Two of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to get a flat stomach involve poor nutrition and misguided workout structure. While nutrition is a huge part of getting a flat stomach, that's a topic for a another day (and article). In this article, I am going to focus on 4 of the best exercises that you absolutely must incorporate into your flat stomach workout.
One of the biggest mistakes that I see everyday while I am training clients at the gym is people doing 100's of crunches and situps. This drives me nuts for two reasons. One, this is NOT the way to build a flat stomach with ripped abs. Two, most of the people do not even do a simple crunch or sit-up properly. You would not do 50 bicep curls to develop your arms would you? So, why in the world would you do 50 sit-ups for your abs?
The key to building and developing any muscle is to train them using some kind of resistance. These exercises should be a part of every flat stomach workout!
Flat Stomach Exercise # 1: Hanging Leg Raises (or Captains Chair)
All you need here is something to hang from or what I call a Captain's Chair (the one where your back is supported by a pad and your elbows are propped up on pads). The key to this exercise is not just raising your legs out in front of you … you must "curl" your pelvis upwards towards your shoulders. This activates your abs to a great degree. If you do not curl your pelvis all you're doing is giving your hip flexors a good workout.
The weight of your legs and gravity provides plenty of resistance for this exercise. If you're hanging, try to prevent yourself from swinging too much. This will work your abs even more! Start off with as many reps as you can do and work your way to 20 reps. Nice and slow is important … do not just swing your legs up and down!
Flat Stomach Exercise # 2: Cable Crunch
Here, you need some kind of cable machine that are available at most gyms. Grab a rope or some kind of handle to hold onto and drop to your knees holding the rope / handle over your head. The key here is to curl your ribcage and shoulders towards your pelvis and you elbows to your knees. You need to consciously contract your abs to get the most out of this exercise.
Choose a weight that you can do 10-15 times.
Flat Stomach Exercise # 3: Russian Twists
All you need here is a medicine ball. Grab some floor and start by sitting on your butt. Keeping your feet on the floor, bring your knees towards your chest until they form a 90 degree angle. Now, lean your upper body back about 45 degrees from the floor (so you're not sitting straight up). While maintaining this angle and an upright torso, twist the medicine ball from side to side working your oblique abs.
Do 10-12 twists to each side and increase the weight of the ball as needed.
Flat Stomach Exercise # 4: Ab wheel
This one is a killer and will destroy your entire core. Plus, it's simple to do. Grab an ab wheel and start on your knees with the ab wheel directly in front of you on the ground. Start by slowly moving the ab wheel further away from your knees as far as you can go without crumbling to the ground. Be sure to keep you abs tight so your lower back does not do all of the work. Your goal should be to get the ab wheel as far out as possible!
To start, incorporate 1 or 2 of these exercises into your flat stomach workout by doing 2-3 sets. As your abs get stronger, add in more of these exercises. Eventually, you should be able to do all 4 exercises in one workout! Do this stomach workout 3-4 days a week and you'll be on your way to a flat stomach!