Abdominal Crunches

The basic ab crunch is the most important exercise you will do for developing your abs.

1. Lie on your back.

2. Place your hands behind your head and bend your knees to support the lower back.

3. Using slow movements, raise yourself up using your abs. Keep your lower back on the floor. Slowly exhale when you reach the top. Inhale as you lower yourself down to the floor.

4. Repeat.

Do the above 30 times and then rest for 1 1/2 minutes. Do 4 sets with rests between each set.

Doing Ab Crunches Correctly

The most popular and important exercise for flattening your abs is the abdominal crunch. The problem is, many people are doing their ab crunches incorrectly.

Ask yourself these questions:

Are my abs growing? - This is the money question. If your abs haven't improved after four weeks of hard ab crunches then you must be doing something wrong.

What muscles are sore the day after? - Which muscles are sore the day after an ab crunch session? If your arms, back, or neck are sore then it is a sure sign that your technique is off.

Here are some tips to make sure that your ab crunch technique is correct:

Keep your lower back on the floor - Make sure you don't sit the whole way up. Your lower back should be pressed against the floor.

Go slow with your crunch - Going slow will make sure that your ab technique is correct. When you first start your ab crunch routine concentrate hard on getting it right and then it will become second nature.