Your Exercise Ball Workout
For Abs

If you're on the hunt for a challenging new way to engage the ab muscles and take your workouts to a new level, you must not miss out on the benefits of an exercise ball workout.

Using an ab exercise ball within the context of your workout is one of the smartest things you can do because they will work to reduce your base of support so your muscles have to contract that much harder with each rep you complete.

There are so many different variations of ab exercises that can be done on a ball that you'll never find yourself growing bored.

Remember that if you want to see maximum progress with your abdominal routine, constantly changing up the stimulus is a must.

Those who are going to the gym and performing the same workouts day after day after day are never going to get the results they're looking for because as soon as the abs know they can fully handle an exercise, they will not progress any further.

Finally, one of the greatest things about an ab exercise ball workout is that it can be performed almost anywhere so is ideal for both gym and home workouts.

The following exercise ball workout is going to challenge your abs in a way they have not experienced before. Try adding one or two to your next ab routine and then periodically switch between them over time.

Ab Crunch On An Exercise Ball

The first exercise that you'll use an exercise ball for is the basic ab crunch. This is the one of the best ab exercises and is most often recognized and performed at the gym so you may have heard of it before. To start, lie so the middle of your back is flat against the ball with the knees bent slightly in front of you.

From there, with the hands raised by the head slowly begin to contract upwards while exhaling your breath. Note that it's vital that you think of only contracting the abs while doing this exercise otherwise it's very like that you'll recruit other muscle fibers and take some of the focus off the ab tissues.

Lying Leg Raises With An Exercise Ball

Next you have lying leg raises with an exercise ball. This movement is greatfor the lower abs and can be performed quite quickly. Lie down flat on the ground with an exercise ball placed between the feet. From there slowly begin to lift the ball up off the ground until the legs are at a 90 degree angle. Pause for a second and then continue to lower them back down, but avoid fully letting them touch the ground as that will break up the continual stress that you want to maintain at all times.

Russian Twists On An Exercise Ball

Russian twists on the ball are an interesting exercise that is commonly forgotten about. To perform these lie again with the middle of the back against the ball but this time you want to hold a single dumbbell directly above you with both hands.

Once you're balanced, slowly rotate the body (and dumbbell) to one side while keeping the arms fully extended.

After you're as far as you can go while maintaining control and balance, lift back up to the starting position and then begin to twist to the other side.

Prone Ball Roll-Outs

The prone ball roll-outs are another great movement for targeting the lower abs as well as the hip flexors. To perform these simply place the feet up on an exercise ball while the body is face down towards the ground. While in this position you want to be balancing on the hands which are placed directly below the shoulders.

From there, slowly roll the ball in towards the body until you're in a fully contracted position. Pause for a brief second at the top and then extend back out again to complete the rep. Note that this one may take a bit of practice to get your balance right on the ball so don’t give up if you struggle at first. If you keep at it, it won't be long before you're seeing the full benefits.

Plank On The Ball

The plank is a traditional exercise that's often performed as part of an abdominal workout program but this version will shake things up a bit. To perform it simply place the feet up on the exercise ball, face down, while resting the upper body on the forearms directly beneath you. Hold this position for as long as possible while maintaining that straight back alignment and then take a short rest before completing a second set.

Note that you can also vary this movement by placing the arms up on the exercise ball as well which will further increase the stress on the abs.

Side To Side Twists With An Exercise Ball

The side to side twist with an exercise ball will help stimulate the oblique muscles running along the sides of the body. To perform this sit on the floor with the knees bent straight in front of you.

From there, hold an exercise ball in both hands and then slowly begin twisting to one side of the body and then the other. As much as possible try and keep this in a very controlled fashion which will increase the intensity on the ab muscles and get you seeing maximum benefits.

Stationary Leg Raise With An Exercise Ball

Finally, to finish off our list of top abdominal exercises for this exercise ball workout you have the simple leg raise. While you won't be performing any type of crunching action in this exercise, the abs are going to have to maintain a constant state of tension while you fight for your balance.

To perform this lie with the mid to upper back flat on top of the exercise ball with the feet directly below you and the knees bent at a ninety degree angle.

From there slowly lift one leg directly up off the floor and extend it. While doing so hold the same position on the ball, balancing for thirty to sixty seconds like that. Once you're finished with one leg, switch sides and repeat.

So as you can clearly see there are a number of options you can turn to when performing an exercise ball workout. Be sure to constantly be searching for new ways to stimulate the muscles with this effective exercise tool to ensure you move closer to your goal of getting a six pack.

Check out some more exercise ball exercises.

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Exercise Ball Workout For Abs