Top Abdominal Workouts to Shed Belly Fat

The vast majority of people want a tight, flat, toned stomach, oftentimes simply for looks and summer time swimsuit lounging. Yet outside of aesthetics, a strong core is one of the best ways to keep your body in shape and healthy well into your golden years. There are some workouts that specifically target this area and can give you some dramatic results if you combine them with reaching and maintaining a healthy weight and body fat percentage. Here are five of our favorites: 1. Planks: These target most of the larger, and some of the smaller, muscles in your core. Hold your position for 30 to 60 seconds, release, and repeat. Side planks and those on your elbows and toes are equally as important, so make sure you do both. 2. Mountain climbers: Either with your hands on the floor or on a bench, mountain climbers work many of the same muscles as the plank, as well as force you to pull your knees towards your chest, working the lower abs. 3. Crunches (of all varieties): There’s a reason these are so popular, and it’s because they work. Whether you’re doing a basic crunch, reversed crunch, long-lever crunch, or any other of the multitude of variations on this exercise, keep your eyes on the ceiling and never tuck your chin into your chest. 4. Standing exercises: Standing with feet hip distance apart, pull one knee and one shoulder towards each other, crunching the side of your core. This creates that curved indentation and helps to strengthen the muscles that wrap from the front of your abdominal s to the back. 5. Superman's: Lying on your stomach with arms and legs extended, pull your upper and lower body towards the ceiling, hold, and release. This strengthens your back muscles, which support your abdominal s. The Reason People are puzzled about whether they need to pay attention to abdominal exercising and aerobics is because they are looking at it as an either-or scenario. Strength-training supporters look at ab aerobics as a pointless venue, while aerobic lovers believe that weightlifting is only for bodybuilders. The fact, as with most things, can be found in the middle: you actually need both. Do these exercises three to four times a week, engage in full-body strength training and adequate cardio, and eat plenty of protein: you’ll have a tighter stomach in no time!