The word “abs” is short for abdominals—possibly the most popular muscle group in the body. To most people, tight, well-defined abs are the most common indicator of a successful bodybuilding workout. To bodybuilders, particularly, six-packs are a common goal. This is why beginners often begin their research on fitness workouts with ab workouts, often zeroing in on exercises for fast abs. The beginner will find (will most probably know from the start) that sit ups and crunches and their many variations are the most popular, and while these good old exercises can do the trick, incorporating other exercises into one’s ab workouts and cycling them correctly will fast-track one’s abdominal muscle-building progress. Aside from helping to avoid plateaus in muscle building caused by overtraining a muscle group, cycling your exercises and/or incorporating new ones into your daily workout schedules will help you avoid injuries.

Here are three fast abs exercises that you can include in your ab workouts: the butt-ups, hanging knee-raise, and the exercise ball pull-in.

*Butt-Ups

Assume a push-up position, with your forearms flat on the ground and your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.

Arching your back slightly out, lift your glutes up, squeezing your abs tightly as you go for a high bridge position.

Keeping your back arched, slowly lower back down to your starting position.

Repeat.

*Hanging Knee Raise

Grab a bar and hang from it with your legs straight down.

Taking care not to swing, slowly raise your legs using your abs as you flex your hips and knees. Continue this movement by flexing your waist until your knees are on a level with your shoulders.

Lower your knees down to starting position.

Repeat.

*Exercise Ball Pull-In

Assume a push-up position, with your lower shins on top of the exercise ball.

Roll the ball towards your chest by pulling in your knees, all the while keeping your back straight.

Finally, roll the ball back to starting position by straightening your legs, squeezing your abs in the process.

As a beginner, whether you’re looking for exercises to lose weight or simply looking to make fitness workouts a part of your lifestyle, you can very easily feel like you’re swimming in a sea of information on workout exercises and routines. Here’s my two-cents’ worth: No matter what kind of workout routine you finally choose or create, in the end, it’s your ability to stick to your fitness goals that will make all the difference. Seeing results gained from informed, well-planned ab workouts is the biggest motivation, but while you’re not yet there, workout buddies and printable weight loss charts chronicling your progress (or lack thereof) are great sources of motivation to keep sweating it out so you can get your dream abs, fast.

are many stomach exercises that can be include in your abs routines. Often people will pick 1 or 2, and stick with them. While this can be pretty effective, it may not be enough to give you that all round core workout.

There is something about having that flat chiselled 6 pack, that fires the imagination. Ab muscles do not only look great, they also improve the general look of your upper body. Another major benefit of strong core muscles is the other health positives that are provided.

Most people perform stomach exercises mainly for cosmetic reasons, but there is a far more important reason for having a flat and strong stomach. Your stomach area is the core part of your body. The core is the place that everything else comes from. There are vital internal organs behind your stomach wall, and they need protection.

Not only are your internal organs protected by a strong stomach, they are also firmly held in place. When your stomach area is covered in fat, your stomach will push forward due to the excessive weight of the stomach. This can often result in your organs not getting the protection that they need, along with a chance of some of them being slightly dislodged. This is why you should include a variety of stomach exercises in your abs routines, so that you are targeting your core area from every angle possible.

No mtter what stomach exercise you choose, it will only be effective if you do it on a consistent level. Even the best abs workout or ab machine is going to be useless, unless you are prepared to do it on a consistent basis. Another thing to consider is the ab exercise machines that you can buy these days. While some ab machines can be effective, you don’t really need them to get the 6 pack that you want. There are plenty of abs routines that will give you the results that you desire. Regardless of which exercises you do for your stomach, you will still have to put the work in. There are no shortcuts.

You will want to pick exercises that target your oblique’s, the lower, middle, and upper sections of your abs, and let’s not forget your lower back. each area is a sum of the whole, so hitting the whole from every angle will give you great all round development. A strong core will also provide lots of health benefits.

There are many exercises that you can do as part of your abs routines, here are just a few.

Crunches
Weighted Crunches
Side Crunches
Leg Lifts
Weighted Front Squats
Plank
Side Plank
Sit Ups
Side Bends
Bar Twists
Leg Raises

These are just a few core exercises that you can do as part of your abs workouts. Try to find out what is goint to suit you. There may be a bit of trial and error involved, but it will be time well spent. The more angles that you hit your stomach, the better it will look.

Another thing to remember is that regardless of how hard you exercise your stomach, your abs will only become visible if you lose the fat that covers them. This will mean making changes to your diet, along with picking the best stomach exercises as part of your abs routines

(c) 2008 Ed Scow

I have logged thousands of personal training sessions over my career and everybody wants to know more about abs workouts and abs exercises.

My clients want to know how to lose stomach fat and get a six-pack, or at the very least they just want to lose stomach fat so they have a firm abs that look good in their clothes (and naked).

I can’t blame them. Who doesn’t want a nice looking midsection? Who doesn’t want to get firm abs or get lean enough they can say they have a six-pack.

The problem is that 99% of them all have the same misconceptions about abs workouts and abs exercises and how to really lose stomach fat and get firm abs.

I’ve narrowed down the mistakes, myths and misconceptions surrounding abs workouts and abs exercises to my top 3.

These 3 abs workout mistakes are made by just about everyone I’ve ever trained, designed a program for, or consulted.

Are you making these same mistakes?

1) Spending too much time doing crunches – I’m just going to come right out and say it…you don’t need to do crunches to get six pack abs and you sure as heck don’t need to do crunches to lose stomach fat or even get a firm abs.

Crunches simply don’t work enough muscle and don’t burn enough fat calories to be thought of as a worthwhile exercise in order to lose stomach fat, let alone get firm abs or a six-pack.

Spending 20 minutes a day doing hundreds (or thousands) of crunches is like electing Big Bird or Elmo president.

Sure they may sound good and have all the answers, but it just doesn’t make much sense electing a puppet to such a high office (sorry, that was my attempt at a joke).

Doing hundreds, or even thousands, of crunches will strengthen your abdomen, that’s for sure, but what does it matter if you still have a layer of flabby goo covering up all the hard work?

Instead you need to focus on full body workouts and full body abs exercises in order to lose stomach fat fast and get the firm, toned stomach or six pack abs you’re after.

Take for instance this abs workout, using only full body abs exercises, I designed for a client. Do this mini-circuit before your regular workout, when you’re still fresh, so you can really hit your abs hard.

1A) Dumbbell Overhead Squat – 10 reps

1B) Mountain Climbers – 30 seconds

1C) Reverse Plank – 30 seconds

Do that in a circuit format, resting 20 seconds after the final exercise before repeating it again 2 or 3 times. Do that for a few week and you’ll definitely see a difference in your abs and you will lose stomach fat.

2) Throwing all your hard work out the door by eating poorly – What good does it do to work so hard in your fat loss workouts only to come home, or leave your home gym, and eat junk?

What sense does it make that after all your hard work, you ruin it with poor eating habits on a daily basis? This is quite possibly one of the dumbest things you could do. I don’t mean to be rude, I’m just trying to put it bluntly.

If you want to lose stomach fat and get firm abs, or even six-pack abs, you need to clean up your diet and stop eating so poorly. You need to quit eating processed junk found in boxes and bags like crackers and chips, stop eating things like bagels and processed breads and start eating more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, legumes and healthy fats.

You also need to start eating multiple times throughout the day, and this especially means eating breakfast. It also means cutting out the late night snacking and cutting down on alcohol.

You know what to cut out, so do it.

Remember what your goals are. You want to lose stomach fat and you want to get firm abs. Eat like it!

3) Not actively flexing, or bracing, your abdominals in every exercise – It’s sad that I have to say this, but all too often, people don’t actively flex their abdominals while doing an abs exercise.

I don’t know why. You’d think that because you’re doing an abs exercise that you’d be flexing your abs hard every repetition, but too many people just go through the motions and to way too fast.

You need to slow down and actively flex your abdominals when you’re doing an abs exercise. And for every exercise that’s not an abs exercise, you need to brace them like somebody is about to punch you in the stomach.

Doing so will ensure that you learn to “control” your abs and make sure that when you do lose stomach fat that you’ll have a defined and toned midsection worthy of praise.

I also want you to think of it this way…every exercise should be an abs exercise. If you brace your abs during every single exercise in your fat loss workout, you’ll essentially turn every single exercise into an abs exercise. Doing a chest press, brace your abs. Doing a lunge, brace your abs. Every single exercise you do, whether you’re working your abs specifically or not, should be turned into an abs exercise.

If you stop making these vital abs workout and abs exercise mistakes, and start doing full body workouts with full body abs exercises, I guarantee that you’ll begin to lose stomach fat and get firm abs (and maybe even that sought after six-pack) in no time.