Ab workouts at the gym

Top Ab Exercises To Do

With Summer coming around the corner, you have to get your conditioning in. Start shredding down and work on your abs to have this greek-god like physique. A nice v taper with abs will show all women who's the boss. What Girl doesn't like a guy with nice abs? Not sure, but here are the top ab exercises to do.

Overall, you should train all aspects of your abs. Upper, middle, lower, and the obliques of course. However, don't overtrain abs because you may develop blocky abs, which comes develops overtime due to intensive ab exercises. Be moderate on your ab workouts to lessen it's blocky appearance. So about 2x/week sounds good in my opinion. It also depends on what exercises you go about because every ab exercise hits and develops the abs differently.

You can perform these exercises anywhere. At the gym, at home, at the office, etc. Bring a mat to soften the area where you are going to perform the ab exercises.

9 Ab Exercises

Sets: 3-5-7

Beginner Sets: 3

Intermediate Sets: 5

Advanced Sets: 7

If you're a beginner, you would do 3 sets of each exercises with those amount of reps. Etc.

1) Flutter Kicks

- Reps: 20

Effective way to strengthen your core and work your lower abs, glutes, hip flexors, and quads. When done while lying on your stomach, flutter kicks can also strengthen your lower back muscles 

Lift your legs 4 to 6 inches off the floor. Squeeze your abs to keep your back from overarching.

Keep your legs straight as you rhythmically raise one leg higher, then switch. Move in a fluttering, up and down motion.

Perform for 15 to 20 repetitions. Alternatively, flutter kick for a period of time, such as 20 to 30 seconds.

Prop yourself up on your elbows and do the flutter kicks in slow motion.

2) Sit-Ups

- Reps: 10

• Situps work the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques in addition to your hip flexors, chest, and neck. They promote good posture by working your lower back and gluteal muscles. With a larger range of motion, situps target more muscles than crunches and static core exercises

The form

• Lie down on your back.
  
  
• Bend your legs and stabilize your lower body.
  
  
• Cross your hands to opposite shoulders, or place them behind your ears without pulling on your neck.
  
  
• Lift your head and shoulder blades from the ground. Exhale as you rise.
  
  
• Lower, returning to your starting point. Inhale as you lower.

3) Reverse Crunches

- Reps: 10

• the reverse crunch hits all the showy exterior abs muscles you need to work for a well-defined six-pack, placing particular emphasis on the lower abs. The reverse crunch also puts your abs under tension for a long period of time, maximising the benefits to your stomach muscles – if it’s done properly

Reverse crunch

• Keep your knees bent at 90 degrees throughout the movement. Tuck your knees toward your face as far as you can comfortably go without lifting your mid-back from the mat. Your hips and lower back should lift off the ground. Hold for a moment and slowly lower your feet back toward the floor until they reach the ground.

4) Air Bike Crunches

- Reps: 20

- One my favorites

• The bicycle crunch is an effective ab exercise, reaching not only the usual abs but also the deep abs and the obliques. Use it as part of your core strengthening workout or add it to a full body workout.
  
  
• multi-targeted ab workout, and can be highly effective—as long as you've got the right form. It's a very dynamic movement
  
  
• The primary muscles worked in the bicycle crunch are the rectus abdominus, hips, and obliques. Keeping your legs off the ground targets your lower abs. The rotation activates your obliques. The pedaling of your legs stimulates the hips

5) Knee-to-elbow crunches

- Reps: 20

• The elbow-to-knee crunch is a core strengthening exercise that targets the lower abdominals and, more specifically, the obliques. The elbow-to-knee crunch is a core strengthening exercise that targets the lower abdominals and, more specifically, the obliques.
  
  
• Standing with hips shoulder width apart, rotate your torso and bend an elbow on one side of the body and flex the hip of the other side of the body to bring one elbow to an opposite knee. Return to the starting position. Complete again using the opposite extremities.

6) Raised Leg Circles

- Reps: 10

• What's involved: In order of load, from highest to lowest, lower abs, lateral abs, front hip flexors, upper abs, quads.
  
  
• Extend one leg straight up with your toes pointed up toward the ceiling. From here, move your raised leg in large, controlled, clockwise circles, as if you're tracing circles in the air with your foot. Reverse the circles, moving in a counterclockwise direction for the same number of reps

7) Sitting Twists

Reps: 10

•  it helps with twisting movements and allows you to quickly change direction. It's also ideal for anyone looking to tone their midsection, get rid of love handles, and develop that all-important core strength, which helps with balance, posture, and movement.
  
  
• Twist exercises do exactly that. They target the fat and at the same time work on your core muscles. Twist exercises not only work on your upper and lower abdominals, but also works on the oblique muscles.

Sit up twist

• Lie on your back with your knees slightly bent. Keep the soles of your feet flat on the floor and lightly touch your temples with your hand.
  
  
• Lift up your torso and bend to the right until your left elbow touches your right knee.
  
  
• Repeat the movement on the opposite side and continue, maximising each repetition.

8) Windshield Wipers

- Reps: 10

• The windshield wipers exercise is designed to activate the core stabilizing muscles, specifically the obliques and the rectus abdominus muscle.
  
  
• Engage the abdominals and slowly lower your legs toward the floor on your left side. Extend your right leg out in a kicking motion. Complete 3 kicks, engaging the obliques each time that you do. Return to the starting position by raising your legs back towards the middle.

9) Leg Raises

- Reps: 10 

• Leg raise also improves the strength and flexibility of your hips and lower back, which is a considerable benefit for anyone who spends a lot of time sitting at a desk.