Introducing The Strong Stomach Workout
When starting an abdominal muscle workout routine, for most folks the goal is simple: a flatter stomach. Although a smooth, flat stomach looks good, it’s less of an achievement if the the abdomen muscles haven’t acquired any strength. In addition to losing weight around the outer abdominals, it’s also crucial to build up strength in the core group abdominals. Below are a few stomach exercises that bring out the core to build up strong muscles throughout the abdominal cavity. As with any exercise routine, make certain to confer with a professional before leading off and always loosen up decently to avoid accidental injury.
Tone Your Torso
Start this abdomen exercise on all fours, knees and hands on the floor. Keep your abdomen pulled in and extend your left arm out in front of you (football buffs, imagine a referee signaling 1st down). Keep this arm extended as you extend your right leg out behind you. Alternate arms and legs, and duplicate for a full set. Take special attention not to allow your pelvis rock out of position.
Butt Burner
You’ll need to lie down on your back for this drill. Use a gym mat or towel to cushion your backbone. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the ground, and place your arms at your sides. Compress your butt cheeks as you raise your pelvis off the ground. Hold the rest of your body in line. Elevate your hips to about 45 degrees, so your upper torso from your head to your knees constitutes a straight, flat ramp. Hold this position for 3 to 5 seconds prior to slowly bringing down your pelvis back to the ground. Repeat for a full set.
Crunchless Crunch
This stomach exercise is reasonably simple in principle but can be moderately hard to perform. In essence, it involves trying to pull the navel in towards the backbone. This can be tricky, as it calls for applying muscles which you might not be accustomed to activating. To begin, either lie down on your stomach or kneel. You may want to try both ways and figure out which facilitates you feeling the exercise better. Relax your body as much as conceivable, then attempt to use only the lower abdominal muscles to move your belly button towards your backbone. Hold for 10 seconds. Whenever this feels easy, hold for a longer time period. The goal is to hold the muscle contraction until you either can’t feel it, or you feel additional muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. Once you feel this, let the contraction out.
Scissor Kicks
This stomach exercise also calls for lying on the ground. Place your hands under your butt, keeping your backbone pressed against the ground. Slowly lift one leg to a height of about 10 inches, and then slowly lower it back to the ground. While you lower one leg, lift the other. Repeat this movement for a full set. Keeping control throughout is important, not allowing momentum to overcome you. Your upper torso should remain on the ground through the whole move.
These are just a few of all the strength building stomach exercises out there. Whenever you’re looking to build up strength in your middle, look to any physical exercise that works your core, particularly the transverse abdominal muscles. Numerous components of Pilates are beneficial for this as well.
