Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I can do leg lifts for my abs but it only flattens them out. I need other exercises to do that will build muscle in the ab/tummy region.......give me a list of other excellent exercises.
bicycle curls....those work your entire stomach area including your oblique’s.....you pretty much lay on your back pedal your legs as if you were riding a bike and alternate elbow to opposite knee......i love those. Also....try holding flat bar weights and doing sit ups like that....the extra weight helps build.....you might also try an inversion table with a flat bar weight combo......try all three and see which one works for you.
Leg raises work mostly the lower abs, so what you want is some upper ab work. Lola's suggestion is a good one. Bicycle curls work both the six pack and the internal obliques (muscles over the ribs). If you should ever want to go for a more hardcore exercise that hits both those areas, try Russian twists. Russian twists are very demanding, though, especially if you add some weight, but even without weight you'd feel it after a serious set of those. It would be best to avoid the Russian twists until you already had those muscles in good shape, and bicycle curls are plenty effective themselves. You don't really need to go beyond those for the muscle groups they work, unless you want a change of pace, or really want to go hardcore.
To isolate the six pack, standard crunches are as good as anything. For a change of pace, try ab curls. To do those, you basically do a crunch while simultaneously bringing your knees up so that your elbows nearly touch your knees. It's pretty much the same idea as the bicycle curls except that you go right elbow toward right knee, left elbow toward left knee, instead of alternating. You want to keep your lower back flat against the floor, so that your upper body does a crunch. It's a little tricky, but you just do it often enough to develp the right feel.
The best exercise for the external obliques (on the sides of the torso) is the one where you hold a dumbbell on one side, lean your upper body sideways to lower the dumbbell, with your arm hanging extended the whole time, then lean back up and to the other side as far as you can do so while feeling that it's within the natural range of motion. The movement is the same as if you were carrying a heavy suitcase, leaned over to the side to start putting the suitcase down on the floor, then changed your mind and pulled back toward the other side to continue lugging the suitcase. I've seen people do these with dumbbells in both hands, going back and forth from side to side. I'm not a fan of this method. If you do the exercise this way, each time you lean against one dumbbell, the dumbbell in the other hand assists you in pulling against the one you're lifting. It's more effective if you have a dumbbell in only one hand and do two sets, one for each side.
To keep the midsection balanced, you should also do something for the lower back. I highly recommend AGAINST doing any exercise that isolates the lower back by leaning forward from the waist with the legs straight and then raising the upper body to an upright position. This puts a tremendous strain on the lower back. You've probably read hints on back safety that recommend lifting heavy objects by bending the knees and lifting with the legs, while keeping the upper body straight and nearly upright. If you do stiff-legged dead lifts, good mornings, etc., you are basically deliberately violating these safety rules while lfiting especially heavy weights. Much better to do standard dead lifts, which still cause the lower back to tense up and be worked in an ancillary function, for keeping your upper body balanced, while the legs do the work, the way were are naturally built to lift heavy weights. A good exercise to isolate the lower back is modified hyperextensions, where you lie on the floor face down, with your arms extended up in front of you--like Superman flying--then tense the back of your body, from the neck down to the hamstrings, all at once, so that you raise your head, upper torso, and legs from the floor all at once. Just make sure not to force this into more of an arch than what feels natural, or you'll risk lower back injury. Also, do these slowly and smoothly.
I can do leg lifts for my abs but it only flattens them out. I need other exercises to do that will build muscle in the ab/tummy region.......give me a list of other excellent exercises.
I second the bicycle curls that lola8822 mentioned. Those are great.
Some other ab exercises:
Russian twists - start at about the halfway up point in your normal situp position and hold a weight plate in front of you (like holding onto a steering wheel) with arms extended. While keeping your arms extended, slowly rotate your trunk as far left, then as far right as possible.
Iron Board Bridge - Lay flat on your back with your arms tight on the side of your body (arms NOT resting on floor) and your legs fully extended. Now imagine your whole body being stiff like rigor mortis is setting in, legs tight together, arms tight to the sides but not on floor. Then lift your heels about 4" off the ground while keeping legs straight, and at same time, lift your head to look down at your feet. Hold this position for as long as you can.
Weighted situps - Hold weight plate to your upper chest and do situps.
These exercises will build muscle but if you want to SEE those muscles you will need to REALLY watch your diet and get the body fat % way down.
Crunches with a 50 lb wieght on your chest,leg lifts while hanging from a bar with 20 lb anckle wieghts on, and planks.... should do the trick!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
