Many people mistakenly believe that abs are some kind of exception amoung muscles as they need to be worked on every day to appear, but that it far cry from the truth. Abs, just as any other muscle in human body, will grow if you exercise them regularly (2-3 times per week). The reason why so many people religiously do abs workouts every single day and still don’t reach the desirable result is usually pretty simple: their belly fat covers their pack. In order to get a well defined 6-pack not only do you need to train the muscle itself, but you also need to reach a pretty low body fat percentage, which is usually glossed over by the people who just start out with a single goal of obtaining unrealistic anime character physique. Also you should remember that at it’s core abs are one big muscle (we can only single out the obliques), so whether you are working on “lover pack” or “upper pack” doesn’t really make much of a difference. Even with all this said, there are still some exercise which can make your workouts easier and more efficient. You can easily do all of them at home.
1. Leg Raises
The leg raise is a fantastic core exercise that every lifter should keep in their ab exercise library. Leg raises can be easily scaled and performed virtually anywhere with no equipment needed.
How to do leg raises:
Step 1. Establish you position: lay flat on your back and extend the legs, lightly press your hands into the ground. Make sure you don’t arch your back, as it would move the pressure to your lover back.
Step 2. Lift while exhaling: Use lower back grounding cue as a means to initiate proper position. Lift your legs off the ground while exhaling right until the poing when your back is gust about to stop touching the ground then start lowering them.
Step 3. Lower your legs and repeat: Keep your lower back firmly on the ground and fully control the descent ofyour feet. Stop right before they touch the ground and come back to the first step.
The optimal amount differs from person to person, but you should try doing 3-4 sets of 20-30 repetitions.
2. Side plank
If you want to work your waist and define your obliques, side planks are a great exercise to get you there. This unilateral movement challenges each side of the body independently, working not only the core but also the lats,lower traps, chest, shoulders, and glutes, which are all needed to help keep the body stable.
How to do side plank:
Step 1. Lie on your side with your legs extended, forearm flat on the floor, elbow bent. Feet can either be stacked on top of one another (harder), or staggered (easier).
Step 2. Pop your hips up, squeezing your core and using your feet and forearm to stabilize yourself. Your forearm should remain flat on the floor, elbow directly below the shoulder. Place your opposite hand on your hip for balance. Your body should form a straight line.
Step 3. Hold for 15-30 seconds, squeezing your core throughout. Think about lifting your ribcage away from the mat, squeezing your quads and glutes throughout to stabilize your body.
Step 4. Bring your body back down to the mat, and switch sides.
Try to do 3-4 sets for each side.
3. Russian twists
Weights room classic, and for good reason. The Russian Twist places constant tension on the abdominals while the obliques help maintain balance and rotation of the torso. While these can be performed using just bodyweight, adding some weight can increase it’s efficiency without ramping up the amount of reps. You don’t need any special equipment for this, just take anything heavy that you can find at home (some heavy books, big bottle of water, etc.).
How to do Russian twists:
Step 1. Select an appropriately weighted med ball, kettlebell, or sandbag. (optional)
Step 2. Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet on the floor, holding the weight close in front of your chest. Lean back slightly, lifting your feet off the floor so your legs form a V-shape.
Step 3. Brace your core and rotate your torso, moving the weight to one side of your body. Bring it down so it is level with your hip, but not touching the ground. Keep your gaze fixed on the weight as you move it.
Step 4. Pause, then return the weight to the center, before moving it down towards the other hip. Return back to center. This counts as one rep.
Aim for 3 sets of 10-15 reps.
4. Oblique crunch
There must be a reason why this is still a to-go exercise of all home workouts-it’s simplisity and efficiancy. Nothing too fancy, but never lets you down.
How to do oblique crunch:
Step 1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
Step 2. Put your right hand behind your head, elbow flared out, and your left palm down perpendicular to your torso.
Step 3. Contract your abs to lift your shoulders off the floor and rotate your body to bring your right elbow towards your left knee.
Step 4. Slowly lower and repeat all your reps before swapping sides.
Aim for 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps for each side.
5. Crunches
Good, reliable, effective, one word-classics. Theoratically you can rely exclusively on them in tour abs (not obliques) workouts, but for the sake of diversity let’s try to steer clear of it.
How to do crunches:
Step 1. Lie on your back with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle, feet flat on the floor, lower back in contact with the mat.
Step 2. Placing your arms on your thighs, take a breath in, bracing your core.
Step 3. Lift your shoulder blades up, exhaling as you rise, crunching’ your abs. Your hands should move up your thighs towards your knees, keeping your chin tucked as you do so. Make sure you don’t strain your neck throughout the entire process.
Step 4. Lower back to the starting position, exhaling. Repeat.
Try to do 15-30 reps for 3-4 sets.
6. Heel taps
Target your obliques with this move, which is essentially a side crunch on the ground. Suits all fitness levels (as you just have to change the amount of reps).
How to do heel taps:
Step 1. Lie on your back on the ground with your knees bent and feet flat. Arms should be down by your sides with palms facing up or down — your preference.
Step 2. Inhale and use your core to lift your head and upper back off the ground.
Step 3. Reach down to your left side, tapping your heel with your left hand (or as much as you can). Think of this movement as a side crunch, and resist the urge to lift your upper body further off the ground.
Step 4. Return to center andepeat on the right side.
Aim for 4 sets of 15-25 reps on each side.
Once again, you should work on your abs 2-3 times per week and that will be more than enough to maintain a strong core(of course not forgetting about your lower back), as the main factor in working on any muscle is consistency. Use one even and one odd exersice from this list for each workout to work on the pack itself and the obliques (eg 12,25,36,etc.). Try to do different combinations to make each training session a unique experience. Remember to always engoy your workouts!
