Obtaining a smaller waist and a flatter stomach is a goal many people strive to reach. But as many of you may already have discovered, it is a difficult task without the proper guidance. In past articles, it has been explained that in order to reduce fat in your stomach you must perform aerobic exercises. Aerobic exercises are essential to burning fat. And fat is the culprit causing your stomach to extend outward. But in addition to understanding the need to perform the proper exercises to flatten your stomach, you need to know the proper methods to perform the abdominal exercises.
Abdominal exercises target the abdominal muscles to strengthen, tone, and define the abdominal muscles. There are a variety of exercises you can perform. Exercises specific to abdominals include:
•Captain’s Chair: Start in a seated position on a sturdy chair or weight bench. Lift your knees toward your chest slowly and lower them until your toes are just above the floor. Do not touch the floor. Repeat the exercise.
•Reverse Crunch alternative: Place a dumbbell weight between your feet. Make sure the weight is not going to slip. The amount of weight you use should be determined based on your abilities. It is recommended that the weight is heavy enough to make the exercise difficult. Place your palms flat on the floor behind you. Lean back at a 45 degree angle. Lift your knees up towards your right side and lower. Repeat on the left side.
•Oblique exercise (Side Abdominal Muscles): Place your hands flat on the floor behind you. Lean your body back until you feel your abdominal muscles tighten. In this position, hold a dumbbell. Place one hand on each end of the weight. Now twist your body to the right and lower the weight and touch the floor. Lift the weight and twist your body to the left. Lower the weight and touch it to the floor on your left side. Repeat this exercise continuously without a rest in between repetitions.
The repetitions are the most important part of the abdominal exercises. High repetitions are recommended for abdominal sets. Greater resistance with lower repetitions are performed to increase muscle mass. If you increase the abdominal muscle, you will increase the size of your stomach. Unless you have no subcutaneous fat covering the muscles, the results will have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve. Higher repetitions will increase muscular endurance, burn fat, and will tone the muscles.