There are loads of different ways to perform an exercise session as you are most likely already aware!
So what's the best way to get down and dirty and do some effective stomach exercise?
The answer is going to be different for each person. And this is exactly why we end up with a tonne of myths in the fitness industry. No two people are the same and so no exercise structure is the same.
What we CAN do, however, is create some really effective general programming and let the individual make up their own mind on how it works for them.
So, in basic terms, when you're performing a stomach exercise routine, you want to make sure it has the following sections covered:
- A general warm up
- Specific warm up sets
- Oblique targeting
- Rectus abdominis targeting
- Functional focus
So what we are aiming for here is a safe stomach exercise structure that gets some great results all over your body. After all, usually it's the stomach FAT that is preventing you from having a flat stomach NOT the stomach muscles.
A general warm up could be anything from a jog, skipping, a bicycle ride etc. usually for about 3 - 5 min.
A specific warm up is a little trickier in that it is basically a brief warm up for the section you will focus on next. If you're doing bench press for example, a few pushups is a specific warm up.
As far as targeting specific stomach muscles, this should almost always be done using some type of functional exercise. Burpees are a great example of an exercise that burns loads of fat and works your rectus abdominis at the same time, giving you a flat, toned stomach as the end result.
So that is just a few basics of a stomach exercise structure. I hope you got something great out of it. Remember, it's almost always the small things that count BIG cumulatively.
