Suggestions for Abdominal Exercise

LeonaHill2022 · March 2012

Tired of doing crunches lol Anything else that will target the abdominal (baby bump, 2 surgeries ugly fat)

Dave198lbs · March 2012

planks

then more planks

DopeItUp · March 2012

Squats, deadlifts and rows seem to be great ab exercises.

bcc112986 · March 2012

Leg lifts, scissor kicks, double leg circles, and any exercise where you engage your core and lift, move, thrust, circle your legs.

sarahbetherck · March 2012

Russian Twists with a weight or medicine ball

LeonaHill2022 · March 2012

Thanks everyone!!! Will mix N match

firesoforion · March 2012

You can look on the abs and floor barre section of the NYC ballet videos (I think they're available online somewhere too). I've done that part twice now and my abs are sore.

bdsapp1825 · March 2012

Do Zumba. I'm military and I've been doing it and it works.

clickmaster · March 2012

Tired of doing crunches lol Anything else that will target the abdominal (baby bump, 2 surgeries ugly fat)

Here is what you can do to sculpt your body.

1. Add fat
2. Lose fat
3. Add muscle
4. Lose muscle

That's all you can do.

You should look at yourself and try to evaluate your needs. Then seek the appropriate remedy.

It's not likely you want to add fat or lose muscle. So, that leaves two options. If you can do a crunch with relative ease, your rectus abdominus (the six pack) is okay and more crunches isn't going to help much. That leaves the other core muscle. Working them is not likely to do much either because we use our core every day with all of our activity.

What you'll probably find is that your biggest issue is belly fat and that's a tough problem for anyone because the belly is where we store fat first and lose it last. That's going to mean dieting down to a low body fat percent...probably less than 20%. Get some calipers and measure your percent body fat and keep track of it along with your weight and measurements. Eat your BMR in calories each day and track your macronutrients to ensure good balance. Spot reduction is a myth and working the abs will do almost nothing for belly fat.

Finally change lifestyle as necessary to include some effective exercise several times per week whether it's dancing or a sport or just walking around the park. Try to include some strength training because it's the one form of exercise which has the most benefits. Stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep (I know it's tough with kids), and remember that we are limited by our genetic potential. If you expect perfection, you'll be disappointed.

Good luck and good health!!

♠

LeonaHill2022 · March 2012

I need to strengthen my abdominal muscles from previous surgeries. Yes I do have the belly fat also and I know that will be a slow process but I can strengthen the muscles there in the process.

hedgiie · March 2012

P90x ab ripper x

clickmaster · March 2012

I need to strengthen my abdominal muscles from previous surgeries. Yes I do have the belly fat also and I know that will be a slow process but I can strengthen the muscles there in the process.

"Strength" is defined as the max contractile force of a muscle. The ability of a muscle to contract multiple times is "endurance". If you have normal mobility and/or can lift at your presurgical levels, you don't need more strength. That said, whether or not you want more strength is up to you. It's your abdomen. I was simply trying to make it clear that many people do bunches of crunches which provide them with no benefit when they could be spending that energy on something which will benefit them such as adding lean muscle mass.

A bulging abdomen is most often caused by visceral fat (fat inside the abdomen) or subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) and not poorly developed abs. Doing ab exercises will not shorten the muscles or tighten up your midsection.

If you just want to know how to train your core watch these videos.