abs exercise for beginner

f140

Have been going to the gym on and off for a few years. Anyway always neglected exercising abs. So basically need a few exercises to start off with. What would ye recommend to begin with. Just want a few easy exercises to begin with and then build up for there.

jameshayes

Straight leg sit ups with a plate held overhead and russian twists are my favourites but you cant really beat a plank (providing you use good form - squeeeeeeze everything)

Nervous Wreck

Planks
Hollow holds
Engaging your abs when you do literally every exercise

cloudatlas

Air bike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6mPCVUrtNk

Ab roll outs.

Zillah

jameshayes wrote: »

Straight leg sit ups with a plate held overhead and russian twists

I'd be wary of anything that compresses the spine like that. There are much more body-friendly core exercises.

I'm a fan of landmine twists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDakeCOBdDE

Anyone can do leg raises:
https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/kneehip-raise-on-parallel-bars

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Engaging your abs when you do literally every exercise

This is something I wish I had realised earlier. It's amazing how much you can work your abs incidentally.

jameshayes

Zillah wrote: »

I'd be wary of anything that compresses the spine like that. There are much more body-friendly core exercises.

So you avoid or are wary of any exercise that involves lifting a weight overhead?

Realistically most people would be in the 5kg to 25kg plate range when doing a SL sit up, a fraction of what they could be lifting doing a seated shoulder press.

A landmine uses far more moving body parts which leave it open to poor form - a SL sit up has far less mechanics and is easier to master

Zillah

It's not about the weight, it's the type of motion. Situps compress the lower spine in an unnatural way and over-emphasise the hip flexors (the US military has phased them out for that very reason). It's also quite an isolated exercise. Landmines recruit more muscles and apply pressure in a direction the body is designed to deal with. I concede they're a bit more advanced, which is why I also suggested leg raises, which are safe and easy.

Supposedly planks are all you really need but I think I'd rather watch the sweat drip down someone's back than lie watching a clock.

Transform

f140 wrote: »

Have been going to the gym on and off for a few years. Anyway always neglected exercising abs. So basically need a few exercises to start off with. What would ye recommend to begin with. Just want a few easy exercises to begin with and then build up for there.

It's all detailed here - https://www.dominicmunnelly.ie/new-blog-1/2016/11/18/mid-line-stability-exercises
Check if you can pass the first two tests and go from there