Most of us spend considerable time sitting during the workday, causing the hamstring and hip flexors to be in a shortened position that can lead to back pain.
What is really surprising is that when people work out in the gym they often perform abdominal exercises with their knees up. All this reinforces the bad habit to which they have been subjected during the work day and even cause some posture problems.
For this reason, if you are interested in a training that allows you to be more athletic and with a stronger abdomen, it is time to substitute those exercises with less results and choose those that will allow you to more effectively improve the strength of your abdomen.
The 4 best exercises to strengthen your abdomen
1. Standing rope shrugs
This exercise will help you work the upper and lower rectus muscles at the same time, providing strong resistance. The standing version is more effective, as it forces you to bring your upper and lower body together, while maintaining tension through the abdomen. Plus, it’s a great way to feel great pressure without doing fifty reps. To do it:
- Attach a rope to a traction machine, under it grasp the rope with both hands.
- Try to keep this rope at the top of your forehead and do the shrug down to your knees, bringing your head towards them as you go down.
- Hold this position for two to three seconds and then slowly get up.
- Do 15-25 reps.
2. Press Pallof
This is a basic exercise for many people because it is a self-limiting exercise, so it is almost impossible to do it the wrong way. This is a great way to learn how to activate your abs , especially if you haven’t been able to do it before. To run it:
- Start standing perpendicular to a rope machine. The rope should be at chest level .
- Push away from your body slowly and with control.
- When the rope is fully extended, raise your arms overhead, and maintain full control.
- Bring your hands down into an extended position before bringing the rope back to your chest.
- Repeat 6-10 times on both sides.
3. Barbell rotation with foot movement
This is a great exercise to train the abdomen in various planes , it will help you learn to stay stable through dynamic movement.
- Place a bar in a sturdy corner.
- Hold the end with your arms extended , and place the ribs in front to create an element of reinforcement through the three levels of core musculature.
- Try to keep your chest up as you drop the bar to your left.
- Next, step your left foot over to the point of the anchor bar.
- Bring the bar without losing the main tension , and bring your back leg to its starting position.
- Repeat with the opposite side, that’s one rep.
- Do 6 to 10 repetitions.
4. Anti-gravity pullover
This is not a standing abdominal exercise, but your body will be fully extended and your spine should be in a neutral position. The reason why it is included in this list is because it consists in working with gravity to provide the necessary stimuli to give us three different aspects of resistance: anti-rotation, anti-lateral flexion and anti-extension of the abdominals. . For it:
- Begin by putting your hips on the edge of a bench and your torso is distributed on the bench.
- Put your lower leg in front and place your heel under the bench.
- From here, take the rope at a distance of about one meter from the head.
- Draw the band from eye level to the bottom of the hip. Make sure to keep the tension through the abdomen.
- Do 8 to 10 reps on each side.
References
- Palmer, N. No More Bicycle Crunches: 5 Smart Exercises to Work your. Breakingmuscle. [Revised December 2015].
