Top 3 Exercises For Six Pack Abs

For many people, having a six-pack of abs is the ultimate fitness-goal they want to achieve. Ripped abs have come to almost represent fitness as a whole and you can bet that most people you see in a gym are secretly hoping to achieve this goal sooner or later.

A proper diet and good cardio routine are essential for building six-pack abs. However, the right kind of ab exercises are just as important and the usual crunches and sit-ups will only get your so far. Here are my top 3 most intense and effective exercises for ripped abs:

1. Hanging Leg Raise:

As the name implies, you need to be hanging off something to do this exercise, ideally a pull-up bar. Simply raise your straight legs up until they are at least parallel to the floor (i.e. you'll have a 90 degree bend in your body) and then lower them again. To do this exercise properly, raise and lower your legs slowly, without sudden movements. You'll quickly find that this is one of the hardest, most intense exercises you can do for your abs, giving them a really hard workout.

For some extra oomph, do this exercise with your back rested against a solid surface. This further increases the effectiveness and intensity of the leg raises.

2. Exercise Ball Crunch:

Lie with your lower back supported on an exercise ball and your feet flat on the ground. Now, do the normal crunch motion. Because the exercise ball is an unstable support, your abdominal muscles will need to do a lot more work when performing the crunch. More muscle fiber gets activated at a higher intensity and that makes this exercise extra-effective.

3. Cable Crunch:

Once again, the motion is identical to what you do when you are performing regular crunches. However, for the cable crunch, you need a cable machine. You grab onto a handle (use low weights to start out) and position yourself so that you're lying on your back, with the handle behind your head, holding it in both hands. Now, you perform slow, steady crunches with the added resistance provided by the cable machine. Cables are a great way to add resistance to crunches as they provide full resistance for the full range of motion, but still give you a lot of free motion, almost like training with free weights.

For any and all abdominal exercises, always make sure to keep your lower layer of core muscles in tension. Tuck in your belly without raising your chest. That's the base tension you should have in your core, before you start doing the first crunch.

With the three exercises above, your path to a six-pack will be shorter (albeit harder, but that's kind of a given, with weight-training).

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