3 Best Abs Exercises

Looking for some awesome abs exercises?  Here are 3 of my best abs exercises to help you lose fat quickly and easily.  I routinely use these in custom workout programs in my training studio.

by Ed Scow, NSCA-CPT (aka The Fit Dad) - Fitness and Nutrition Expert to the true superheroes - busy Moms and Dads! and Author of Fat Loss To Go

I have designed thousands of workout programs (35-40 sessions a week over 10-years is a lot of programs!) over the years and by far the biggest request I receive has to do with the stomach.

Clients want to know how to lose stomach fat, and more specifically they want to know what the best abs exercises are.

When I ask them what their idea of a good abs exercise they usually bring up some form of crunch, or sit-up. I can’t blame them because we’ve been brainwashed into believing those exercises really burn fat.

We have infomercials running constantly telling us their fancy-nancy abs gizmo will carve six pack abs out of the flabbiest of guts and there’s no shortage of magazine articles pointing to some sort a crunch to really target the abdomen.

Unfortunately we’ve all been lead down the wrong path when it comes to abs exercises and how to lose stomach fat.

To truly burn stomach fat you have to use a lot of muscle, which is why the best abdominal exercises are all full body exercises…not exercises that specifically focus on the midsection alone.

To really kick in the fat burning you’ve got to move a lot of muscle at one time and crunches just don’t fit that mold.

But these 3 exercises are some of the best abs exercises I include them in nearly every single one of the fat burning workout programs I design.

1) Kettlebell or Dumbbell Swing – Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width holding a kettlebell or dumbbell with both hands letting it hang down in front of you. Slowly bend from the hips, while slightly bending from the knees (think of a straight leg deadlift or RDL) while letting the dumbbell swing between your legs, then explosively flex your glutes, extend your knees and swing the dumbbell up until your arms are straight out in front of your face.

You should keep your chest and head up and maintain a strong and neutral spine throughout the movement.

This should NOT feel like a shoulder exercise, but your arms should just be moving with momentum from explosively extending your legs. Also make sure to keep your abdomen braced and tight throughout the movement. Repeat 8-15 times.

2) Stability Ball Jack Knife – This is not only a great abs exercise, but it’s also a great metabolic exercise which means it’ll burn even more fat.  

Place your hands on the floor as if you were going to do a push-up, but place your feet/shins on a stability ball. Your body should be in a perfectly straight line and your abs should be braced and tight. To perform the exercise, tuck the ball in toward your body by bending your knees and flexing your abs, then slowly return to the starting position.

To make it more difficult you can place the ball under your feet and raise your hips up into the air as you tuck the ball in and to make it easier you can place the ball closer to your knees so that more of your body is supported by the ball. Repeat 8-15 times.

3) Stability Ball Rollout – This is actually one of the few exercises the infomercial world brought us that is a worthwhile six pack abs exercise. 

Kneel on the floor with your chest up high, shoulders back and your hands resting on a stability ball so that it’s directly in front of you.

Brace your abdominals and roll the ball out in front of you while your body follows the ball. Make sure you don’t round your back or allow your back to sag.

Maintain a neutral spine by keeping your abdominals tight. Roll out as far as you can keep proper form, then bring yourself back to the starting position by actively flexing your abs and rolling the ball back to the starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.

You can add any one, or all three of these abdominal exercises to your regular workout either as a circuit at the end of your workout or by pairing them up as a superset with another big muscle exercise like squats, lunges, rows or push-ups to really kick in the fat burning.

One thing I like to do with my fat loss clients is throw the Swings in with the very first group of exercises we do virtually every workout.  I love Swings and it really helps crank their metabolism and work their abs/core pretty hard before we get into anything else.

Add these exercises, which are 3 of my best abs exercises, to your workouts for the next several weeks and I guarantee you’ll notice you’ll lose stomach fat and have a stronger, tighter abdominals. 

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The preceding article was written by Ed Scow, aka "The Fit Dad". To learn more about Ed's story, click here.