Workout abs
With all of the different workout plans that are available, it becomes nigh on imposssible to choose which one will be the best one to follow when trying to get your abs into a ripped 6 pack. I mean, given all of this info, some of it conflicting with each other leaving you scratching your head with which is the best way to work your abs.
When you start working to these muscles, what you have to do, is remember that all routines will work for you to a certain degree whatever you choose to be going for high reps and light weights or heavy weights and low reps, using a stability ball, whatever, the thing is it will work until your body gets used to it, then you need to go at it differently to challenge the body and keep the improvement going.
Ideally when working out your abs, you should start off with your own body weight on a stable platform, and look to increase the intensity of it until you are using heavy weights on an unstable platform. Following this procedure will allow you to progress with some good results, because what happens when ending out on an unstable base, this forces all of your core muscles to work, especially the really deep ones that do not get called in to play much when you are using a stable basewill cause even the deepest of your core muscles, which generally do not get called in to play much, to work.
If you are unclear as to what I mean by doing floor work with a stable base, then this is simply doing your crunches on the floor. Then to make it unstable you would progress to doing these exercises on something unstable such as a gym ball and then make it more intense by adding weight into the mix too.
Weighted movements are a definate requirement if you want to get that proper 6 pack, after all you can have a flat belly without the abs showing and although you look nice and slim, however, that is not really what we are trying to achieve. The reason we need weights here is because we will be targeting the actual abdominal muscle itself and the best way to do this is with exercises such as weighted ab crunches on a machine or getting on a stability ball with a dumbbell. It is important during your ab exercises to make sure you are crunching your upper abs onto your lower abs during each rep. This is needed in order to really max the burn and fully develop the core muscle.
You can do workouts for both upper and lower abs, really you should just think about working them both out at the same time whenever you train your abs. The reason I say this is that you cannot totally separate upper and lower, so why not just focus on working them all in the first place. Of course, if you feel that you do want to try and exercise them seperately, then exercises such as leg raises will do the trick. And again with leg raises, just like crunches, you can progress from unweighted and stable to weighted and unstable
Just like the other muscle groups in your body, you need to know how often to train your abs, the main thing is to ensure that you have fully recovered from the last time you trained them. So bearing that in mind, train them as often as you want as long as you are recovered. If you are finding you are not making any progress then you need more rest in between training them.
The final word on this is that although you can do these exercises, abs are often hidden under fat, so to get the best results you need to watch your calorie intake and also ensure you have cardio work in your routine as well to help burn off fat.
Also do not forget to consult with your physician before undertaking any exercise regime
