There are many different types of abdominal exercises, each with an impact on different parts of the abdomen, and knowing what each one is for can be very useful to work on specific areas and achieve better results.
Everyone wants to show off a flat stomach and slimmer waist, especially when the good weather is approaching. For this reason, if we go to a gym we will find that the abdominal exercise machine is the most requested and we will have to get in line and wait a long time before being able to use it. If you are interested in the subject and want to know what each type of abs is for, then we will list what each one is for.
What are abdominal exercises for?
The abs alone will not make us lose weight , for this it is necessary to also burn calories through diet . But the diet, even if it makes us lose more fat, will not improve the appearance of our belly , which will look deflated and full of skin folds when changing volume in a short time. To tone our muscles and make our abdomen look firm and hard, it is essential to do some type of exercise, the more specific the better, since we will save time and effort.
The abs have a number of benefits for our health . For example, they will get us to improve our posture and therefore prevent us from chronic back pain. It will also improve the performance of any sport we do or daily physical activity , in short, it makes us not get tired so easily when we climb stairs or that we manage to take a race to take the bus without fainting in the attempt.
Exercises with each type of abdominal
Here we present a series of exercises that you can easily practice from home and that will allow you to strengthen and tone a specific part of the abdomen, be it the upper, lower or oblique.
Leg raise in four steps
This exercise is excellent for working the lower abdominal area without the need for a training machine. For this we have to lie on our back on the floor with our legs together. We raise the right leg without bending the knee until we achieve a 90 degree angle. We hold and lift the left until the two are at the same height. We hold on a little longer and slowly lower the right first and then the left.
Alternating from elbow to knee
This training is essential if we want to strengthen the oblique muscles of the abdomen . For this we have to lie on our backs to the ground, with the legs not too straight and the hands behind the head with the elbows wide open. Next we flex our body without separating the lower back from the floor to bring our left elbow closer to our right knee. Once this is done, we return to the starting position and repeat it, changing arm and leg each time.
Touch the ankles with the hands vertically
This exercise is especially recommended to work the upper part of the abdomen . In the initial position we have to be with the back touching the ground, the arms open in a cross and the legs raised and without bending forming a 90 degree angle. Being very careful with the lumbar area, we are going to flex the torso and extend our hands upwards until we touch our ankles with them.