4 home exercises for a six pack
Ab muscles. A must, especially in the summer! Whether you want the six pack of your life or want to replicate that one picture of that flat stomach from that one magazine, it must and will happen. And of course something has to be done for that. So get moving! You don't even have to leave the house to make this dream come true. I have put together 4 fun exercises for you, all you have to do is do them three to four times a week. It can be as simple as that!
Ab wheel roll out
Training with the Body en Fitshop Ab Wheel is a very good exercise for almost all abdominal and back muscles. The load can easily be adjusted, making it a suitable exercise for both beginners and advanced users.
How:
Sit on your knees with the Ab Wheel in your hands, leaning slightly on the ground. Tighten your stomach and back muscles to keep your body straight throughout the exercise. Gently roll the Ab Wheel forward as far as you can. If you almost touch the ground with your nose, that is the furthest point. Slowly roll back to the starting position. From here repetition two starts by following the previous steps again. Make sure that you constantly tighten your abdominal and back muscles and that you do not have a hollow or rounded back.
Frequency:
Repeat this until you feel the blocks burning. You do this 3 sets. Rest for 30 seconds between each set.
Crunch
The crunch is one of the most famous abdominal exercises. Especially the straight abdominal muscle (rectus abdominis, abs) is trained with this. Much attention must be paid to the execution, as it can be an injury-prone exercise if performed incorrectly.
How:
Lie on your back on the exercise mat with your feet flat on the floor and your knees slightly bent. The hands can be held behind or next to the neck or back of the head or crossed over the chest. Move your shoulders towards your waist. You make a curly movement. It is important NOT to pull on the head or neck! The strength must come purely from the abdominal muscles. Once the back of the shoulders and the upper part of the back has lifted off the ground, move back to the starting position in a controlled manner. From here repetition two starts by following the previous steps again.
Frequency:
Repeat this until you feel your six pack burning. You do this 3 sets. Rest for 30 seconds between each set.
Twisted crunch
Then it's time for the twisted crunch. This is a variation on the crunch from before. In addition to the straight abdominal muscle, we also address the muscles located on the side of the abdomen.
How:
As in the previous exercise, lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your knees slightly bent. The hands can be held behind or next to the neck or back of the head. Move your shoulders towards your waist, while turning diagonally towards the knee. You make a curly movement. It is important NOT to pull on the head or neck! The strength must come purely from the abdominal muscles. Once the back of the shoulders and upper back is off the ground, lightly tap the left knee with your right elbow (or your right knee with your left elbow) and move back to the starting position in a controlled manner. From here repetition two starts by following the previous steps again.
Frequency:
Repeat this until you feel your abdominal muscles burning. You do this 2 sets per side. Rest for 30 seconds between each set.
Leg raises
We close this series with the leg raise. This exercise is mainly good for the lower part of the abs. And you will notice that by the burning sensation!
How:
Lie on your back with your hands under your lower back to support balance. Tighten the abs and bring your stretched legs into the air to about 45 degrees. Hold this briefly and then move the legs back to the starting position. From here repetition two starts by following the previous steps again.
Frequency:
Repeat this until you feel your six-pack burning. You do this 2 sets. Rest for 30 seconds between each set.
For the tough guys among us
- Every exercise can be made heavier by performing it more slowly.
- In addition, you can of course increase the frequency by increasing the number of repetitions and / or the number of sets and / or you can shorten the rest.
- The Ab Wheel roll out can be made heavier by not resting the weight on your knees, but on your toes. This way you increase the range of motion.
- The difficulty of the leg raise can be increased by (when your legs are at the highest point) making a scissor movement, one leg over the other.
- When you have mastered all the exercises you can even combine and alternate them. For example, a crunch can be combined very well with a twisted crunch. Make sure that the posture is good at all times!