Five Exercises for Stronger Abs

Before trying these exercises for yourself, make sure you start with a warm-up. By warming up, your body is prepped for the exercises and you won't risk injuring yourself.

Strong abs are a sign of a healthy digestive system and lifestyle. They also improve posture, reduce lower back pain and make it easier to move in certain ways. If you want to enjoy the benefits of having strong abs, keep on reading! We have five ab-strengthening exercises for you to try.

The abdomen is a long muscle that’s divided into three sections: top, lateral and deep muscles. Our abdominal muscles allow us to bend our trunk, keep our balance and keep our spine safe. Working out to strengthen your abs won’t only improve your health, but it will also give you a flat and defined stomach.

1. Push-ups

You probably think that push-ups are an exercise mainly designated for the arms? This is partly correct, however, our abs also play an important role in push-ups. Abs get a great workout during push-ups because we mainly use our abs to keep our bodies steady during the exercise.

For the best results, push-ups require a good technique. Support your body weight on your hands and toes, keeping your hands shoulder-width apart, and your feet together. Your body should be completely straight from head to toe. Now, bend your elbows without falling out of the position, and open your elbows to return back to the original position.

The plank

You’ll probably become tired of doing this next exercise, but it’s so effective that it’s worth it! Planking is an isometric exercise where you use your own body weight to train your muscles. Besides strengthening your abdominal muscles, planking also improves flexibility and tones your glutes.

To get planking, lower yourself on to the floor, as if you were going to do a push-up. Instead of supporting yourself on your hands, support yourself on your forearms. Keep your body in a straight line with your feet together and your abdomen contracted. You can start by doing three or four at thirty-second intervals.

3. Side plank

Just as we learned with the original plank, the side plank is a great exercise for stronger abs. For side planks, lay one arm down on the floor (bending your elbow) and use the other arm to maintain your balance, by holding your waist. Your hips should be in line with your shoulders, and you should be looking forward, not down towards the floor.

4. Burpees

Burpees give you a complete body workout, characteristic of CrossFit. These were also the choice workout exercise for soldiers during World War II. Therefore, we can understand these as being highly effective. Burpees strengthen the abs, glutes and legs. They also burn fat and improve coordination.

The exercise in itself is simple but demanding. Start with a squat and after, jump as high as you can. Once you land, get down on the floor and do a push-up, and then, return to the squat position to repeat the routine.

5. Legs up crunches

Crunches are a basic abdominal muscle exercise that everyone remembers from class days at the gym. Now, legs up crunches are pretty simple! In addition, they keep the abdomen contracted because of the position of the legs.

Lay down on your back and raise your legs until they’re at a ninety-degree angle. Try to touch your heels with your hands and when doing so, lift your shoulder blades a little off of the floor. Make sure you don’t curl your neck inwards, try to look up towards the ceiling.

These exercises will strengthen your abdomen and burn any accumulated fat. As a result, you’ll be able to enjoy killer abs when summer rolls around. If you want to take your workout a step further, pair them with some cardio. This could be HIIT, LISS or Zumba.

Make sure you follow a balanced diet to keep your muscles nourished and you’ll be able to build them without any problems. Hydrate yourself before, during and after working out. And don’t forget to enjoy sufficient rest to be able to finish your workouts. And after that, you can enjoy your strong and healthy abs!