The harder you train your abs is more important than how long you train them. Go for "the burn" occasional, but if your stomach muscles feel uncomfortable for more than a couple of days, you probably have gone too far.
If you find yourself in a confined position and you only have a few minutes to train your abs, it is a good idea to try this quick, 15 seconds ab-toning circuit. Circuit training is moving from one exercise to the next as quickly as possible. Hold each position for 3 seconds.
Lean back until you stomach muscles contract, but do not touch the back of your chair. Then, without rest, bring your right foot off the floor and you right knee towards your chest. Do the same with your left leg. For the final exercise, press your right forearms into your right armrest. Do the same with your left forearms.
In 15 seconds, you have worked all of your ab muscles. If you have more time, simply do another circuit of the same routine. Three sets would be perfect.
Perform 3 ab isolation exercises 3 times a week. Target each muscle with a specific exercise. Do 3 exercises per workout – one for your front abs, one for your side abs, and one that targets all of your stomach muscles simultaneously. Mix and match your ab workouts to fully facilitate your workout. Your abs love to be challenged from different angles and intensities. Always emphasize perfect form to maximize your progress and minimize soreness.
If you are a person who extremely lacks time, put our ab isolation exercises together into a floor circuit workout when you are at home or in the gym. This method of training keeps your heart rate up so that you tone your abs and lose belly fat simultaniously.
Lie on your back and do a set of ten perfect crunches. Then, without any rest, do a set of ten reverse crunches. Turn over on your stomach and hold a plank for 10 seconds. By now you might need a breath, so take a thirty seconds break and a sip of water. Then lie down on your side and hold a side plank for ten seconds. Switch to your other side and hold a plank for ten seconds.
Just as you get bored doing the same things over and over, your abs do get bored too. When you do not add anything new to your ab-isolation exercises, do not expect to see any visible improvements. Adding one new ab-isolation exercise each month will ignite your progress.