Advanced Abs Exercises

                

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Once you get more experienced in ab exercise, you might want to move on beyond the basic exercises to do some more advanced ones. While these exercises are often complicated, they are much more effective for focusing on specific muscles. Be warned, though, that you shouldn’t try them until you know what you’re doing, as you might hurt yourself or others around you.

The first two to try both use an exercise ball. In the first exercise, you lie on your side, and then put the ball between your legs. Then tighten your abs and use your hip muscles to gently lift the ball.

A second exercise to do with the ball is the plank, which is when you do what are basically push-ups, only with your legs balanced on the ball and your arms stretched a long way off the ground.

If you have two people, a good advanced exercise is for one of you to lie on your back and put their legs in the air. Then, the other holds the legs around the ankles, and tries to bend them back towards the head. The idea is for the person lying down to try and force their legs up again against the downward pressure.

If you’ve got a metal bar or something else that you can hang from, you can do hanging ab exercises. Simply hold on to the bar, and then try to raise your legs up as close as you can get them to your chest.

However, whichever exercises you do, you still need to exercise all your ab muscles equally. It’s no good trying to ‘spot reduce’ to get rid of fat on one particular kind of your body – the only way to do it is to get fit all over. So you’d better get started!

John Gibb is the owner of ab-exercise guidance For more information on ab exercises check out http://www.ab-exercise-guidance.info

Abs Myths

                

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Myth1 Abdominal exercises will remove fat in my midsection.
Fact: You need to remove excess fat around your stomach in order to see your abs. The only way your going to do this is with a low-calorie diet and a weight-resistance program while adding cardio exercise. Ab exercises will develop muscles, but they’ll still be under your fat.
 

Myth2 It takes hundreds of crunches to get ab muscles in shape.
Fact: Abdominal muscles are like any other muscle, they don’t respond to hundreds of repetitions. When you can easily do 15 reps of any ab exercise, you need to switch exercises or add resistance.
 

Myth3 You have to train your abs everyday if you want a six pack.
Fact: Ab muscles can be over-trained just like any other muscle. You need to give your six pack abs enough rest to recuperate. Over-training will result diminished gains and soreness.
 

Myth4 Men and women should train their abs differently.
Fact: Men and women all have muscle, which is trained the same way. If a woman wants a sexy midsection, then she’s going to eat correctly, follow a cardio program and train her abs the same way a man would.
 

Myth5 If I stop training my abs they’ll turn to fat.
Fact: Muscles don’t turn to fat. If you stay active and watch what you eat you’ll keep your abs even if you stop training. But if you stop exercising and start eating junk, your abs will disappear.
 

The author is from http://www.get-six-pack-abs.com

Resource about six-pack abdominals. Includes stomach exercises, abs diet, low fat recipes, weight loss tips, fitness models and free e-mail support.

The Abs... More Important Than You Think

                

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What comes to your mind when I say the word “abs”? Do you think of the infomercials advertising “6 second abs” or the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue? Most people focus on training their abs to look thinner or sexier. But, do you realize the importance of your abs in everyday activities? Most yoga instructors do. And that’s why one of the focuses of yoga is to build your core abdominal strength.

Important for posture

Your abs attach to your spine and pelvis, helping balance your back in good posture. Often times, when your back is not supported in the correct posture by your abdominals and back muscles, back pain occurs. Did you know that back pain accounts for approximately 50 billion dollars in health care costs each year. This is not something to be taken lightly -- so remember -- one of the best ways to prevent back pain is to strengthen your abs.

It often takes a conscious effort to sit in good posture. But, even if you get into a good sitting posture, you will need the abdominal and back endurance to maintain it! How are you sitting at your computer right now? I would bet most of you are sitting in a slumped posture….some more than others. To sit in good posture, you should have a slight inward curve in your back with your ears directly over your shoulders.

One way to strengthen your abs while working on your computer is to use an exercise ball as your chair. Yes, you heard me right! In fact, I am sitting on my exercise ball as I write this article.

Important for balance

Without abdominal strength, you will have difficulty sitting, standing and walking. Your center of gravity is located at your sacrum or roughly just below your belly button. Therefore, your abs play an important part in keeping you balanced at your center of gravity.

Think about someone who is a quadriplegic or paralyzed from the neck down. They are not able to sit by themselves because their back and abdominal muscles are paralyzed. In other words, they are no longer able to balance themselves. In contrast, a paraplegic, someone paralyzed from the waist down, is able to balance and sit by themselves because only their legs are paralyzed leaving their abdominal and back muscles intact. This proves that our abdominals are important for our balance.

If you are now sitting on your exercise ball, you can practice some balance exercises and strengthen your abs simply by rolling your hips forward, backward and side to side. Make sure to pull your stomach inward during these motions.

Exercise your abs

Now that you know the importance of your abs, you need to integrate abdominal strengthening into your regular strength training. Abs should be trained like any other muscle – 8 to 12 repetitions, 3 times per week.

I have several suggestions for where you can start.

1. The Two Best Abs Exercises: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/best-ab-exercises.html
2. Lower Abdominal Exercises: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/lower-abdominal-exercises.html
3. Abdominal Ball Exercises: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/abdominal-ball-exercises.html

Remember the abs! They are more important that you think!

Written by Shelley Hitz, Licensed Physical Therapist and Certified NASM Personal Trainer.
Sign up for her free Exercise Advice journal at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/journal.html or read more of her articles at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com. Get your free unbelievable abs ball workout here!