How to Build Abdominal Muscles with These Exercises

By Asghar Paracha @asghar_paracha

Six packs, eight packs or whatever you call it, who does not want to have those perfect abs? If you look around and see the people, you will find that every second person wants to have a flat stomach and those attractive bricks.

Many people desire to have a body like that, though when it comes to the hard work that is required to achieve such good physique, many of us fail to do it. It takes some serious effort to gain six packs or eight packs. Our core is the center of our muscular physique. It is as important as any other muscles in our body. Having a strong core expresses the commitment of a person. So, if you are looking to cut that fat on your belly area and aiming for the perfect abs, you will have to workout hard. It might take you some time before you see the results, but it will be surely worth it.

Here are some effective core-building exercises that will help you build those perfect abdominal muscles.

1# Planking:

Planking is one of the most effective exercises that help you build a strong core. It focuses on your middle section and helps activate your oblique and rectus abdominis. Planking is a kind of exercise you can do at any time.

To perform this exercise, get down on the floor, put your elbows down and raise your torso and stretch your legs back. Now your body is aerial supported by your elbows and toes. Keep your back straight and as it is an isometric exercise it does not shoot for reps and shoot for the time. Instead of staying in the position for as long as you can, you can do 3-5 sets of 30 to 90 seconds.

2# Hanging Leg raises or Knee raises

Hanging leg raises, or knee raises are one of the best exercises to build your abdominal muscles. It focuses entirely on the strength of your core. The scalability of these exercises makes them very impressive. The exercise is not complicated to understand, and you can perform it by hanging with a bar or a power tower. Hang with the rod straight and raise your legs high up and then take them back to the starting position slowly. This exercise is very useful for the lower abdominal muscles. Perform this exercise first or second in your workout and do three sets of 15 reps.

3# Machine crunches

Machine crunches are one of the most effective exercises in making those bricks of yours. It is often observed that the exercises that add more resistance to the workout are not the most liked ones. The thing about machine crunches is that you have control of the weight so you can perform any number of repetitions you want by adjusting the weight. Do this exercise with a challenging weight and keep your rep targets low. Perform 3 to 4 sets of this exercise with 15 reps in each set. You can also lighter the weight later. So if you are looking for those perfect abs do not miss on machine crunches.

4# Kneeling cable crunch

Kneeling cable crunches are an excellent exercise for building abdominal muscles. This exercise is performed by using cable weights with rope. This exercise also gives you control over weight so you can add challenging weight and can perform as many reps as you can. Grab the rope and sit down on your knees, get your hands behind your head while holding the ropes. Now, bend towards your knees with your abs, getting all the tension and get back to the starting position. Repeat the exercise and do 3-4 sets of 12 to 15 reps. This exercise is not easy, and most of the people get it wrong. Make sure you put tension on your core muscles.

5# Ab-wheel roll out

Ab-wheel is also one of the best exercises that helps to strengthen your core muscles. It is scientifically proved that Ab-wheel exercise is the top abdominal muscles activator, yes even better than sit-ups, crunches, and leg raise. As you roll out on the floor using an ab wheel, it stretches your core adding the tension to it in the meantime. This exercise is simple to perform. Take the ab wheel and roll out on the floor stretching entirely. You can do three sets of ab wheel roll out with 8 to 12 repetitions. This exercise is hard to perform so if you face difficulty while performing ab- wheel roll outs you can reduce the distance and then you can perform it correctly. Extend the distance within few weeks when you feel fully confident. So, if you are looking for those perfect abs then Ab–wheel roll out exercise is a must.