If you're overweight, abdominal exercises won't reduce belly fat, or make you lose weight. However, these exercises can improve your muscular endurance and strengthen your core, which can alleviate lower back pain, and improve your posture, stability and athletic performance. (See References 1 and 2) When combined with cardio, full-body strength training and a healthy diet, you can lose weight. When your body and belly fat reduce, you'll be left with a well-defined tummy. Suck in Your Tummy If you're a newbie, starting slowly is essential, because being overweight increases your risk of lower back pain, and your balance and range of motion might be limited. (See References 3, p. 131) The abdominal hollowing exercise is a good starter …show more content…
You then raise your head and shoulder blades off the floor. A 30-degree angle is sufficient and prevents your hip flexors from taking over, according to the University of New Mexico. (See References 7) This is ideal for overweight individuals with poor range of motion or weak abdominals. After a one-second pause, lower back to the starting point. Raise Your Legs As your abdominals get stronger, exercise them in the captain's chair apparatus. A study by the American Council on Exercise showed that these exercises can effectively target your rectus abdominis and obliques. (See References 8) While holding your body up by your forearms, bend your knees and raise them up toward your chest. For an extra challenge, straighten your legs and raise them, or to target the sides of your waistline, raise your knees and add a twist, bringing them toward one shoulder. Key Concepts overweight abdominal exercises strengthening abdominal muscles working abdominal muscles overweigth strong abs References U.S. National Library of Medicine: The Effect of Abdominal Exercise on Abdominal Fat. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21804427] Harvard Health Publications: The Real-World Benefits of Strengthening Your Core [http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/the-real-world-benefits-of-strengthening-your-core] Clinical Exercise Physiology; Jonathan K. Ehrman, et al.
1. Lay down on your back with your legs bent, your feet as near to your butt as possible and your arms out to the
This exercise is done with a barbell and a incline bench (“Exercises”). The way to do this exercise is to lie down faced up on an incline bench. The exerciser grips the bar with a medium-width grip and lifts the bar off of the rack (“Exercises”). the exerciser then holds the bar straight over his or her head, and keeps the arms locked. This is the starting position of the exercise. Next the exerciser inhales slowly while moving the bar slowly down toward the upper chest (“Exercises”). After a slight pause, the exerciser pushes the bar back to the starting position while exhaling and the arms should be locked. Before the exerciser brings the bar back down again the exerciser squeeze the chest for a second. The exerciser repeats the process for the desired number of repetitions. When the exerciser is finished with the exercise the bar should be placed back on the rack (“Exercises”).
Lie on your back and keep your knees and your feet are flat on the floor in a state. Put your arms at your side. Exhale and contract your abs while moving the right hand to the right. Keep your head and neck are aligned with the lower back. Do it on the other side and repeat this exercise 15 times a day.
This exercise will strengthen your back, thighs and pelvis in addition to increasing flexibility. To begin, sit on the floor with the soles of your feet pressed together and your knees bent. While keeping your back straight, use your elbows to push your thighs toward the floor. Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds before releasing. Repeat five to 10 times.
Another good exercise to do is the lower leg lift crunches. This is done by lying flat on the ground with your back. Fold your hands and keep them behind your head. Join both your legs together and lift them up to ninety degrees without bending your knees. You will feel the pressure in your thighs your butt and your lower abdomen. Continue this exercise in sets for five with ten repetitions in each set for
The abdominal muscles play an important role with regards to stability of the lower back and associated structures, and therefore by gently working these while performing this exercise, you will be helping to provide your lower back and pelvis with more stability as well.
After exhaling and engaging your transverse abdominis by pulling your belly button to your spine, engage your buttocks and roll your hips back. Imagine trying to eliminate the space between your back and the floor. Hold the contraction in your tummy for up to five seconds, and then release it and return your hips to the starting point. Perform pelvic tilts up to 10 times, three times a day. (See References 3, p. 65)
Now, you might be asking yourself, "But what about ab exercises?" Don't worry, here is the next
There are dozens of exercises that are designed to work the muscle groups in the abdominal area. Many of these also have numerous variations as well. If done correctly and safely, they will build the muscles up and make them more visible, as long as you keep the fat off.
One of many finest workout is called the pelvic point. Sit on the ground in your back.
Elbows on bench, grab the side of the bench with your hands, feet on top of ball, brace your abdominal muscles and pull the ball towards you by tucking your knees in. You can do this exercise without the bench by placing your hands on the floor with your arms straight (like the top position of a pushup). Make sure you keep your back straight.
Start face down on the floor, propped up on your elbows. Place your feet apart at shoulder width. Raise your body up off the floor. Your only points of contact with the floor should be your forearms, elbows and toes. Make sure that your butt is not elevated higher than your back. Your back should be flat like a plank. Hold the position for 30 seconds and then lower yourself. Perform this exercise 5 times.
Each exercise will hit a different area of the lower abs to ensure a through workout of this area. Then do 2-3 more exercises this time for your upper abdominals. Including sit ups, crunches and hanging leg raises for a complete ab workout. Training the midsection three times a week soon provide stunning results in this
[A]. Lie on the floor with your face up and knee bent, keep your right leg straight. Your right leg should be straight in line with the left thigh. Now try to squeeze your stomach as much as possible and Hold it to for another 10-20 seconds.
Aside from the real need to watch what you eat for defined abdominal muscles, we often limit our range of motion when we perform floor abdominal exercises. Think about it, when you’re doing fifty crunches on the floor you’re limited on how far you can stretch the abdominal wall back out because there’s a hard surface underneath you. Surprisingly, the exercise that really targets more than one abdominal muscle deals with leg raises.