Having a strong core is vital to the situation and a good daily life, and everyone seems to like to work to death. While we’ve reiterated that 500 crunches won’t give you 6-pack abs (you can’t detect fat loss in training), it’s always best to maintain core strength and power!
Spot on Ab exercises
People also get tired of the same old crunches. Personally, I’m on the verge of a lifelong meltdown. Back when I was a little petite (keep the comments), crunches were what I always did and did just for the abs.
There are plenty of other moves and variations we can do instead that will also strengthen the core but also keep you interested and engaged!
Let’s break down 6 less often done exercises to blast your core and improve your core strength!
Ab exercises:
Heel touches, abdominal exercises, leg holders, wide mountain climbers, push-ups with flexion, tik tok
heel contact:
This is a great movement that starts in a crunches position with your feet about one foot apart from your butt, lift the blades of your upper back/shoulders off the floor and continue to do so the entire time. Practice back and forth by bending at your sides (your abs will be contracting the whole time) touching the outside of each heel. This is definitely fun!
tuck crunch:
Like I said, I’ve been about to finish normal crunches for a very long time. This is an alternative to the regular crunch. Lie on the floor in a normal squat position, but contract your abdominal muscles so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor with your knees at a 90 angle (so that your calves are parallel to the floor). From there, perform an exercise (make sure your shoulder blades are off the floor each time).
Leg holds:
It’s probably the easiest to explain exercise on this list. You basically lie on your back, put your hands under your butt muscles for extra support, and raise your feet 2-4 inches off the floor and hold them for a predetermined amount of time. To make it even more difficult, remove your hands and put them at your sides! Believe me, after about 30 seconds of holding this position, you will definitely feel the burn!
Large scale mountain climbers:
Some of you might already be climbing mountains and if you do…you know they’re bad…but in an incredibly effective way! With the weight of your body on your hands and feet, rhythmically raise each knee toward your chest. You want to do this at a fast pace and have a good heart rhythm. Here is the torsion. Bring your feet wider then your shoulders to add some variation to your workout!
Push-up with the knee bent:
Here is a variation of the plank that also helps us build upper body strength. Do a regular exercise (keep your body flat and hands shoulder width apart). After the push-up, raise each knee (one at a time) toward your chest in a slow and controlled manner. During this bend, you will hold a plank in a pushup position. This move is great for core and upper body strengthening!
Tik Toks:
This is a killer exercise I learned from Coach Ashley Soboda At my previous gym I worked out and I’m glad I did!
For this exercise, we’ll detail again on the plank. Set up as if you were going to do a plank: with your body weight on your elbows/forears and toes. But this time spread your feet 3-4 feet apart. Hold the plank position as you move your feet back and forth between each other. Lift your right foot off the floor and move it up and touch the left foot, then return it to the starting position. Then do the same with the left foot. You will get a rhythm like a pendulum clock… tik tok… back and forth… tik tok!
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In this exercise, there is no set number of reps to do. Alternatively, do these ab exercises for 3 sets, performing each exercise for 30 seconds and doing as many repetitions as possible using the correct form for each ab exercise.
Try it and see how it goes. Believe me, your abs will definitely thank you and hate you for that!
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