Abdominal workouts are important to the development of a healthy core. Contrary to the widely-held belief that crunches and other ab workouts can spot reduce a bulging belly, the benefit of an abdominal workout lies not in its ability to give you ripped abs when performed in itself, but its immense contribution to giving you a more stable back, abdominal and pelvic muscles. With constant core exercises, your posture greatly improves and your gait becomes stable. Thus, you also develop balance when you're walking and running. Lifting heavy objects become a cinch too since your back is strengthened with regular ab exercises.

The good thing about ab workout exercises is that you can do them virtually anywhere, even in the comfort of your own home. They also require only the most basic of equipment, if at all, and when done regularly give obvious benefits.

One of the simplest ab workouts that can be done at home are abdominal crunches. Lie on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat, and your hands held behind your head. If putting your hands behind your head is too much of a strain, crossing your arms in front of your chest is another alternative. Raise your shoulders off the floor, feeling your ab muscles contract as you do so. Hold for two to three seconds before going back down. Do two sets of ten repetitions each if you can.

Another ab exercise to do at home is sit ups with medicine balls. This makes the workout more intense since the ball encourages you to stretch to the maximum. You need to enlist the help of your wife, husband or friend for this workout. Begin by lying straight on the ground with your knees bent and holding a 5-pound medicine ball near your chest. Let your partner stay by your foot. Your lower back must be pushed to the floor so you flatten your arch. Hand the ball your partner as you curl up. Don't start lying back down until your partner has received the ball and given it back to you. You can also do curls with medicine balls. Simply lie with your back straight on the floor with your knees bent and your feet kept flat on the floor. Hold the ball across your chest. Try lifting your shoulders from the floor with the medicine ball.

Side bends are another ab exercise that you can do to strengthen your abdominal muscles. Hold a dumbbell (if you don't have one, fill two same-sized mineral water bottles with water) with your right hand. Stand with your knees bent slightly and your left hand placed behind the head. Slowly bend towards your right side so that the dumbbell goes down towards your knees. Come back up to the first position and repeat with other side.

Other ab workout exercises that you can do at home are planks, side planks and reverse crunches. As long as you stick to the proven workouts, following proper techniques and movements, you should still be able to give your abs the workout it needs even while you're at home.