There are actually several exercises that qualify to be called the ‘best abdominal exercise’. The problem most people make is thinking they can do just ab exercises and nothing else and they’ll wake up one day with that six-pack, washboard stomach they keep dreaming of. That’s just not gonna happen and while it’s not a popular thing to say, it needs to be said.

The best abdominal exercise, the way you get those enviable six-pack abs is not actually just one exercise. It needs to be a set of abdominal exercises with each one designed to work the different muscle groups that make up your abdominal area.

There are four different abdominal muscle groups:

1. External oblique – Coming down at slant on your sides

2. Internal oblique – Shadowing the external obliques, beneath them

3. Transverse abdominus – The innermost stomach muscle

4. Rectus abdominus – Down the center of the body, from the ribcage to the pelvic bone

Working both sets of oblique muscles will define your waist, the transverse muscle gives you the flat stomach you want and the rectus, well, that’s your six-pack. The rectus muscle is considered the ‘core’ you keep hearing so much about, as in core conditioning. It refers to strengthening the rectus abdominus.

Here’s the problem, though. You can work those abs till you can’t move anymore, and you still won’t see a six-pack if there’s a layer of fat covering it. And the only way to lose it is through diet and exercise. There, I said it.

Oh, wow...you’re still reading, great! That means the truth didn’t scare you away. And the truth about great abs is they have as much to do with your body fat as they do with the exercises you perform. So if you’re serious about developing six-pack abs, you’ve got to get serious about your nutrition...or lack thereof.

And the best abdominal exercise? Well, that would have to be that great ol’ standby, the crunch. By slightly varying the angle of the crunch, you can completely target every muscle group in the abdominal area.