Are you sick of wasting hours of your valuable time, energy, and even money each week trying to chisel your abs and not seeing any results? Most people do dozens of ab exercises, videos, and extreme diets in some hope that they start to see their abs or some sort of definition around their waist or mid-section. Little do they know, dieting does not create abdominal muscles or do anything more than eliminate fat. Want to know the secret most trainers and video won’t tell you? It’s really easy. Do these 3 exercises until failure in order resting for a minute between each set for 3-5 sets and start seeing and feeling the results today:

Decline Crunch

This exercise uses gravity to force you to use your upper abdominal muscles more and hip flexors less. In order keep your abs under tension, and not just your hips and back, start with your back, shoulders, and head all the way down on the bench. Next, bringing just your shoulders and head off the bench until your fill a pinch in your upper abs and stop and hold it for a second or two then slowly drop your shoulders back down to the bench.

Tip: Do not bring your back all the way up off the bench. Once you have completely rounded your back bringing your head and shoulders off the bench and your abs and back are flexed, you have reached maximum benefit for this exercise. Any additional movement past this point adds more tension to your spine and hips, while taking tension of your abdominal muscles you are aiming to target.

Modification: To make this exercise easier just start by lying on a floor or flat bench. In make this exercise harder, keep your arms pointed straight up over your shoulders and pulse straight up keeping your arms directly above your shoulders at all times. Still too easy? Start adding weight in your arms.

Hanging Knee Raises

This is one of the most effective exercises to target your lower abdominal muscles. You can do this exercise several ways depending on our fitness level and equipment you have for use. One variation, you can find any pull-up bar outside or in the gym and grab hold of the bar. While hanging from the bar, you can bring your knees up towards your chest and hold for a second or two then slowly release them down without letting your feet touch the ground. Other variations, you can use straps or a fixed arm rest to keep your arms suspended in, if you arms or grip strength is not strong enough to grip the bar long enough to fatigue your arms.

Tip: Breathe out as your bring your knees or legs up and breathe in slowly as your lower your legs down.

Modification: To make this exercise more difficult, you can straight your knees and legs out to add more torch and tension to your abs. Only do this variation, if you can do the first variation in control without letting your legs fall down wildly otherwise you increase your risk of injuring your lower spine.

Standing Oblique Extensions

One of the best exercises for sculpting your obliques. Start by standing with your feet together or hips width apart holding a light to moderate weight in one arm and opposite arm up with your hand behind your ear. Then, slowly, I repeat slowly leaning down to the side with the weight until you feel pulling on the opposite side of the body from the hip up to the rib cage then bring your body back up to neutral.

Tip: Keep your shoulder pulled back and abs tight and drawn in to keep your body in a straight line and to reduce unnecessary tension to the back. Breathe in on the way down and out as you bring your body back up to neutral. 

Modification: To make this exercise harder, just add more weight. To make this exercise easier, you can keep both shoulders back touching behind the ears with no weight in hand. Then. slowly bending laterally in one direction, then slowly bending back up to neutral. 

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