Upper Ab Workout Tips
The image of pop icons and famous personalities has made the public want more than just a flat tummy. To get into the trimmed stomach group, you?re going to need to perform specific exercises to get those abs in shape. But that’s not all there is to it. The rectus abdominus is the single muscle that we know as the abs. To get that six-pack you always wanted, you?re going to need to target that. When it comes to toning the upper abs, the first word that you can think of will be ?crunches?.
Not all crunches works your entire ab for some of them focus only on one area. When working your retus abdominus, you have to balance your ab workouts by targeting both upper and lower abs. The good thing is that the tricks in doing these crunches are fairly simple. Crunches that require you to move your upper torso will target the upper abs, while those that will have you move your legs and hips will work the lower abs.
If you feel you need to tone your upper abs more than your lower abs, then you can do specific upper ab workouts. Crunches can be performed differently to achieve this. A few variations of the crunches are as follows:
UV Crunch: Compared to the name, sunshine is not required for this exercise. The UV crunch is a variation of the crunch that will require flexibility on your part since you will need to assume a letter V position, or U if you are more flexible. The starting position is done the same way you would do a basic crunch, only with your legs elevated either at a 45 degree angle or a 90 degree angle for the V and U crunch, respectively. Perform the crunch by lifting your head off the floor.
Frog Leg Crunch: This is done by lying on your back, feet together and knees apart. Perform the crunch by lifting your shoulders off the floor while your hands are behind your head. There are more difficult versions of this kind of crunch ? involving modified positions such as crossing your ankles or extending your arms above your head as opposed to your hands clasped behind your head.
Semi-Crunch: The difficulty level of this crunch is a notch higher than the others. You can incorporate this to all kinds of crunches; with the basic position be lying on your back with legs together, hands behind your head, knees bent and pointing upwards. Perform the crunch by lifting your head off the floor; when you come back down, your head and shoulders shouldn?t touch the floor.
To ensure that your abs are the focus, crunches are always the best option. The whole abdominal muscle is put to work with any kind of crunch you do. With slight modifications to these crunches, you can get the lower or upper ab workout that you need.