Once a man hits the gym, the goal of getting ripped abs is high up on the list and so ab workouts for men is incredibly important. The reason for this is generally pride; if you can accomplish getting toned and strong abs, then you’ve shown a level of dedication and determination in your goals. However, most ab workouts that are successful are not just a matter of doing a zillion stomach crunches; there is a lot more to success in this goal than meets the eye. What makes up the best ab workouts for men and what should you avoid if you want to succeed?
Ab Workouts for Men Which Actually Work Out Your Muscles!
There are dozens of so-called ab workouts, but if you want to really get the best, you have to choose a workout program that will actually exercise the three muscle groups in your stomach. These three muscle groups are the rectus Abdominus (the long, hard muscle that runs from your ribs to your pelvis), the External obliques (the muscles on either side of the rectus Abdominus) and the internal obliques (the deep muscles which lie at a right angle to the external obliques). Many workouts don’t take into account all three of these muscle groups because there is so much focus on the ‘washboard’ stomach and generally ignore the internal obliques because they aren’t visible.
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5 simple and good ab workouts for men
Looking for the best set of exercises for your ab workout? Well, here are the ones to choose:
Ball crunch
This exercise uses an exercise ball to let you get strong abs. Start by lying on your back on the medicine ball with your feet flat on the floor and your torso parallel to the floor. Then raise your torso no higher than 45 degree and then lower for one rep. Do as many reps as you feel comfortable doing, keeping your breathing slow and steady while you exercise.
Bicycle crunch
The bicycle crunch is widely considered to be the best abs exercises around because it fully works out your abdominal area, but is fairly simple to do. To do this exercise, lie on your back and then raise your bent knees and do a pedalling motion with your legs. While moving your legs, raise your head and elbows so that you can touch your elbows to alternate knees, holding the knees to elbow position for two seconds at a time.
Leg raise crunch
The leg raise crunch is one of the last great modifications on the traditional stomach crunch (which, by the way, is also a great ab workout for men) because it forces all three muscle groups to work very hard. Start by sitting and slowly lowering your lower back onto the floor, keeping your upper back and shoulders raised. Raise your legs up forty five degrees, cross your legs and then put your hands behind your head with your arms open. Then slowly lift your upper body up to touch your elbows to your knees, hold for two counts and then slowly lower. Repeat. It’s a tough ab workout, but this exercise will work all three of the major abdominal muscles at once.
Reverse crunch
The final most popular ab exercise for men is the reverse crunch. The reverse crunch is fairly simple to do. Start by lying flat on your back with your legs bent at a ninety degree angle, tighten your abs and raise yourself up, hold for a count or two and then lower yourself down again. While this ab exercise isn’t as complete as the bicycle crunch, it does target the internal obliques which are often overlooked.
Ab wheel workout
This is not exactly a beginner exercise, but proves to be very effective. Here’s how to do it: First kneel on the floor and hold an ab wheel beneath your shoulders. Next brace your abs and roll the wheel forward until you feel you’re about to lose tension in your core and your hips might sag. At this point roll yourself back to start. Try to do as many reps as you can with perfect form and end the set when you think you’re going to break form.
Warning: Ab workouts for men to avoid
There are some things that you shouldn’t do in order to get the best abs you’ve ever had. First off, you don’t have to purchase expensive equipment in order to get good abs; in fact, things like ab rockers are proven to be next to useless since they are just a way to do very expensive stomach crunches, only worse. Other things to avoid are things like the ab roller and the exercise tubing pull. Other useless gimmicks include the ab electronic ab stimulation which claims to be able to ‘vibrate’ your muscles into a six pack while you do other things, but in truth won’t do much of anything at all. If you’re really not sure, just avoid most of the glitzy ads altogether and opt for a simple mat, medicine ball and captain’s chair at the gym.
It is very important to do a combination of abdominal exercises in conjunction with your daily (or several weekly) workout, not only to get the ripped abdominal muscles that many men crave, but also to help your stability, strengthen your back, and improve flexibility. Stronger muscle tone also helps to stave off age related problems like osteoporosis. These ab workouts for men can be done in the gym or at home with minimal equipment and fairly affordable. If you want good ab workouts for men, integrating any and all of these exercises is the key to success and avoid gimmicks you could purchase over the television. It take some work to get these great abs, but a simple and thorough ab workout for men is the best way to go about reaching your dreams.
