Ab Workouts for 6 Pack: It’s Crunch Time!Should you even try to do ab workouts for 6 pack abs, or is it an exercise in futility? While it is true that washboard abs are gorgeous and a great show, they are also important for overall health and the rest of your strength training. So it is in your best interest to work the abdominal muscles, even if you are not genetically gifted with the 6-pack look. If you are no longer in your 20s, you have to put a lot of effort into ab workouts for 6 pack. It will be harder to “get ripped” in this area since 6-pack abs are a natural phenomenon of youth and will be harder to obtain in the later 30s and 40s when subcutaneous body fat creeps onto your once-fit body. However, strong abs are necessary for a variety of reasons and you should be hitting them daily, or at least 3 to 5 times a week. Let’s look at the most effective means of training these muscles with abdominal exercises that really work. The Exercises
The most effective ab workouts for 6 pack involves the “crunch” which works to shorten the contractions of the rectus abdominis. (The crunch is a more effective exercise than the traditional sit-up, which is a lengthening contraction of the abdominal muscles.) Crunch variations can be done on the floor, bench, exercise ball, and cable station.
Ab Workouts for 6 Pack - Compare Ab Machines at Amazon This is a sample: Crunch – Lie on your back on a mat, keep your feet flat on the floor with knees bent. Place your hands at the sides of your head but don’t lock your fingers behind your head. Begin to roll your shoulders off the floor while driving the small of your back down in the floor. Contract your abdominals tightly, exhaling as you crunch, hold it for a second before returning to the start position, and inhaling as you lower your shoulders & head. Your shoulders should come off the floor only a few inches, and your lower back not at all. To increase difficulty: Do your crunches lengthwise on a bench, with your upper back hanging off the end of the bench. These tough crunches will give you a greater range of motion and are considered highly effective among advanced ab workouts for 6 pack. Ab Exercise Machines That Really Work! Reverse crunch – Lie on your back on a floor mat or on a decline bench (holding onto the top of the bench with both hands). Lift up your legs until they are parallel to the floor. This is the start position. Your feet will be together with the knees slightly bent. Exhale as you crunch your legs toward your chest as you roll up and raise your hips off the floor or bench. Touch your knees to your chest and inhale as you lower your hips and legs to the start position. 
Lying cable crunch – With a high pulley at a middle position, attach a bar and select a moderate weight stack. Lie directly underneath the bar, feet flat on the floor, and knees bent. Grab the bar underhand (palms facing you) and pull it down to the start position with arms bent and the bar over your chest. Pull down on the bar until your elbows rest on the floor while you roll (“crunch”) your upper torso until your shoulder blades are off the floor. Squeeze the abs as hard as you can and hold the position for a few seconds. Lower your torso and let the bar back up to the start position.
Compare Ab Machines at BigFitness Stomach vacuum – This is a great exercise to help overcome weak traverse abdominis muscles and often included among ab workouts for 6 pack. Stand straight with your feet about shoulder width apart. Inhale slowly, as fully and deeply as you can, then blow all your air out and suck in your stomach bringing in your abs toward your spine. Hold the muscle contraction for 20 to 60 seconds, breathing normally. You can also try to contract and flex your abdominals in between doing other ab exercise sets. The stomach vacuum workout is frequently used by bodybuilders. Abs Never Seem to Get EnoughYou can and should include ab workouts for your 6 pack at every strength training workout, even doing them every day if possible. Unlike other muscles in your body, it is difficult to fatigue the abdominals completely, so they don’t need time off to recover. Just don’t do the same exercises every day — even small thin muscles like the abs adapt quickly to routine. Use variety to keep them guessing and working hard. Put Down the Fork to See the AbsAbdominal exercises alone will not burn-off excess subcutaneous fat. You must reduce your overall body fat to lose enough thickness around the middle for the abs to be seen under the skin. Doing hundreds of crunches and other ab workouts for the 6 pack every week will develop strong upper and lower abs, but you’ll never be able to show off the “pack” until you control your diet and take off any belly fat. Trainers will tell you that abs are built in the kitchen as well as in the gym – as well as on the treadmill. A cardio program of five sessions a week will burn excess calories and help you reach your goal of washboard 6-pack abs and an overall strong, healthy body. Home Gym Workouts: Add Variety to Your Routine Return from Ab Workouts for 6 Pack to the Home Gym Reviews Index Page
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