Easy Ab Workouts For Beginners
Staying healthy is not just great for your health. It’s excellent for your physique. Keeping your body in great shape is a goal everyone should target. The good news is that it is very achievable.
And, at the core of a great shape is developing a solid core.
Having a healthy and strong core will not only improve your stability, but it would also increase your balance. Strong core muscles also support you and keep your body in a perfect position whether you’re standing, squatting, or sitting.
If you’re not used to exercising your abdominals and your dream of sporting six-packs, you’ve probably dreaded the stress your body would go through to achieve your aim.
Well, we can tell you to relax. There are easy ways to work out your way to a great body.
However, it’s essential to observe that an obsessive focus on the abs alone is not healthy. The idea is to exercise your core muscles to work in tandem with other large muscle groups in your body.
This is because several other muscles also contribute to a perfect body. You should attempt not to limit your exercises to the abs alone but incorporate the entire midsection.
Also, your daily lifestyle choices are essential in developing a great body. So, even if you get all the exercises right and don’t check your diet or have poor sleeping habits, you may not hit your target anytime soon.
We’ve put together a mix of easy workouts for beginners who wish to develop their abdominals.
If you already have a routine for fitness, adding these workouts to your regular schedule about three to five times a week would do at the start.
These exercises would set your abdomen on fire, but that should be the least of your worries.
Moreover, you’ll get used to it after some time, and the pains will start to go away after each workout. It’s an excellent price to pay for a great body.
So if you’re ready, here they are. These workouts can be done without any special equipment. At most, a mat or a swiss ball is all you need.
#1 Forearm Plank
If you want your abs to develop enough to support your spine, the forearm plank is an excellent way to start. Since it can make you fully concentrate on the goal as a beginner, start with the forearm plank.
If you incorporate this workout into your schedule, you’ll develop your abs in no time.
Benefits
- Helps develop strong abs
- Primal to a strong spine
How to do it
- Start by lying face down on the floor or the mat with your body resting on your arms and knees.
- With your elbows directly under the shoulders, lift your entire body off the ground with your feet balls supporting your weight.
- Ensure your whole body is in a straight line as your hips are likely to drop under pressure.
- Keep your body in that position for three seconds, drop, and repeat about ten times.
#2 Butterfly Crunch
The Butterfly crunch exercises the abdominal muscles by ensuring that the lower part of the abs is engaged. All four layers of the abdominal muscles are stretched, and prolonged exercise results in sculpted abs.
Benefits
- Develops the abdominal muscles
- Can help develop rigid abs
How to do it
- Lie on your back on the mat.
- Ensure the soles of your feet are locked together and close to your body with your knees open by bending them outwards.
- With your hands placed behind your head, let them rest on the floor.
- Then exhale while lifting your head and chest off the floor as close to your legs as possible.
- The pressure would be felt around your pelvis.
Lower your arms to restart. Ten rounds should fire up your abs noticeably. However, if you cannot complete ten rounds, don’t be discouraged.
#3 Oblique Crunch
Some people want a six-pack so bad they inordinately focus workout regimes on that part of the body alone.
The oblique crunch is a unique exercise that focuses on the six-packs and the entire core muscles.
It works out the oblique muscles, giving your core greater stability. As noted earlier, a healthy core is key to general balance and stamina.
Benefits
- Can help develop 6 packs
- Fosters core stability
- Improves stability and balance
How to do it
- Lie on your side, with your knees slightly bent.
- With your right (or left) hand behind the head, work out your core by lifting your legs gradually off the ground until your knees touch your elbow.
- Switch sides and perform up to 15 reps.
Here is another way to go about this
- Alternatively, you can lie flat on the back,
- Bend your knees and keep your arms flatly aligned on your sides.
- With your back still firmly on the ground, slide your right hand toward your right foot.
- Your entire core would be engaged as you repeat the procedure up to 15 times.
- Switch sides until the entire oblique muscle is warmed up.
#4 Knee-Ups
Do you want to work out your core in a straightforward, simple way? Go for a knee-up. All you need is a flat bench.
You can do this on the floor but you’ll need to grip something to perform it optimally.
How to do it
You’ll need a flat bench.
- Lie flat on the bench with your head close to the end.
- Place your feet firmly on the floor.
- With your arms behind your head, take hold of the edges of the bench, and your hands facing each other.
- Lift your legs onto the bench and bend your knees.
- To engage the core, lift your legs into the air. This would contract your abdominals.
- Holding tightly to the bench, ensure that your tailbone is slightly off the bench.
- To get the best results, ensure that the soles of your feet are facing the roof as much as possible and keep the legs together.
Do this repeatedly for about 15 times
#5 Swiss Ball Rollout
The Swiss ball rollout improves the core and increases strength, mobility, and stability of the shoulders and the lower back.
How to do it
You need a Swiss ball.
- Get into a kneeling position and place your elbows on the ball.
- With your back in a straight position, roll the ball forward and back to the starting position as many times as possible.
Alternatively
- You can lie face-down on the ball and roll forward, keeping your back in a straight position as much as possible.
- After this, lift your leg for some seconds and repeat about ten times.
#6 Hanging Legs Raise
This workout challenges you to lift the lower part of your body, strengthen your core, and stabilize the upper part of your body.
How to do it
You need an overhead grip to do this workout.
- Grab and hold on to the grip with both hands firmly
- Take your feet off the ground and keep them together;
- Using your abdominals, push your thighs as high as possible.
#7 Fingers to Toes
If you want your lower back to be as flexible as possible, the finger to toes exercise is an excellent idea. Your flexibility increases once your fingers reach your toes from specified positions.
How to do it
There are many ways your fingers can touch your toes. You can do it standing or even lying down.
- Lie on your back and lift your legs towards the ceiling.
- With your arms by your sides, exhale while extending your hands towards your toes as many times as possible.
- Get into the standing position and keep your feet apart.
- Slide your arms down to your thighs towards the toes. You should stay in that position for about 30 seconds.
#8 V-sit Crunch
V-sit is an exercise that targets a significant part of the core, especially the abs. The crunch, if done repeatedly, can improve the balance of the body.
The idea is to get the arms and legs into a V-shape and keep them that way for some time.
How to do it
- Lie flat on the ground with your back.
- Keep your arms overhead, and then raise your legs as high as you can
- Scrunched your head up until you form a V-shape.
- Make sure you exhale and inhale as you return to your normal position.
#9 Burpee
Burpee is a workout that looks like a pushup but with a little more intensity because it combines two exercises; a pushup and a leap.
Burpee improves the abs and strengthens muscles in almost all parts of the body. Apart from enhancing the abs, this exercise also helps to burn calories.
How to do it
- Get into a squirting position with your knees bent and your shoulder-width apart.
- Once you squirt, set your feet into a pushup position.
- Once assumed, perform one pushup
- Immediately do a frog kick by jumping, lifting your hands above your head to return to starting position.
- Once you’re in the starting position, restart the procedure and go for as long as you can.
#10 Reverse Crunch
The reverse crunch is a workout targeted directly at your lower abdominals, or six-pack, also known as the rectus abdominis.
The difference between reverse crunches and regular ones is that while the latter is done with the feet on the floor, reverse crunches are done with the legs off the floor.
How to do it
- Lie with your back on the floor with your hands on the floor.
- While your hands are still firmly placed on the ground, lift your legs while your knees gradually bend towards your chest.
- Then use your abs to lift your hips off the floor and hold it for some time.
- Gradually lower your hips back to normal position.
Repeat the procedure 15 times.
#11 Double Crunch
The double crunch is a combination of a crunch and a reverse crunch. Double crunch increases core strength as a trunk flexion exercise and stabilizes the lower abdominals.
So instead of doing the ordinary crunch or the reverse crunch, you can combine the two in the double crunch.
How to do it
- Start by lying on the floor with your back on the ground.
- Then raise your hands and your legs towards the ceiling.
- Workout your abs by ensuring your shoulders are also lifted off the ground. That way, your pelvis will be off the ground.
- Sustain the pressure on your abs by attempting to touch your toes with your fingers.
One rep is completed when you return the body to its resting state. Repeat the procedure 15 times
Equipment Needed
As must have been observed, most of the workouts do not require any equipment at all. Moreover, they all can be done at home. At most, you need a mat and a swiss ball.
You need an overhead grip for the hanging leg raise, but you can easily improvise to get one. Just be sure that it is strong enough to support your weight.
Conclusion
Without going to the gym, working out your abs and developing six-packs is achievable. However, they are more challenging because, for beginners, they may be very stressful.
Remember that you would never work out to get a perfect body overnight. It would take time. Also, remember to take it easy and not rush the procedure, or you may become overwhelmed.
Also, because of the pressure on your abdominals, you may forget to breathe while working your abs during the workouts. Always remember to breathe while working out.
Also, after the routine, always try to relax. Just as it takes time to heat your system, you must also wind down slowly. As a rule, never rush your workouts.
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