To Exercise At Home To Train Abs You Don't Need Machines

We continue with the series of using bodyweight to exercise at home and the endless possibilities of using your bodyweight -aka- calisthenics to design workouts.

On this page I will show you how to exercise your abs with no big and expensive machines what so ever. You have the choice to use your bodyweight only or some tools that are very affordable, take little space in your house, portable where you can carry them to the park or traveling and so on.

Exercising Your Midsection

Remember that your midsection does not consist of only one muscle the superficial muscle called Rectus Abdominus (or Six Pack Abs) but also the external and internal obliques (the love handles) and finally the deep muscle transverses abdominus.

What are these muscles’ jobs?

- Lumbar or trunk flexion(ex. bending your upper body forward)

- Lumbar or trunk lateral flexion right & left(ex. bending your upper body sideways)

- Lumbar or trunk rotation(ex. rotating your upper body clock wise and counter clock wise)

- Lumbar or trunk stabilization(ex. , keeping your upper body upright

- Necessitate or forced expiration or exhaling( pulling the stomach in through breathing out.

So as you can see, the midsection is a very busy region performing all these tasks when you are standing, sitting, dancing, exercising and so on. Therefore, performing one mid-section exercise is most likely won’t be enough to recruit and strengthen all these muscles.

Here’re some exercises to work your midsection efficiently and effectively by utilizing your bodyweight.

Half-Crunches Exercise (All levels)

The reason I call it half-crunche exercise is because you don’t need to lift your upper body all the up. Your midsection (the abdominus rectus muscle) can be activated by curling your upper body about only 3-5 inches.

Many of us have dominant hip flexor muscles and the closer you lift your upper body toward your knees the more you’ll involve your hip flexors than your Abs. And I don’t think you want show your hip flexor muscles during summer time at the beach!

The half-crunches do a good job of isolating the abdominus rectus (the six pack Abs) so make sure you include other exercises that cover all range of motion and different planes.

The Half-Crunch Exercise (All levels)

Instructions…

- lie down on your back with knees bent and hands behind your head

- Gently, lift your upper body (arms, head, shoulders, and chest) towards your knees

- But you’re only lifting (curling) your upper body a few inches (3 to 5 inches.)

Crunch w/Rotation

Notice how the upper body is not elevated too high for the half-Crunches w/rotations

- lie down on your back with knees bent

- Arms straight and hand or fingers clasped about shoulder height

- Crunch your upper body half way from your knees then rotate your arms roughly 180 degree angle or from side to side

- Go back to starting position, then repeat

Keep your back as straight as possible (normal curvature), in other words, don’t round the upper part of your back (no slouching).

And rotate your arms with slow pace(~ 2 seconds) and not too fast just to “get it over with” attitude.

Elbow Side Bridge

Elbow side bridge exercise is one of the best to build strong midsection and core

Instructions…

• Lie down on the floor side ways supported by your elbow and your feet stacked over each other at the other end

• Lift your body and keep it hanging in the air except the outer edge of the foot and your elbow on the floor.

• Your other arm can be rested on your side

• After holding pose for some time, switch sides and do the same

Try not to sway your hips but keep it in-line with the whole body. Also, try not to tilt the upper body forward not backward.

If it’s very challenging for you to perform the regular elbow side bridge, then start with the elbow side bridge on your knees instead on your feet.

Here’s how you perform the kneeling side bridge:

• Lie down on the floor side ways supported by your elbow and your knees stacked over each other on the other end

• Lift your body and keep it hanging in the air except the outer edge of the knee and your elbow on the floor.

• Your other arm can be rested on your side

Again, try not to sway your hips but keep it in-line with the whole body. Also, try not to tilt the upper body forward not backward.

This is the end of exercise at home page and I hope you take advantage of the effective illustrated exercises to train your midsection area and at the convenient of your home.