7 Best Abs Exercises that all Beginners Should do

7 Best Abs Exercises that all Beginners Should do : Having a set of defined ‘six-pack’ abs is a desire of many people around the world. It is a known symbol of fitness and good health. This muscle can also make you more attractive in the eyes of some.

This muscle section is made up of the core muscles; these are the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques. It is important to train these muscles to increase your stability and balance during both workouts, and regular activities.

To strengthen your abdominal muscles, there are certain abs exercises that you can do. Some of these may require some expensive equipment. But, there are many others that you can do with only your body weight and minimal calisthenics equipment in your home gym.

In this article, I will be listing and describing some of the best abs exercises that you should do as a beginner to help you tone your abdominal muscles.

Best Abs Exercises that all Beginners Should do to help tone their Abdominal muscles

Plank

The plank exercise is very effective in targeting and strengthening the entire core quite evenly. It is also an isometric exercise that can burn many calories if done for an extended period. You should time yourself performing this exercise and try to slowly increase your time as you gain more confidence.

Lay on the ground or an exercise mat with your stomach and face facing the floor.
Rest your body on your arms, with your entire forearms pressing against the floor.
Raise your entire body off the floor, making your toes and your arms the only support.
Make sure your body is forming a straight line. You may feel the urge to lift your bottom higher or lower, but that will make the exercise ineffective for your abs.
Hold this position for as long as possible.

Tip:

You may want to perform this exercise in front of a mirror.
You can change and intensify this exercise by doing side planks. This is when your body is facing a wall instead of the ground, and your weight is supported by one of your forearms instead of both.

Sit-Ups

The sit-up is another good exercise for your abs. It can train your lower abs, in particular, and your obliques, and hip flexors to some degree.

Lie down with your backside on the ground, on a thin mat/rug, or a sit-up bench.
Slide your feet closer to your bottom, bending your knees. Make sure that your feet are flat on the ground before starting the rep.
Put your hands behind or near your head and lift your abdomen until you are almost fully seated on the ground.
Slowly, come back to the starting position and repeat this exercise for reps.

Tip:

An even better variation of this exercise is the decline sit-up using a sit-up bench. This variation works because it puts a higher amount of pressure put on your abdomen. There is also a longer range of motion. I recommend you perform this exercise whenever you get a chance, if you have access to a sit up bench.

Crunches

This abs exercise is very similar to sit-ups, but it targets more of the upper portion of the abs. It has a shorter range of motion.

Lie down with your backside on the ground, on a thin mat/rug, or a sit-up bench.
Slide your feet closer to your bottom, bending your knees. Make sure your feet are flat on the ground before starting the rep.
Keep your hands near your head or neck and curl your abdomen until you feel a tight feeling in your core.
Then slowly return to the original pose.
Repeat as many times as you can

Leg Raises

This is another exercise that targets the lower abdomen. It partially targets your legs and hip flexors as well.

Lie on the ground with your back down. You may also be able to perform this exercise on a sit-up bench or a soft mat.
Keep your hands near or under your bottom. If using a sit-up bench, you should keep your hands locked on the handles or grips.
While keeping your legs as straight as possible, powerfully raise both legs as high as you can, making them perpendicular to your body.
Once your feet are as high as they can be, you can slowly lower them back down to the starting position.
Repeating this exercise should make your core start to burn.

Tip:

If you’d like to make this exercise more difficult, you can try holding something heavy between your legs. You can also get a set of strap-on weights to increase the intensity.

Hanging Leg Raises

The hanging leg raises is like the ground leg raises. But you perform the exercise using a pull-up bar, Olympic rings.

Hanging leg raises can target your core more evenly because it has a longer range of motion.

Hang on the bar with your hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart.
Keep your legs together and as straight as possible.
Slowly lift your legs, bringing your thighs as close to your chest as possible.
Once you have reached the maximum range of motion, you must slowly raise them back down and repeat this movement.

V-Ups

V-ups are an intense ab exercise that can train your core thoroughly and evenly. This exercise is also known as the jackknife sit-up. It improves your stability, balance, and coordination. You should also see your endurance in many other exercises go up. This movement essentially combines the sit-up and the leg raise into one super-targeted exercise.

Lie on the ground with your legs together and toes pointing away from you.
Lift your entire upper body and lower body off the ground.
You should be balancing on your bottom as your legs and torso raise themselves, making your body look like the letter V.
Slowly lower yourself back down to the original position and repeat this exercise.

Russian Twists

This exercise is unique since it focuses on the oblique muscles. Your obliques are essentially your ‘side-abs’. Their main function is to rotate and twist your upper body. They also have a major role in all side-to-side stabilizations.

Having this muscle section visible and defined gives people the impression that you have a low body fat percentage, and your strength is high.

Sit on the ground with your legs together in front of you.
Bend your knees a little, lift your legs, and lean back. The only body part that should be touching the ground is your bottom. This is a similar position to the V-ups.
Keep your hands together and rotate your abdomen.
Once your torso is completely rotated to one side, reach out your hands and touch the ground beside you.
Twist to the other side of you and touch the ground again. You should feel a strain on your core.
Repeat this twisting move for as many times as you can, or up to 10x to properly train your core.