The Best Ab Exercises You Aren't Doing

By Colin Reay

What do you think of when you think about doing an ab workout? It is crunches isn't it? Crunches serve as the main exercise for all abdominal workouts. And that is a good thing. Because it is the most effective exercise that targets your abs. But not only could you be doing it wrong, you could be missing out on the many variations that could keep you from pushing past plateaus or missing the muscle gains and the fat loss you have been hoping for.

So what are they? First, are you sure you are using your abs?

Most people doing crunches are actually using their hip flexors. When you pull your body up to your knees, it tends to use those hip flexors instead of your ab muscles because your abs aren't strong enough. You can quickly fix this by going slower, doing less, and put your hands on your stomach. Putting your hands there will make you think about it and will let them know to be worked. Also, by going slower and doing less, you will set up the foundation for better gains later. Because going too fast will only cause injury.

But you want more variations? Here we go.

One of the biggest mistakes are missing your lower abdominal. When you don't know how, it is easy to miss them and lose most of your ability to lose fat and gain muscle in your core. So instead of doing the typical crunches the normal way, secure your upper body by grabbing a secure object with your hands and lift your feet into the air instead of your upper body. Make sure to bend at the hips, and really think about your stomach by sucking in your belly button towards your spine.

If you aren't using a stability ball for ab workouts, you should be. This is the number one piece of equipment that can quickly help anyone out by forcing your body to balance while working out.

For more information about the best ab exercises and all the different variations of crunches, as well as exercises such as the bicycle, the captains chair, the v-crunches, and more, check outhttp://www.abmusclessecrets.com/best-ab-exercises/ and check out even more on my sitehttp://www.abmusclessecrets.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Reay