Would you like to do something for your abdominal muscles again, but situps are not one of your favourite exercises? Then you are exactly right here. These abdominal exercises without situps strain your muscles intensively and can be done at home. Abdominal Exercises Without Situps
Finding exercises for a flat stomach that train the entire musculature is often not that easy. With the following flat stomach exercises, you train all your abdominal muscles and thus reach your goal faster.
The flat stomach exercises are explained in detail in this article. You will find out what you should pay particular attention to and what is necessary to see the first results soon. So let’s go, get on the training mat!
Get rid of belly fat: What you should consider in addition to training
A tight, defined stomach cannot be achieved through abdominal muscle training alone, where you can even see a six-pack. For visible abs, your body fat percentage must also be below.
If your goal is not only to strengthen your abdominal muscles but also to have a visibly firmer and flatter stomach, you must also pay attention to your diet.
You can find tips for losing weight and a balanced diet and many recipes for losing weight on Delicious Weight Loss. Just click through.
By the way, you should never neglect the training of other muscles. Activity that is too one-sided can also have a negative effect.
With many basic exercises, such as planks or push-ups, the abdomen is tensed and thus also trained. Such activities, which do not teach the abdominal muscles specifically, are therefore beneficial on the way to a flat stomach.
10 Best Abdominal Exercises Without Situps
Tips for abdominal muscle training
The exercises are explained in detail here. Make sure you always do the exercises correctly. For example, check yourself in a mirror or film yourself during training. This is important to avoid errors during execution.
Always do the exercises in peace and pay attention to the tension in the abdominal muscles, then the training is all the more compelling.
Don’t push yourself. The exercises can be challenging, especially for beginners. Therefore, for some activities, you will find a simplified form that will be easier for you at first. Once you have built up more strength, the other exercises will soon no longer be challenging.
Don’t train every day. Breaks are used for regeneration and ensure that the muscles can recover and grow well.
1) Russian Twist
The Russian Twist is a demanding and, therefore, very effective abdominal muscle exercise. You will use it to strengthen the lateral, rectus, and lower abdominal muscles. Arms, back, and shoulders also work, which supports these areas.
As a beginner, you should do the exercise without weights for the time being. If you have been training for a long time and want to make the exercise more challenging, use a kettlebell or a weight plate as additional weight.
How to do the exercise:
- Sit on your mat and bend back slightly. Keep your back straight, and make sure you don’t slouch.
- Now raise your legs with your knees slightly bent so that your heels are off the floor and only your buttocks are touching the floor.
- Clasp your hands together and stretch them out in front. Hold the weight in front of your torso with both arms when performing the exercise with extra weight.
- Keeping your legs and butt stable, begin rotating your arms/weight and torso slowly and controlled to the right and left. You can also tap the floor with your hands or weight.
- When you have completed all repetitions, come to the middle and place your legs on the mat.
2) mountain climbers
Mountain climbers are an actual all-around exercise. Because you mainly train your abdominal muscles and your shoulder, buttocks, and leg muscles. And by the way, mountain climbers also improve your endurance.
10 Best Abdominal Exercises Without Situps
How to do the exercise:
- Start in the push-up position. Your shoulders should be above your hands. Your back is straight, stomach and buttocks are tight.
- Now pull your right knee towards your right elbow. As you bring your right leg back, pull your left knee forward. Do this movement alternately with your right and left leg.
- Ensure that you keep your stomach and butt tight and don’t sag.
- If you can’t do the exercise as quickly and with jumping changes, pull your legs up one after the other and bring them back to the starting position. Only when one foot is back on the ground, do you pull the other leg forward.
3) Side planks
Side planks are the perfect exercise for strengthening the lateral abdominal muscles. They also shape arms and shoulders simultaneously and require a lot of body tension, supporting the entire body.
This exercise can be varied so that even beginners can do it. Here I explain several variants so that you can optimally adapt the training to your level.
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This is how you do the exercise (basic version):
- Lie on your side on a fitness mat. Your legs are stretched out. Prop yourself up on your right forearm, and your elbow should be under your shoulder. Now place your left foot in front of your right, support yourself on your feet and forearm and lift your pelvis off the floor.
- Raise your hips so that your body forms a straight line from head to toe. Actively tense your stomach and buttocks and keep your entire body stable and straight. Raise your left arm or prop it to the side.
- Hold the exercise for a few seconds and then repeat on the other side.
Beginners: You can leave your legs on the ground if the basic variant is still too difficult for you. However, make sure that you tense the muscles involved.
Advanced: If the basic version is too accessible for you, lift the upper leg while doing it. You can also lean on your hand and stretch out your arm instead of relying on your forearm.
Variant: You can make the exercise dynamic by lowering your hips and moving them back up.
4) Leg Raises
The leg raise is an intense exercise that targets the lower middle abdominal muscles. You should pay special attention to the correct execution of this exercise and do it slowly and correctly.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on your back on your mat. Press your lumbar spine firmly into the floor. The neck muscles should be relaxed and the abdomen tense.
- Now raise your stretched legs. Make sure that your lumbar spine is always in contact with the floor. Raise them until there is an angle of about 45 degrees between your torso and your legs.
- Now lower your legs as slowly as possible towards the floor, keeping your lumbar spine firmly on the floor. The slower you do the exercise, the more intense it is.
- You can either put the legs down briefly and then raise them again and repeat the next. If you want it harder, never lower your legs down, but raise them again once you’re just off the ground.
5) Scissor Kicks / Flutter Kicks
The scissor kicks are an exercise that will get your lower abs burning. Here you can easily vary the difficulty of the movement.
If you are a beginner, keep your legs higher when performing the exercise. The closer your legs are to the ground, the more complex the movement becomes.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on your back on a fitness mat. Tighten your abs and press your lower back to the floor.
- Place your arms at your sides and make sure your neck is relaxed.
- Now lift both legs straight up.
- Now start changing the position of your legs at the same time. You lift one and lower the other – as if you were walking in the air. Perform this movement in a controlled manner and with constant tension in the abdominal muscles.
6) Bicycle crunches
The bicycle crunch is a classic abdominal exercise. No wonder, after all, it is very effective. You train the lateral and straight abdominal muscles at the same time.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on your back on a fitness mat. Put your legs up, tighten your stomach and press your lumbar spine into the floor.
- Now lift your legs bent and come off the floor with your upper body. You clasp your hands loosely behind your neck.
- Now turn your upper body slightly to the left, and at the same time, pull your right elbow and left knee up so that they touch at about mid-body height. The other leg is stretched out.
- Come back to the starting position and immediately repeat for the other side.
- Make sure you do the exercise slowly and in a controlled manner, and always keep your abdominal muscles tense. The lumbar spine must always remain on the floor.
7) Plank with hip dip
Planks are a great exercise that engages the entire body, especially the abdominal muscles. Combining this exercise with a dynamic lowering of the hips, your abdominal muscles will be trained particularly effectively.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on your stomach on your mat. Now support yourself on your forearms and stand on tiptoe. Your legs are straight and hip-width apart. Your head is in line with your spine, and your neck is relaxed. Your shoulders should be above your elbows.
- Tighten your entire body and especially your abdominal muscles. Make sure your back is straight, and you’re not sagging or craning your buttocks too much.
- Hold this position briefly, and lower your hips to the left and right. Make sure that you only turn your hips, and your upper body always remains static.
- Do the exercise in a controlled manner a few times.
8) Reverse Crunch
Reverse crunches work your core abdominal muscles particularly well. Challenging but easy to learn, they’re an excellent exercise for a toned, flat stomach.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on your back. Lift and bend your legs, and your lower legs should be at right angles to your thighs.
- Make sure you actively contract your stomach and press your lumbar spine into the floor.
- As you exhale, tighten your abdominal muscles, bend your knees toward your head and bring your pelvis up. Draw the strength for this purely from the abdominal muscles and only work with a slight momentum.
- Then come back down slowly and with focus.
- Repeat the execution several times.
9) Toe tap crunch
This variation of the crunches primarily uses your straight abdominal muscles. This exercise’s slow, controlled execution is critical to achieving an optimal training effect.
By varying the exercise, you can also train your lateral abdominal muscles.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on your back on a fitness mat. Tighten your stomach and press your lumbar spine into the floor. Lift your legs and stretch them straight up. The knees should not be straight but slightly bent.
- Raise your shoulders and head slightly, but make sure your lower back stays on the mat.
- Extend your arms and bring your fingertips toward your toes while tightening your abdominal muscles. Then lower yourself back down, but don’t lower your torso entirely onto the mat.
- To train your lateral abdominal muscles, you can do the exercise diagonally. The starting position remains the same, but you try to reach the opposite toes with your hands.
10) Side plank twist
This exercise is a complement to the third exercise. It is very intense and primarily uses your lateral abdominal muscles.
Because you need to build tension throughout your body, side plank twists are also a great full-body exercise. This exercise will also strengthen your arms and shoulders.
How to do the exercise:
- Perform a side plank as described in Exercise 3.
- If you are in the position that you can do well at the moment, slowly guide the upper, outstretched arm under your chest towards the back below. The whole body, especially the abdominal muscles, is well contracted, and your gaze follows your arm.
- Then bring the arm back up and repeat the exercise a few times. Always make sure you have good tension in your stomach and breathe evenly.
Conclusion
These exercises can help you get to a flat, defined stomach. If you incorporate them into your training, you can train and strengthen your abdominal muscles in various ways.
A good workout can only lead to a flat stomach if you eat a healthy balanced diet and reduce your body fat percentage. Diet and exercise always go hand in hand. So for a defined stomach, you should tackle both to achieve your goals.
Have fun trying out the exercises, and good luck.
Kind regards and see you soon, Nazmul.
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