Wondering What Are The Best Ab Exercises?
It usually goes a little something like this. “Hey Andy, what is the fastest way for me to put on some muscle”? “Hey Andy, what are the best ab exercises”? The swiftly running stream of what are the best…insert your fitness goal here, never runs dry. One of the most common I get as a longtime gym owner and Austin personal trainer, is what are the best ab exercises?
Before I can answer the question of what are the best ab exercises, I would need to see how your pelvis sits, inquire about both your short term, as well as your long term fitness goals, and of course, decide based upon what I see and hear, what are the the best ab exercises for you, individually. That’s why my job is called a personal trainer, as opposed to a generic trainer.
Some people need to loosen up their Psoas, Iliopsoas, and Iliacus muscles before worrying about performing ab exercises. Otherwise, they’re not able to fully engage the needed muscles and as a result, will be using momentum and/or jerking motions. Neither of which will be of much use to building any type of muscle. The best ab exercises for you, will obviously be the ones that can benefit you the most. Which ones they are depends upon any number of factors that I would need to have you in front of me in order to ascertain.
If I was to answer the question of what are the best ab exercises generically, as opposed to personally, I would go with everything other than sit ups. Especially when performed how most people perform them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people turtled up while simultaneously yanking the backs of their heads in order to rise up to their knees. This does nothing in the way of building hypertrophy, but certainly risks your neck. Literally. A better alternative would be to sit in a chair with a slight reclining of your body, unsupported, while you lift and hold your feet 6 inches, or so, off the floor. This will engage the abdominals as well as the core muscles. Do this for a hold of 30 seconds and repeat 5 times. You can also make up whatever parameters you wish, but that’s a decent starting point.
Another abdominal exercise worth considering is the good old fashioned plank, as it too works the abs, as well as the core. If you don’t carry too much stress in your traps, you are a likely candidate for this exercise. Just be sure to keep your body flat as opposed to having your hips way up in the air, which causes undue stress to the shoulder complex. Another thing you can do for abs, and virtually anywhere at that, is to sit upright and simply tilt back while keeping your back straight, then squeezing your abs, return to the upright position. If you’re a beginner and wondering what are the best ab exercises, this would surely rank with the best of them, for virtually anyone. It’s safe to your low back, won’t exacerbate hip flexor, or shoulder region tightness, and can be done virtually anywhere.
Simply throwing a virtual chart at the reader with all of the abdominal exercises known to man is not how you answer the question of what are the best ab exercises. As I mentioned, it’s all a very individual thing. Start slowly and use feel. Does anything hurt? How does it feel the next day? Are your muscles sore? While that’s not a great barometer for a good workout, you’ll know what you worked if it’s sore. If you really want to know what are the best ab exercises for you, consult a qualified and experienced personal trainer.
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Andy
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