For many people, a flat stomach is a dream. It turns out that there are effective abdominal exercises to help you achieve your individual goals. However, it is worth doing them correctly and in such a way as not to overload the spine and neck muscles. In the vast majority of cases, abdominal muscle exercises can be done on your own at home. This means that there is no need to go to the gym or contact a personal trainer at all. However, it is worth remembering that in a situation where there is a lot of fat in the body, abdominal muscle exercises should be combined with aerobic training, including resistance exercises on isotonic machines.
Abdominal obesity – a serious problem
Abdominal obesity is one of the most important problems of the 21st century, which is characterized by excessive accumulation of fat around the waist and abdomen. Abdominal obesity affects both women and men, of all ages. Statistics show that overweight or obesity affects up to 16 million Poles, and as many as 30% of them have abdominal obesity.
Unfortunately, this problem is not only an aesthetic issue, but also negatively affects health, as it is a risk factor in diseases such as:
- diabetes
- hypertension and
- ischemic heart disease.
In abdominal obesity, it is particularly important to reduce the amount of belly fat. It is worth noting that abdominal exercises can also be performed by people who have a small amount of belly fat or simply want to sculpt their muscles. It should be remembered that abdominal muscles have many important functions in the human body: they affect the maintenance of proper body posture, protect organs from injury, and enable various movements.
Effective abdominal exercises
Effective abdominal exercises are primarily those that make the muscles sculpted and at the same time reduce the amount of fat. The most recommended exercises include crunches with torso twist, mountain climbs (performed in a plank position), as well as crunches with swings. At the same time, it is worth remembering that even the most effective, good abdominal exercises will not help if you do not also do aerobic exercises, which allow you to reduce the overall amount of fat. Weight loss, i.e. taking care of a proper diet and a healthy lifestyle, is also of great importance.
What to keep in mind when exercising at home?
When deciding to exercise at home, you should keep the following aspects in mind:
- regularity, because without it it is impossible to achieve the right results. It is worth exercising at least 3 times a week;
- performing a warm-up, because this way you can prepare your muscles for physical exertion. The warm-up can be based, for example, on jumping jacks, fast running in place, as well as swinging arms and legs;
- stretching after exercise, thanks to which the risk of injury and soreness is minimized;
- increasing the intensity of training in a gradual way so that the muscles are not “overtrained”.
It is worth noting that in a situation where you cannot get rid of belly fat after a few weeks of exercise, you should analyze your diet. When diet and exercise do not work, it is best to go to a dietician and personal trainer to determine the right course of action for you.
Home abdominal exercises – examples
What abdominal exercises will be suitable? The first of the abdominal exercises is sit-ups with torso twist. To perform them, you need to lie on your back and then cross your arms behind your head. The next step is to raise your shoulders and twist your torso, once to the right, once to the left. It is worth remembering not to pull your head with your hands or pull your chin to your chest.
Another exercise is mountain climbing. First, take a plank stance, and then pull one leg and the other to the abdomen. Such an exercise will also strengthen the muscles of the spine.
Another example is crunches with swings. Again, you need to lie on your back, and then bend your legs at the knees and pull them all the way to hip level. Place your hands behind your head and perform alternating movements consisting of pulling your hands (in the basic version) or elbow (in the advanced version) to the opposite knee. Such an exercise helps to sculpt the muscles.
In addition to the above-mentioned exercises, it is worth taking care of aerobic training. It can be done at home, at the gym or outdoors. It is important to make sure that the amount of body fat is reduced first, and then exercises for the muscles themselves are performed.