5 Best Abs Exercises for Home

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Was writing this article last night when the earthquake hit Delhi; our bed and walls started shaking and I was at loss for a few seconds. The earthquake lasted long enough for me to wake up Rati and she could also feel the bed shaking. Oh well, this is the fourth earthquake I have felt in Delhi. And they say that it is safe to stay at home here. By the way, the Twitterers tweets tell me that the Epicenter of the earthquake was Southwestern Pakistan and it measured 7.4 on the Richter scale. I am wondering how come twitterers measured it on Richer’s scale within a matter of minutes.

Anyhow, back to the article. Although Bee requested me today for the article on abdominal exercises but I had already done the research yesterday itself in order to compliment my ’5 Legs Exercises for Thighs, Hips and Calves’ article. Before I begin, I would like to share a truth that my trainer at the gym told me- that to reduce fat around your tummy, it is much better to build muscles in the area than going for cardio exercises. Muscles burn the fat faster. So there. Please do practise these abs exercises dilligently. Remember to do them everyday. Also, it would be much better if you join a gym to practise these abs exercises to prevent boredom and breaks in the routine.

Ok, let’s begin. I have tried to select best exercises from the ones you can do at home. At a gym you can find further equipment to do more exercises such as ball crunches and knee raises. But till then, here are my 5 best abs exercises at home-

1. Air Bike

It’s a variation of crunches and it takes care of both upper and lower abdominals. Remember to do this exercise slowly and without hurry. See the technique below:

2. Floor Leg Lift

A good exercise for lowers abs and probably a little tough exercise in the beginning because many of you would be having problems in lifting your legs and maintaining them in air. I remember Rati also had problems in the beginning, but within two three days she was able to do it with practise. Remember not to let your feet touch the ground while bringing them down. Also, keep your hands strictly tucked in below your hips. And don’t rest before the reps are over.

3. Love Handles Oblique Abdominal Exercises

I have seen the variation of this exercise in our gym. I think this exercise will have effect not only on the love handles but also on waist.

4. Sit Ups

My favorite exercise; although I started preferring working on the inclined plane and with plates in hand, these would not be available at home. So we do what we can. Although the video shows how to do it alone, the best thing to do is with your partner. For example, I used to do it at home with Rati standing on my toes, my legs bent at the knees, and my hands behind my head. We used to 6 sets of 50 reps each. Anyhow, the video is good to start with:

5. Crunches

Well, I had kept this exercise for last. As an abs exercise, nothing beats the crunches. One of my colleagues has still flat stomach at this age because he used to do a lot of crunches in his teens (5000 everyday he told me). Three things to remember while doing crunches is to try and keep looking at the ceiling instead of the tummy while raising your head, not to raise your head with your hands but with your tummy, and feel yourself pressing the tummy muscles everytime. Otherwise you can do a lot of crunches without any result. I am going to cover two variations here- crunches and reverse crunches. Both are important.

Crunches

Reverse Crunches

Also Read:

Yoga Exercises During Pregnancy
5 Legs Exercises for Thighs, Hips and Calves
The Five Tibetan Rites
Facial Exercises for Double Chin

Tagged as: abdominal exercises, abs, abs exercises, flat tummy