How To Build Washboard Abs - The Top 5 Abdominal Exercises

For the average person one of the major desires in life is to lose that stomach and build washboard abdominals. With the right abdominal exercise, it is not difficult to achieve a serious set of rock hard abs. The following lists the top five abdominal exercises which can help you achieve that dream in no time flat – pun definitely intended.

Exercise One: First off is the most common and popular abdominal exercise, the standard ab crunch. Start off by lying on the floor. Keep your knees bent and your hands behind your head. After a deep exhalation, curl your body forward and upward, which will lift your shoulders and shoulder blades off the floor. Hold this position for at least one second and then return to the starting position.

Exercise Two: The second abdominal exercise is the reverse crunch, which works the lower abdominal muscles. Begin by lying on your back, feet on the floor and hands at your sides. Next, move with your lower body – bring your knees up towards your chest and lift your pelvis off the grind which will curl your spin. Hold this position for one second and then return to the starting position.

Exercise Three: Double crunches are also lower abdominal exercises. Once again, begin by lying on your back, this time with your hips bent and your legs extended to a ninety degree position, and then place your hands behind your head. Next, curl your torso forward, pulling your knees to your chest – the ideal being to try and touch your knees to your elbows. Hold this position for one second and then return to the starting position.

Exercise Four: Next up are a form of abdominal exercise called bicycle crunches. Once more, the starting position consists of lying on your back. Keep your hips bent at a ninety degree angle and place your hands behind your head. Begin by curling your body forward in the same manner as a standard crunch, only in this exercise, you then move your right knee towards your left elbow and place your left leg at a forty five degree angle. Keep your shoulders off the floor while continuing the maneuver, alternating constantly: left knee to right elbow, right leg at forty five degrees; then right knee to left elbow, left leg at forty five degrees.

Exercise Five: The last abdominal exercise is leg raises, which begin by lying on your back with your hands either at your sides or just beneath your rear end. Keep your knees bent slightly and lift your legs straight into the air – but keep your back flat against the floor during the maneuver, especially when you return your legs to the starting position. Make sure to keep tension in your abs – you do this by not lowering yourself all the way to the floor.

There you have it: five easy abdominal exercises which can be done in the privacy of your own home. These are quick and easy to do, and you can work yourself into doing longer repetitions, so by the time summer rolls around in earnest, rock hard abs are a guarantee!