Abdominal exercises have gained prominence in workouts – thanks to the growing breed of 6 and 8-pack actors! Yes, true to this observation, celebrities are very much responsible for bringing this ‘sculpted abs’ culture in to the mainstream. Still, much of the population goes on exercising in the gyms with stomach crunches and all sorts of bending exercises – but brings little change to his abs. the reason can be attributed to lack of proper exercising knowledge about the abs. too much of crunches can in fact, harm your core as well as your lower back muscles!

The idea is to safely exercise and not get hurt in the process. Our abdominal muscles are known as segmental muscles – i.e. the whole is divided into many segments. One of the broadest classifications of the same can be made on the basis of location – lower, middle and upper abs. There are many other classifications on the basis of geometry such as a 4 region and a 9-region scheme. We won’t go into that details at this moment but will discuss about the stomach exercises that will help you get great ripped abs!

Before you get started, you should make sure that your abdominal muscles get a thorough muscles get a thorough exercise and you are not depriving any part of your core muscles. The core muscles consist of the Transverse Abdominis, External and External Obliques, Rectus Abdominis, and the Pyramidalis muscle. That is reverse crunches are also as important as front crunches, to state an example. The following exercises will help you get started.

•Cycling

•Swiss ball/weight ball crunches

•Sit ups using free weights

•Full body crunches

The best exercises for abs that can be listed here are:

•Abdominal Flutter kicks for overall abdominal exercises

•Head Raises for upper abs

•Dumb bell crunch for mid and upper sections

•Leg raises for working out lower abs.

•Modified crunches – These are innovative exercises that help bring flexibility and strength to the core muscles.

Did you know that your buttock and pelvis muscles are also a part of the core muscle group? That means along with your abdominal muscles, you need to exercise these as well.

Another important thing to consider is a diet that is specifically formulated to take care of your abs. Such a diet should comprise of lots of proteins and vitamins and less of carbohydrates. But if you’re on the lighter side of the body weight, you need to incorporate carbohydrates in your diet. Check that your diet comprises of all the essential amino acids namely, tryptophan, lysine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, tyrosine and threonine. Having a protein shake that has milk based proteins will help you to achieve the optimum.