The Complete Ab Workout

If you’re on a mission to try and get flat abs as quickly as possible, it’s going to be imperative that you’re spending some time creating a complete ab workout.

When looking at the goal to get flat abs, the first thing that you do need to realize is that you’ll see best results if you take a multi-pronged approach.  What this means is that rather than just focusing on performing an abdominal workout, you should focus on having a good full body weight training workout in place along with a proper diet plan.

When you can get these three elements in place, you’re going to see far higher levels of success as you’ll be attacking the goal from all angles.

In addition to that, you’re also going to notice that you start looking much better overall as you’ll further tone the body and help to lose body fat all over, not just from the abs.

The real fact of the matter is that spot training isn’t possible, so to shed fat from the abs, you’ll need to focus first on total body fat loss anyway.

So this said, let’s have a look at the main components that should be in place for a complete ab workout program and then provide you with a sample program that you can follow.  If you can include exercises that cover all of these components, you can feel confident that you’re doing everything you can to foster stronger, well-developed ab muscles.

Multi-Angle Movements

The very first requirement of a complete ab program is that you include movements that will hit the muscles from a variety of different angles.  This means that you aren’t just performing crunches as part of your routine but rather you’re changing things up to keep the abs from hitting a plateau.

Some exercises may have you crunching while others may focus primarily on moving the legs through a certain pattern of movement.

The more variety you can include, the better.

Weighted Exercises

The second must-have for success with your abdominal workout is one or two weighted exercises.  As long as you don’t use incredibly heavy weight so you avoid building up larger muscles and increasing the waistline, you can see very good strengthening benefits from adding a few weighted exercises to your program.

These are going to place more tension on the abdominal muscles so that they contract harder and grow stronger as a result.

In addition to that, weighted exercises are very good for making the ab muscles ‘pop’, so will be ideal for those hoping to achieve maximum definition.

Instability

Instability is the next key component of a complete ab workout plan.  By causing the body to become instable, you’ll find that you’re forced to work that much harder to maintain control.

This is important for those that want to target the muscle fibers deep within the core as this is what will get them working quickly. Often these muscles stay dormant unless you’re really making an active effort to decrease your overall stability.

Isometric Contractions

Finally, the last important requirement for a complete ab workout is isometric contractions.  This means that you’ll be holding the body in place without movement, but in a position that keeps the ab muscles tense.

The plank along with all of its variations will accomplish this objective perfectly.

So there you have the main components that you should try and get in place in whatever ab workout you’re doing.  If you touch upon all of these elements, you can definitely feel confident that you’re working the abs maximally and will doing your part to move closer to results.

When looking at sets and reps, most of the time you should be aiming to bring the rep range up to around 15-20 reps for abdominal exercises, however with weighted ab work, keep it to the 10-15 rep range instead. Also try and keep the total rest period taken between exercises on the shorter side as well as this will help to bring about a higher level of fatigue in the ab muscles and enhance your results that much further as well.

Here’s your complete abdominal program.

Crunches On An Exercise Ball – 2 sets of 20 reps

Lying Leg Raise – 2 sets of 15 reps

The Bicycle – 2 sets of 15 reps

Declined Weighted Sit-Ups – 2 sets of 10 reps

The Front Plank – 2 sets of 30 second hold
The Side Plank – 2 sets of 30 second hold/side

 

Easy Ab Exercises You Can Do From Home

If you’re on a quest to get flat abs, one thing that you should be doing is looking at a number of different easy ab exercises you can do from home.

Those who make their workouts convenient are far more likely to carry them out because they won’t have to go out of their way to complete them.

If you have to travel 30 minutes and back to get to the nearest gym, chances are you won’t be working out on a regular basis.

Fortunately there are a number of different abdominal exercises that you can do in the comfort of your own home that will really work the ab muscles thoroughly and move you one step closer to your goal of obtaining the flat ab look.

Let’s go over the main ones that you should know.

Pike Sit-Ups And Holds

First up on our list of top ab exercises that you can do from home are pike sit-ups and holds (you can do this with an exercise ball or without).  This move is great for strengthening the lower abs as well as the top abs as both will contract simultaneously to move you into position.

When performing this exercise make sure that you perform it slowly so as to not let momentum do the work for you.

Lift the legs up off the floor while your upper body rises to meet it.  Come up as high into the ‘V’ position as you can before lowering back down.  Aim to not let the feet completely touch the floor as you lower back down however as this will ensure constant tension the abdominal muscles.

Once you’ve finished all your reps, aim to hold the last one for 10 seconds for a real challenge.

Frog Crunches

Moving along, the second of the abdominal exercises you can do from home are frog crunches.  This crunch is a great variation to add into your routine and will challenge your muscles in a completely new and different manner.

To perform it you’re going to want to lie flat down on the floor and open the legs outwards while bending at the knee and placing the feet together.

You should be in a ‘frog’ position while doing this.

From there, slowly begin to crunch directly up to the top, pausing for a very brief moment once you reach the top of the movement.  Take a breath and then lower back down.

Lying Flutter Kicks

Most people know flutter kicks as an exercise for the lower back, but you can also perform them as a great move for the lower abs as well.

The only difference now is that rather than lying stomach down while performing this exercise, you’re going to want to lie back down.

Note that this is definitely a much more advanced exercise however, so you’ll want to be sure that your core strength level is already higher.  Otherwise you won’t be able to do it correctly and may just put yourself at risk for the development of lower back pain.

 

When lying on the ground, back down, lift the legs so that they’re only about an inch or two off the ground and then using very short strides, kick them back and forth, crossing each other as you go.

Try and aim to perform 20 flutter kicks total before lowering back down to complete the set.

The Bicycle

Finally, the last of the easy ab exercises you can do from home is the bicycle.  The bicycle is a fantastic movement for working the obliques and is really going to challenge the abs maximally.

When doing this one the main objective needs to be to keep the legs elevated up off the floor the entire time you’re performing it as this ensures that you are maintaining proper tension on the abs.

Twist to one side, pause, and then twist back again to complete the rep.

So there you have some of the easy ab exercises that you should start including in your program to do from home.  If you can aim to perform these three to four times per week, taking one day off in between sessions and aiming for somewhere around 15-20 reps per set, doing 2 sets total, you’ll be seeing a difference no time.

Do keep in mind however that a large part of getting flat abs does come down to bringing your overall body fat levels lower, so be sure that a good diet is in place to take care of that factor as well.