4 AB Techniques That Are Sure to Crank It Up.
1. Go slow. Think of each abdominal movement as an up and down. Squeezing, going slow up and squeezing, going slow down. You should be able to move slow enough to count to 3-5 seconds on the up and 3-5 seconds on the down. Abdominal exercises should not be done quickly as much of the movement will then become gravity driven.
2.Place a ball or weighted ball between the knees. The main objective is squeezing the ball to stay in place as your upper body moves through the exercise. These can be performed in many exercises, such as feet on the floor crunches, feet in the air crunches, planks, roman chair reverse crunches. This technique helps to engage the lower abdominals and helps force the small of the lower back into the floor. Thus, preventing improper form and muscle strain.
3.Use a resist a ball, see image at right. Try mixing it up. Instead of using the ball to perform regular crunches, try one of these exercises: plank on the ball, bring the knees in towards your chest, pike (see one legged pike at right), and if you really want to challenge yourself add ankle weights. This is a full body exercise, engaging from the neck down and using those stubborn lower abdominals.
4. Use a pull up bar for abs. Holding your body weight, chin above the bar, start by bringing one knee up to the chest at a time. Then try both knees, minimizing the swinging of your body, keep yourself as stationary as possible. If you're ready to kick it up, move your knees on a diagonal as if you were downhill skiing. The last progression is to perform all of the above with straight legs as opposed to bent knees. If you're still looking for more of a challenge, add ankle weights or a ball between the ankles or knees and try and perform the above exercises.
Keep persistent! Every other day abdominal conditioning can help overall fitness, balance and physique development.
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