which are then repaired and built up.

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