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Muscles generate force in three ways: as they shorten, as they lengthen and while remaining the same length. Contractions that do not result in any joint movement are classed as isometric — a word also used to describe a type of exercise. Isometrics were championed by Charles Atlas in his “Dynamic Tension” correspondence strength-training courses but now are more of a training adjunct than a standalone form of working out. You can perform isometric exercises for virtually every part of your body, including your rectus abdominus muscle, or abs for short. Avoid holding your breath when performing isometrics, as this can significantly raise your blood pressure.

Planks

The plank is the most well-known isometric ab exercise and features in both yoga and Pilates workouts. To perform the plank, kneel on all fours and rest your forearms on the floor. Walk your legs back so that your weight is supported on your forearms and forefeet only. Make sure your heels, hips and shoulders form a straight line and hold this position for the desired duration. Do not allow your hips to drop toward the floor, as this places undue strain on your lower back.

Side Planks

Side planks target your ab and waist muscles. Lie on your side with your legs straight and weight resting on your elbow. Lift your hips off the floor so that your weight is supported on your arm and sides of your feet only. Hold this position for the desired duration. You can make this exercise more challenging by elevating your feet on an exercise bench or step.

Waiter’s Walk

The waiter’s walk is an effective isometric abdominal exercise that also improves shoulder joint stability. Stand with your feet together and a dumbbell in one hand. Curl the weight to shoulder level and press it above your head. Brace your abdominal muscles and contract your upper back and shoulder muscles to support the weight. With your arm extended, walk around your training area while focusing on keeping your spine perfectly vertical. On completion, change arms and repeat.

Pallof Press

The Pallof press is an isometric ab exercise that uses weights to strengthen your entire midsection. This anti-rotation exercise often is used by therapists to help strengthen the muscles responsible for spine stability. To perform this exercise, stand sideways on a chest-high pulley cable and grasp the handle in both hands. Hold your hands close to your chest and step away from the pulley to tension your arms. From this position, press your arms out in front of you at shoulder level — extending your arms lengthens your levers and increases the degree of rotation you must resist. Draw your arms back into your chest to rest and then repeat. Rest a moment and then perform an identical number of repetitions on the opposite side.

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Developing your midsection may require performing difficult ab exercises. Your abdominal muscles adapt to individual exercises within four weeks, says the National Federation of Personal Trainers. Performing more difficult exercises keeps your muscles in adaptive state, and helps you avoid overuse injuries. Mastering difficult ab exercises may take several months because they involve greater coordination and muscle recruitment. The most coordinated athletes can master difficult ab exercises in eight weeks, according to T-Nation.

Hanging Pike

Grip a chinup bar with an overhand grip and position your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Let your body hang below the bar with your arms fully extended and your feet together. Bend your knees at a 90-degree angle to bring the top of your thighs parallel with the floor. Pull your legs up as you exhale and bring your shins close to the bar above you, and try to straighten your raised legs as much as possible. Return the top of your thighs to the parallel point with the floor by lowering your legs very slowly. You may increase the intensity of this exercise by wearing ankle weights.

Hanging Leg Raise

Hang from a chinup bar with both arms fully extended and your hands shoulder-width apart or more. Let your legs hang straight down and roll your pelvis slightly backwards. Raise your thighs until they form a 90-degree angle with your torso; hold the contraction for one or two counts. Lower your legs slowly back to a straightened position to complete each repetition. You may use ankle weights or grip a dumbbell between your ankles to increase the difficulty as you improve with this exercise.

Press Sit Up

Lay down face-up on a bench in the decline position and hold a barbell across your chest. Extend your legs far enough past the bench so that you can secure your body by bending your knees over the edge. Inhale and tighten your abs. Focus on your abdominal muscles as you curl up in a situp fashion and exhale. Simultaneously push the barbell out and up above your head as you curl up. Lower your torso back down as you inhale and return the barbell to your chest to complete each repetition.

Bent Press

Take a shoulder-width stance and reach for a kettlebell or dumbbell on the floor with an overhand grip. Extending through your legs and hips, stand back up and rotate your palms outward as you bring the weight to your shoulder. Keep your eyes on the weight and reach for your ankle with your free hand by leaning down to the side opposite the weight. Press the weight straight up by extending your elbow to keep the weighted arm perpendicular with the ground. Complete each repetition by reversing the motion to return to an upright position before bringing the weight back to your shoulder.

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Listening to all the advertisements out there for fitness centers, you may begin to think that you have to buy a lot of equipment and join a gym to get that lean, sexy look that everybody seems to want these days. The good news is that with just a little knowledge, you can effectively strengthen you abdominal muscles in the comfort of your home. These exercises, which are designed to be performed using only your body weight as resistance, can help give you that six-pack look without ever having to step into a gym.

Double Leg Lift

Lie down on your back with your feet together and your toes pointing toward the ceiling. Keep your legs slightly bent and lift both legs at the same time until the soles of your feet are pointing toward the ceiling. Lower both legs at the same time, stopping the motion as your feet get about six inches off the ground. Use the muscles of your abdomen to lift your feet, and return to the starting position. Repeat until exhaustion. Keep your lower back pressed into the floor throughout this exercise to prevent back pain.

Abdominal Crunch

Lie down on your back with both legs bent at about a 45-degree angle and both feet flat on the floor. Place both hands beside your head, but don’t pull with your hands when performing this exercise. Keep your neck directly over your shoulders, and lift your upper body off the ground about six inches using only the muscles of your abdomen. Hold this contraction for a couple of seconds, and then return to the starting position using a slow and controlled motion. Repeat for three sets of 10 repetitions.

Oblique Crunch

This exercise works the muscles along the sides of your abdomen to give you that trim look. Lie down on your back with your right leg bent and your left ankle crossed over your right knee. Place both hands beside your head with your palms facing the ceiling. Use the muscles of your abdomen to lift your right elbow off the ground, and touch your left knee with your right elbow. Hold this contraction for a second and then return to the starting position. Try to perform three sets of 10 repetitions on each side.

The Bicycle

Lie down on your back with your legs straight and your hands resting beside your head. Tighten the muscles of your abdomen to press your lower back into the ground. Lift your right leg off the ground and bend your knee to bring your knee toward your chest. At the same time, try to touch your right knee with your left elbow. Straighten your right leg while at the same time bending your left leg, and try to touch your left knee with your right elbow. Continue repeating this alternating motion until you’re performing a movement similar to that of pedaling a bicycle. Repeat until exhaustion.

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Roman chairs — a common fixture at many gyms — come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Most feature the common elements of a padded seat or table mounted on metal legs with various padded bars for the hands or feet. Whether big, small, high or low, the majority of Roman chairs focus on working out the back, abdominal muscles and glutes. Before getting on the chair, be sure to stretch and drink plenty of water.

Sit-Ups

Perform sit-ups, a classic exercise for targeting the abdominal muscles, on a Roman chair. Sit on the surface of the chair with your feet hooked under the padded bars. Cross your hands over your chest or put them behind your head. Lower your body backward so that your hips are almost extended. Now raise the body back up to a sitting position, driving the movement with your abdominal muscles rather than your chest, neck or head. Your spine and neck should stay straight in line. Hold for a count and repeat the motion in sets. For a more intense exercise, add wearable weights — such as a weighted vest — to the Roman chair sit-up.

Back Extensions

For Roman chair back extensions, lie down on your stomach with your feet secured under the padded bar. Support your upper body with your spine as the bench holds your lower body. With your hands crossed over your chest, bend downward at the hips, lowering your chest toward the chair’s legs. When your body reaches something close to a 90-degree bend, straighten to the starting position using your ab muscles. Throughout the exercise, keep your abs tight and your back straight. This exercise targets the abs and lower back. You can also hold weight plates during this exercise to increase resistance.

Hanging Knee Raises

High Roman chairs with hand grips, devices that look something like chin-up bars mounted on the ground, are excellent for hanging knee raises. Grip the handles and let your body hang straight, with your spine and neck in line. Raise your knees as high as you can toward your chest, driving the motion with your abs and pelvis. Hold this pose for a count and lower your legs. This exercise targets the lower abdominals and stretches the hamstrings and glutes. For an additional challenge, perform hanging leg raises without bending your knees.

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Although you should start with easy exercises and work up to hard exercises for any body part, once you have mastered intermediate exercises you can proceed to advanced exercises to get rock hard abs. Just don’t forget to watch your calories so that all of your hard work will be visible.

Band Bicycle

Take the popular bicycle crunch exercise and kick it up a notch by adding resistance from an exercise band on your legs. A regular bicycle crunch works the front and side abdominal muscles. Using an exercise or resistance band will increase the challenge of your abs to stabilize your body while you “pedal” your legs. Tie the ends of a band around your ankles to perform the band bicycle. Lie on your back and bring your knees above your hips with the knees bent to right angles. Place your fingertips behind your head with your elbows bent. Then, curl your head and shoulders off the floor. Once your shoulders and feet are off the floor, do not touch the ground again until you have completed the desired number of reps. Squeeze your abs to press the lower back to the ground and do not let it come up at any point. Next, twist your shoulders to the left and extend your right leg at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Keep your left knee over your hip even as the band pulls on your ankle. Switch your legs and twist right to finish one rep.

Dumbbell Side Plank

The dumbbell side plank is an advanced variation of the side hip lift exercise. This exercise should not be confused with the beginner exercise called a side plank that is a static exercise held typically for 30 to 60 seconds. To do a dumbbell side plank, lie on your right side with your right forearm and palm on the ground. Extend both legs straight with the left stacked on the right. Hold a dumbbell in your left hand with your arm at your side and the weight resting on your left outer thigh. Your upper body begins propped off the ground with your right hip and legs on the floor. Then, lift your hips toward the ceiling, which also lifts the dumbbell. Keep your left shoulder and left hip directly above your right shoulder and hip. Lower back to the floor and repeat for the desired number of reps. Do an equal number lying on your left side.

Stability Ball V-Up Exchange

The stability ball v-up exchange is a challenging progression from a v-up exercise. Instead of lifting your upper and lower body from the floor into a “V” shape you must lift your body plus the weight of a stability ball and bring your arms and legs closer together to pass the ball between them. Lie face up on the floor holding a ball above your head with your arms straight on the ground. Extend your legs straight too and flex your feet. Raise everything but your lower back and pelvis from the floor and place the ball between your feet. Lower your body back down with the ball now squeezed between your legs. Lift up again and pass the ball back to your hands. Lie back down to complete one rep.

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Running requires great physical stamina. Strong abdominal muscles can help your posture, help prevent fatigue and protect your back from injury while running. A 2009 study published in the journal “Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism” led by David Behm compared the number of trunk muscles used during running and calisthenics. He found that highly trained runners showed great abdominal engagement, and concluded that running is an “efficient, multifunctional exercise,” which requires the use of several major muscle groups. As you develop your running skill, training your abdominal muscles will help you improve your performance and endurance.

Bicycle Manuever

Step 1

Lie face up on the floor with your knees bent. Place the palms of your hands on either side of your head with your elbows pointing out. Squeeze your abdominal muscles while lifting your feet off the floor.

Step 2

Lift your shoulders off the ground by squeezing your abdominal muscles. Twist your trunk to the left, pointing your right elbow directly toward your left knee, while simultaneously extending your right leg straight out as if pushing down a bicycle pedal.

Step 3

Bring your upper body back briefly back to center. Repeat the twisting motion to the right side, touching your right knee and extending your left leg. Continue cycling your legs and twisting your upper body for 15 to 20 repetitions.

Exercise Ball Crunch

Step 1

Sit with your buttocks centered on a large exercise ball. Keep your upper body straight as you walk your feet four or five steps away from the ball. Allow the ball to roll under your lower back. Stop when the ball supports your lower back.

Step 2

Lace your fingers gently behind your head. Contract your abdominal muscles and lift and curl your shoulders and upper back toward your lower body. Squeeze your abdominal muscles as hard as possible at the top position.

Step 3

Relax your abdominal muscles slightly and slowly return to your starting position. Repeat the abdominal curl 12 to 15 times. Do not hold your breath through the repetitions, but exhale as you lift and inhale as you lower.

Simple Pelvic Tilt

Step 1

Lie on your back to perform the simple pelvic tilt. Place your arms by your sides with your palms resting on the floor. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor about 2 feet from your buttocks.

Step 2

Keep your head, shoulders, upper and lower back in complete contact with the floor. Press the small of your back into the floor.

Step 3

Tighten your abdominal muscles. You will feel your lower back push farther toward the floor and your pelvis lift imperceptibly toward the ceiling. Relax your lower back and repeat the exercise 20 to 30 times.

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Abdominal muscles must be trained like any other muscle group to become more toned and to grow in size. Sit ups or curl ups can be done anywhere, incorporating a variety of tempos, angles and resistance to stimulate muscular development. Performing sit ups at a gym enables you to do the exercise on a decline bench for added variety and stimulation. The rectus abdominus is the primary abdominal muscle engaged during sit ups or curl ups, with a little help from your hip flexors.

Basic Sit Ups

Step 1

Anchor your feet under an immovable object. Place your arms across your chest, sitting upright with your elbows off of your chest.

Step 2

Lower your trunk until your shoulder blades touch the floor, then return to the start position; your elbows should touch your knees at the top of the movement. Repeat for nine more repetitions.

Step 3

Perform the same movement, increasing the speed in which you do sit ups. Complete one set of 10 reps.

Step 4

Do one more set of sit ups, using a 2-second count for the ascent phase and a 4-second count for the descent phase.

Weighted Sit Ups

Step 1

Lie on your back as you would for basic sit ups, with your knees bent and the bottoms of your feet flat on the floor.

Step 2

Hold a 5-lb. medicine ball between your hands. Straighten your arms behind your head, in line with your body.

Step 3

Draw the ball over your chest and upward as you sit up.

Step 4

Slowly lower your body, eccentrically contracting your abdominal muscle, which means your muscle is contracted, but lengthening instead of shortening. Repeat for three sets of 10 repetitions.

Diagonal Sit Ups

Step 1

Position your body on the floor as if to do sit ups.

Step 2

Interlace your fingers at the level of your chest with your palms facing your thighs; your elbows should be out to your sides.

Step 3

Raise your trunk upward, simultaneously twisting your right shoulder toward your left knee. Return to the start position.

Step 4

Raise your trunk upward, simultaneously twisting your left shoulder toward your right knee. Return to the start position and continue to alternate the direction of your twists, completing three sets of 10 total repetitions.

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You can perform exercises that tone your abs and chest together and save time during your workout session. There are a variety of exercises for the stability ball, also called a fitness or exercise ball, that target both of these major muscle groups. Machines at the gym and calisthenics exercises can target these muscles simultaneously. A beginner can start his exercise program with one set of eight to 12 repetitions and incrementally increase his workout to three sets.

Stability Ball Prone Walkout

The stability ball prone walkout strengthens your abdominal and chest muscles at the same time. Place your stomach on top of the stability ball so you can rest your hands and feet on the floor and assume the starting position. Use your hands to walk yourself forward until the ball rests on your shins, and return to the starting position to complete one repetition.

Stability Ball Knee Tucks

Try stability ball knee tucks to work out your abdominal and chest muscles concurrently. Place your stomach on top of the ball with your hands and feet on the floor. Walk your hands out in front of the ball to roll the ball down your body to your thighs to assume the starting position. Bring your knees toward your chest until they are under your hips and your shins, with the tops of your feet resting on the ball. Return to the starting position to complete one repetition.

Snow Angel Wipers

Lie on your back to perform snow angel wipers and target your abs and chest simultaneously. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor about 1 to 1 1/2 feet from your buttocks. Extend your arms to the sides at shoulder height with your palms up and then bend your elbows toward your toes to a 90-degree angle to assume the starting position. Keeping your elbows bent, slide your arms up along the floor until your hands touch overhead like you are making a snow angel. Return to the starting position to complete one repetition.

Medicine Ball Pushups

Grab a medicine ball to work out your abs and chest together. Kneel on the floor with the medicine ball in front of you. Put your hands on the sides of the ball with your thumbs in an uppermost position. Shift your weight to your hands by leaning forward and step your legs back to extend them behind you with your toes on the floor. Align your head with your spine and look at the floor in front of the ball. Lower yourself toward the ball by bending your elbows back and slightly out to the sides and straighten them to return to the starting position.

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P90X is a fitness program created by Beachbody, Inc. to help you get into the best shape of your life. Each DVD focuses on a specific muscle group — Ab Ripper, predictably, works your abs. More than just crunches, the Ab Ripper exercises force you to work your midsection from every angle, using only your own body weight for resistance. The result is a stronger, tighter core that according to MayoClinic.com, will help improve your balance and stability and make it easier to do everyday tasks.

Crunch-Type Exercises

The first three Ab Ripper moves are crunch-type exercises, which are all performed while balanced on your tailbone. During In & Outs, you push your legs forward, then pull them back toward your chest for each rep. For the Seated Bicycle, you maintain your balanced position and “pedal” forward for one set, then backwards for a second set. For both the In & Outs and the Seated Bicycle, you may rest your hands on the ground for balance, or you may hold them above your head. The next exercise is Crunchy Frog, also performed in the balanced position, but you do not have the option of bracing yourself with your hands. The move is similar to In & Outs, but every time you push your legs forward, you must also open your arms wide. When you pull your knees toward your chest, you bring your arms back in to embrace your knees.

Reverse Crunch Exercises

The Fifer Scissor, Hip Rock ‘n’ Raise, and Pulse-Up are reverse-crunch moves in which your upper body remains flat on the floor and you raise your lower body to work your abs. During Fifer Scissor, you scissor the legs while always keeping the lower leg six inches from the ground, pausing between each rep. During Hip Rock ‘n’ Raise, you bend your knees and put the soles of your feet together, lift your legs until they are perpendicular with your hips, then push them straight up in the air. For the Pulse-Ups, you keep your legs straight, together and perpendicular to the hips, and push them straight into the air high enough to lift your tailbone from the floor.

Sit-Up Exercises

Three of the Ab Ripper moves are more like sit-ups than crunches because the entire upper body must lift to a seated position. Crossed/Wide Leg Sit-ups are similar to regular sit-ups, but your legs must either be crossed Indian style or placed straight out in front of you in a V-shape. During the Roll-Up/V-Up combo, you alternate between regular straight-leg sit-ups and V-Ups, in which you raise both your upper and lower body until you can touch your feet while balanced on your tailbone. For the Leg Climb, you hold your leg at any angle — the closer to the floor your leg is, the harder the move is. You then use your hands to actually climb up your leg until you can touch the sole of your foot.

Oblique Exercises

There are two oblique exercises in the Ab ripper video — the Oblique V-Up and the Mason Twist. You start the Oblique V-Up laying on your side with your top hand behind your head. You then raise both your upper body and lower body with the goal of connecting your elbow and the side of your leg during each rep. The Mason Twist is the final move of the workout. You balance on your tailbone with your legs straight out in front of you and your hands clasped. You then twist your upper body side to side, touching the ground with your clasped hands for each rep.

Frequency/Reps

With the exception of the Mason Twist, each move is performed 25 times — the Mason Twist requires doing 50 reps on each side in rapid succession. The P90X Fitness Guide advises you to start slow and do only as much as you can without pain. The video is performed two to three times per week, depending upon the general workout schedule you choose, so you’ll get strong enough to keep up eventually. Once you do, you’ll have performed a total of 375 individual ab moves during the video’s 15-minute run time.

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Tons of abdominal-shaping techniques are squeezing their way into the fitness scene, ranging from the traditional to those that borrow from dance moves. While it would take a veritable fitness encyclopedia to note them all, there are a few ab-shaping exercises that stand out for their ability to work a wide range of muscles both traditionally and with a few groovy moves.

Tried and True

Traditional abdominal exercises are always an option. To do abdominal crunches, lie on your back with you knees bent and feet on the floor. Place your hands behind your head and sit halfway up, then lie back down. The bicycle, another oldie, also has you on your back with your hands behind your head, but you move your legs as if you were riding a bicycle, with your knees moving toward the opposite elbow as you pedal along.

Weighty Options

If you want to throw some weight around, you can include small dumbbells in your abdominal workout. Fitness Magazine suggests an exercise called the Torso Tightener. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and cradle a small dumbbell, no more than 2 pounds, in both hands out in front of you. Turn your toes out at a 45 degree angle, keep your abdominal muscles tight, and squat down by bending at the knees. Raise up by straightening your knees, and repeat.

Kick It Up

Add some kick to your ab-shaping workout with a move that uses the thrust of your legs. Fitness Magazine suggests the Pisao Kick; start with your legs as wide as your hips and your elbows bent at your sides with your hands in fists. Move your right fist out in front of your chest while you keep your left fist next to your left hip. Raise your left knee toward your chest and then, as you lean slightly to the left, extend your leg out to your side, keeping your foot flexed and balance steady. Bring your left knee back to your chest, then kick out again, for a total of 10 kicks, without putting your left foot on the floor. Repeat on the other side.

Dance Fever

If you really want to break out of the box, you can do so some dance moves. Fitness Magazine recommends the Afata, which is based on a hula-dancing move. Stand with your feet close together, then put your right hand on your hip, and raise your left arm with your elbow bent at shoulder level in front of you. Move your hips in a box shape while you contract your abdominal muscles, with your right heel off the ground and your right knee slightly bent. Repeat on other side, with your left hand on your hip and other motions accordingly. One more way to groove your way to a shapelier ab is with belly dancing, which features myriad variations and moves that expand, contract and shape up those abs.

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