These Are the Most Effective Ab Exercises

Do you want a strong core, and maybe a chance of developing a six-pack?

Adding some ab isolation exercises will help you target that area.

When you contract it, the front of your pelvis moves closer to the front of your ribcage.

(This is what happens when you do a crunch.)

Arnold Schwarzennegger famously only has a four-pack, and Kumail Nanjiani famously has asymmetrical abs.

All of these variations are normal, and you cant change your muscle structureonly its size and strength.

Instead of talking about ab training, its more common these days to talk about core training.

Your core includes a bunch of other muscles besides the RA.

So core training isntjustab training, but strong abs contribute to a strong core.

Neither is abadexercise, but you’re free to do better.

But if youre doing tons of them, thiscan lead to an achy back.

When situps fell out of favor, planks became the new favorite.

But planks are tough for beginners, and once youre more advanced, they are a dead-end exercise.

I mean, its impressive, but there are better ways to strengthen your core.

and then promptly fell on your face.

You rock your body back and forth, maintaining tension in your abs the whole time.

you might do this either by flexing and extending your ankles, or by putting sliders under your feet.

Hanging leg raisesare another great exercise for folks who are more advanced.

The most difficult variation is to do them strict, without swinging, and with your legs straight.

Which ab exercises are best for men and for women?

Thats a trick question!

The best ab exercises for men and the best ab exercises for women are the same list of exercises.

The truth is that absarelike any other muscle, and that both approaches work.

If you like to train abs every day, you’ve got the option to keep doing that.

That should give those muscles enough rest that theyre up for a challenge when you do train them.

You might find that you have a stronger core than you realized.

Louder for the folks in the back:exercises do not make you lose fat in specific places.

Thats it, those are the two levers you’re free to pull.

Doing deadbugs or ab rollouts or crunches or planks will not affect the amount of fat on your belly.

And that makes them, for many of us, worth doing.