Abdominal exercises.

[Seamus123]

.....

 

[EJFan]

exrx.net is the absolute best site for this type of information IMO.

 

[BurgerFuhrer]

First of all, you should learn the difference between sit-ups and crunches. Crunches are what you want to do. Sit-ups involve the lower back more than abs. So avoid those. Crunches are done by very slow and minimal elevation. It may sound hard, but focus your mind on your abs and while you're doing slow crunches you will feel the burn. There are many variations to crunches, and also something called "the bridge" that I use when I work on abs.

 

[BurgerFuhrer]

Here are illustrations that show the difference between situps and crunches:
http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafregiment/regt_images/pgac/situp_action.jpg
vs
http://www.building-muscle101.com/images/crunches.jpg

The latter is what you wanna go for.

 

[tanyachrs]

What works best is losing weight. You can't really make your stomach look better by doing crunches unless you're carrying almost no fat there to begin with.

I'm not saying there aren't other good reasons to strengthen your abs, because there are, but if you want your stomach to look flatter you're better off going for a jog and skipping desert.

 

[BurgerFuhrer]

What works best is losing weight. You can't really make your stomach look better by doing crunches unless you're carrying almost no fat there to begin with.

I'm not saying there aren't other good reasons to strengthen your abs, because there are, but if you want your stomach to look flatter you're better off going for a jog and skipping desert.

Spot on. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

 

[PowerLifter84]

Are you wanting to strenghten the abdominal muscles or have them be noticable without a shirt?

You can get by the first one with sit-ups, leg raises (they typically hit the lower portion of your abs) and maybe some oblique raises on the roman chair. The second is achieved by your diet and cardio.

 

[ceclia]

also high rep slow leg raises. lifting both legs at the same time - with legs straight.
doing that for 30 minutes or so is pretty tough and works most all of the ab muscles

 

[CowBoy18^]

bicycle kicks and situps should be all ya need

 

[Nori_T3]

also high rep slow leg raises. lifting both legs at the same time - with legs straight.
doing that for 30 minutes or so is pretty tough and works most all of the ab muscles

i've been doing these for about 6 months, and they work great

 

[Seamus123]

Here are illustrations that show the difference between situps and crunches:
http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafregiment/regt_images/pgac/situp_action.jpg
vs
http://www.building-muscle101.com/images/crunches.jpg

The latter is what you wanna go for.

Sorry to seem ignorant, but the crunch picture seems to be a situp but only sitting half the way up.

 

[tanyachrs]

If you're going to do ab exercises, I'd recommend getting instruction - a class at your gym, a DVD, a personal trainer, even a friend who exercises regularly. There's a lot of potential with ab exercises to hurt your back. A crunch is sort of like half a situp although there are other subtle differences. Crunches are less likely to cause back injury than more advanced techniques like leg lifts, full situps, Pilates, etc. It's hard to screw up a crunch too badly but I'd still have someone walk me through it the first couple of times.

 

[Zoulie]

I've been doing lots of stomach crunches and they work great. I also power walk as well and lift some free weights. I've lost 50 pounds in a year-and-a-half and while my body is like a 20 year old now, my problem is a bit of loose skin right under my rib cage on my belly. I'd kill to get rid of that shit and no matter how many stomach crunches I do it's not going away. I think the only way from here is probably surgery if I really wanted to get rid of it.

 

[Seamus123]

AH, great, thanks for your feedback, I think crunches are the way to go.

Are they really just a half sit-up? Surely there must be more to it than that

 

[Eilan]

I've lost 50 pounds in a year-and-a-half

Congratulations on the weight loss!