10 Best Ab Exercises

Want to know the best ab exercises? The American Council on Exercise performed a study to determine the most effective ab exercises.

Remember, ab exercises can not spot tone your abs. If you incorporate these exercises with an effective diet, you can walk away with some sexy abs.

And the 10 Best Ab Exercises Are...

Bicycles

Coming in at number 1 is one of my personal favorites, the bicycle. Working the rectus abdominus (6 pack) and the obliques for a complete ab workout.

Lying face up on the floor, place your hands behind your head. Bring your knees in towards your chest and lift your shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.

Leg Raise

Also known as the Captian's Chair leg raise, it is the second most effective move for both the obliques and rectus abdominis.

Stand on chair and grip handholds to stabilize your upper body. Press your back against the pad and contract the abs to raise the legs and lift knees towards your chest. Slowly lower back down and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

Do not swing your legs or use momentum to get your legs up. This can cause injury. If you keep your knees bent, you can focus more on the movement in the abdominals.

Exercise Ball Crunch

Number three on our best ab exercises list for the rectus abdominus.

Lie face-up with the ball resting under your mid/lower back. Cross your arms over the chest or place them behind your head. Contract your abs to lift your torso off the ball, pulling the bottom of your ribcage down toward your hips. try as best you can to keep to ball stable. You do not want it rolling away on you. This may take some practice at first. Lower back down, and repeat for 12-16 reps.

Vertical Leg Crunch

Lie face up on the floor and extend your legs straight up with knees crossed. Contract the abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor, as though reaching your chest towards your feet. Keep the legs in a fixed position and imagine bringing your belly button towards your spine at the top of the movement. Lower and repeat for 12-16 reps.

Torso Track

Be careful with this exercise as it can hurt your back if not done properly.

Grip the handles of the Torso Track and pull the abs in without holding your breath (as though bracing them). Exhale and glide forward as far as you comfortably can. If you collapse in the middle and feel it in your back, you've gone too far. Contract the abs to pull your body back.

Long Arm Crunch

Number six on our list of the 10 best ab exercises in the long arm crunch, great for your upper abs.

Lie on the floor and extend the arms straight out behind your head with hands clasped, keeping the arms next to the ears. Contract the abs and lift the shoulder blades off the floor. Keep your arms straight and avoid straining the neck. If you feel neck pain, take one hand behind the head while keeping the other arm extended. Lower and repeat for 12-16 reps.

Reverse Crunch

Lie on the floor and place hands on the floor or behind your head. Bring the knees in towards your chest until they are bent to 90 degrees, with feet together or crossed. Contract the abs to curl the hips off the floor, reaching the legs up towards the ceiling. Lower and repeat for 12-16 reps.

In this exercise, make sure not to swing your legs to get your hips off the ground. Concentrate on using your abs.

Full Vertical Crunch

Lie on your back and extend your legs up towards the ceiling. Place your hands behind your head and contract your abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor. At the same time, press the heels towards the ceiling, creating a 'u' shape with the torso. Lower down and repeat for 12-16 reps.

Ab Rocker or Ab Roller

I think everyone I know had one of these. But it turns out that they were really good at working the abs.

Sit on the Ab Rocker and grab the bars in each hand. Contract the abs and rock forward, originating the movement from the abs rather than using momentum. Release and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

As usual, do not use momentum to help you contract your abs. Also, make sure you are not using your arms to push the handles downward.

Plank And last but not least, another one of my favorite best ab exercises, the Plank. Not only is it great for you abs, but also builds strength in your back.

Lie face down on mat resting on the forearms, palms flat on the floor. Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows. Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels. Tilt your pelvis and contract your abdominals to prevent your rear end from sticking up in the air. Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 reps.

And there you have it. The 10 best ab exercises according to the American Coucil on Exercise.