Want to get super sexy abs for summer? Well, here are our three favorite ab exercises!!
1. Plank- this is an excellent exercise to not only strengthen and lengthen your core but your shoulders as well. To perform this exercise be sure you pull your belly button into your spine, focus on your breathing & keep your hands (or elbows) directly underneath your shoulders. You also want to make sure you have a straight line from the top of your head to your heels, do not raise or sink your back/butt up or down.
Tip: To start, hold a plank for 30 seconds and repeat 3x a day. To increase intensity add more time to your planks. You can also put your feet on an unstable surface such as a psyio ball or even put your feet flat against the wall and hold your plank position.
2. Bosu/Pysio ball sit ups- performing sit ups or crunches on a pysio or bosu ball will not only work your major abdominal muscles but the minor stabilizing muscles as well. Performing exercises on an unstable surface activates more muscles to provide you with even better results than performing the exercises on a stable surface.
Tip: Be sure to focus on your breathing, exhale as you sit up and inhale as you go down. Breathing has a bigger impact on exercise and results than you may think!
3. Bicycle Crunches- these crunches target almost every set of your abdominal muscles. To perform this exercise: lie on your back with your legs up and in a 90 degree angle (your knees should be in line with your hips), your fingertips should be behind your ears with your elbows straight out to your sides. As you crunch your upper body straighten your right leg, keep both your knees in line and bring your left elbow to your right knee. Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.
Tip: As we said above, performing this exercise on an unstable surface will increase the muscles being used. It may be a bit difficult to perform this on a regular pysio ball but a bosu ball is perfect for this exercise!
