For a lot of people, washboard abs are the epitome of peak physical fitness. There’s no denying the beauty of solid abs. They look great in photos, boost self-confidence, and help you maintain control over daily activities. The last point doesn’t sound as interesting, but a strong core is essential for optimal balance, posture, and reduced risk of injury.

Whether you already have a washboard stomach or you’re working on getting one, the yoga poses in this article are greatly beneficial. These poses are static and limiting movement is your ultimate goal. Maintain correct form throughout and engage your core muscles. If you fail to engage your core, your dream of strong abs fades farther and father away. You’ll know if your core muscles are activated because you’ll feel the difference!

6 Yoga Poses To Build Stronger Abs

Forearm Plank

Even though this is a classic core strengthener, people fail to execute it correctly. Begin in a tabletop position with your knees directly under your hips and your wrists directly under your shoulders. Lower yourself down onto your forearms and step your feet back. Make sure that your elbows are directly under your shoulders on the mat. Push your heels back, engage your thighs and glutes, and squeeze your core. Keep your back straight and neck in line with your spine. Hold for 30 seconds to one minute and then gently release.

Revolved Chair Pose

Not only does this pose work to strengthen your quads and glutes, but it also targets your abdominals and oblique muscles. Stand up straight with your feet together. Take a deep inhale as you raise your arms above your head. Simultaneously, shift your weight down and back as though you are going to sit in a chair. Keep your back straight and don’t let your knees extend beyond your toes. Draw your hands to your heart center in one inhale. During the exhale, hook your left elbow on the outside of your right knee. Twist to your right, opening up to your right side. Hold this pose for 5-10 breaths before returning to center and repeating on the other side. 

Upward Facing Plank

If you have any shoulder tightness, this is going to feel like a wonderful stretch, but it also helps to build core strength. Start in a seated position with your legs extended out in front of you. With your back straight, plant your hands on the ground (fingers facing forward) directly behind your hips. Lift your hips and allow the soles of your feet to fall towards the floor. Press them down flat if you can. Lift your chest, squeeze your glutes, and hold in your core. Hold this pose for 10 breaths. 

Locust Pose

This is a great prone position to counteract the many supine poses and exercises associated with abdominal workouts. Lie flat on your stomach with your forehead on the mat and arms extended back by your sides. Contract all the muscles in your arms, legs, and core to lift your head, chest, and lower legs off the mat. Keep your neck long and continue to breathe slowly for 10 breaths. With each breath, try to lift a little higher. Release and relax. 

Boat Pose

This pose works to improve your core strength and balance at the same time. Start by sitting up straight with your legs extended out in front. Bend your knees so that the soles of your feet are on the mat. As you lean back slowly, extend your feet up so that your body is in a “V” shape. Keep your back straight and reach your arms a little past your thighs. Hold this pose for 30 seconds and then return to the starting position.

Side Plank

A lot of people neglect their oblique muscles, so this pose is just for them. Get into a plank position with your hands on the mat directly beneath your shoulders and your feet extended back. Shift your weight to your right hand and begin to twist, opening up as you stack your left foot on top of your right. Engage your right oblique and hip to lift up away from the floor. Extend your left arm up and direct your gaze toward your fingers. Hold this position for 5-10 breaths before switching sides. 

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The six-pack is the holy grail of fitness. Something magical happens when you look at a person with chiseled abs. How do you get abs of steel? As with toning the rest of the body, the recipe is simple: eat a healthy diet, drink less alcohol, do ab workouts, and engage in light cardio exercises.

In your quest to have a shredded abdominal area, you inevitably strengthen your core. A strong core can help you improve balance, overall strength, and reduce your risk of injury when performing other exercises. The core includes all the muscles that exist between your chest and hips. When you do an ab workout, you engage your rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscles), your transverse abdominis (muscles that wrap around your stomach), and your obliques (the side abs that assist with rotation).

The abdominal workout sequence in this article will engage all of these muscle groups to help you tone and strengthen your core. You’ll definitely feel the burn in your core so make sure to stretch after your workout. 

Plank

This is the go-to core workout that demands engagement from your entire abdominal area. Start in a kneeling position with your toes tucked. Walk your hands out until your legs are extended. You should be balancing on the balls of your feet and your hands, which should be directly under your shoulders. Engage your abs, glutes, thighs, shoulders, and chest to keep the body in a straight line. Hold this pose for 30 to 60 seconds and then rest for 15 to 30 seconds. 

Bird Dog

This exercise forces you to work on stability, which means that you have to engage your core to avoid twisting and rocking. Start in a tabletop position with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Engage your core as you extend your right arm in front of you and left leg in back of you. Pause in this position for half of a second and then draw your right elbow and left knee into your torso. Repeat until you complete 8-10 reps and then repeat on the other side. 

Russian Twist

This exercise focuses on working the obliques, but you still need to engage your abdominals. Sit down on your mat and lean back until you feel that your abs are engaged. Extend your legs up into a shallow “V” for a more intense workout, or bend your knees and hover your feet about six inches above the ground. Bend your elbows out to the sides and clasp your hands together over your chest. This is the starting position. Rotate your torso to the right side and reach your elbow back as you twist. Try your best to keep your core and legs stable. Rotate back to center and then to your left side in one fluid motion. Continue rotating back and forth for 10 reps per side. 

The V-Up

Get ready to feel the burn! Start by lying on your back with your legs extended. You can keep your arms by your sides or extend them overhead. In one movement, engage your core and lift your legs and upper body into a “V” shape. To make it more difficult, reach your fingers all the way to your toes instead of bringing your hands by your calves. Complete 8-10 reps. 

Bicycle Crunch

This is one of the most effective moves for your obliques and rectus abdominis. Lie flat on your back and place your palms behind your head with your elbows out the sides. Keep your legs extended out in front of you. Contract your abs and lift up slightly as you twist toward your right, while you simultaneously draw your left knee in. Your right elbow and left knee should almost meet. Return to center and repeat on the other side. Complete 10 reps per side. Make sure that you reach you elbows toward your knees and don’t simply bend your knee all the way in because that is an ineffective way to do this exercise. 

Leg Raises

Lie down flat on your back with your legs extended and your arms by your sides. Engage your lower abdominals and raise your legs until they are in a vertical position. The most important thing during this exercise is to keep your lower back flat on the ground. The way you do that is by holding in your lower abdomen the entire time. Lower your legs down slowly and then continue the leg lifts. Complete 10 reps. 

You can start with one time through this circuit and then advance to two or three times through the circuit for an intense ab workout. 

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Muffin tops used to be viewed in a positive light. They were the golden-brown, firmest parts of the muffin that were utterly delicious and addictive. Nowadays, a muffin top represents the fat that hangs over your waistband, be it in the stomach region, sides, or even that fat that creeps over the back of your pants. Since you can’t successfully tuck it all away in flattering attire, there’s only one way to get rid of it: the combination of diet and exercise.

Exercises that strengthen the core are wonderful, but they won’t yield the results you want unless you change your eating habits. Diet and exercise go hand in hand, and you can’t out exercise a poor diet. In addition to maintaining a healthy diet and engaging in core workouts, cardiovascular exercise is a must. Don’t try to spot-reduce; rather, the goal should be to spot-sculpt. Get rid of excess fat through diet and cardio workouts, and then add in the following core workouts to sculpt that midsection.

Hip Bridge

This exercise works to target your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles. If you decide to extend one leg up toward the ceiling to increase difficulty, you’ll activate those lower back muscles even more to help get rid of back fat. Lie flat on your back with your feet flat and knees bent. Keep your arms by your sides as you lift your hips toward the sky. Engage your core and hold for three seconds. Lower your back onto the floor and then repeat to finish your reps. Complete three sets of 15 reps.

Hip Dips

Are you ready for those obliques to burn? These are great for toning the entire waistline! Lie down on your right side and plant your right forearm firmly beneath your shoulder. Extend your legs out, resting your left leg on top of your right. Press yourself up into a side plank and then dip back to the ground. Complete three sets of 12 reps per side.

Bicycle Crunches

This is one of the most effective exercises to target your entire abdominal area. You can almost feel the muffin top melt away with every set. Lie down on your back and place your hands behind your head to support your neck. Extend your right leg out and bend your left leg. Bring your right elbow to your left knee. Once you do this, extend your left leg out and twist to bring your left elbow to your right knee as you bend it. This should be done in one fluid motion, as though you are riding a bike. Keep alternating for 30 seconds. Repeat two more times.

Mountain Climbers

Your abdominal area cannot just be thought of as your abs. You have to tone your entire midsection to get rid of that muffin top, often times incorporating aerobics into your abdominal workouts. Mountain climbers do just that! Start in a plank position with your arms fully extended and hands planted firmly on the ground beneath your shoulders. Bring your right knee between your arms, quickly extend it back, and then bring your left knee between your arms. Keep alternative for 30 seconds. Repeat two more times.

Superman

You have to tighten the lower back muscles for a full-fledged core workout. This is a great prone position (face down) to counteract the supine (face up) ab workouts in this article. Lie face down on the floor and extend your arms above your head. Tighten your core and glutes to lift your legs and arms off the ground. The goal is to look like Superman in flight. Hold for 20 seconds and then drop back down to rest for 20 seconds. Repeat two more times.

Crunches

Let’s keep toning those abdominal muscles by continuing with crunches. This is an exercise to really help you develop that washboard. Lie flat on your back with your feet on the ground and knees bent. Place your hands behind your head, but don’t pull your head up with your hands. Engage your core and use those muscles to lift your head off the ground. Complete two sets of 10-20 reps, depending on your level of fitness.

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The secret to losing belly fat has finally arrived! No, the answer is not doing 1,000 crunches a day. A bunch of ab workouts will strengthen your muscles, but that won’t make the flab go away. In fact, getting little in the middle is about mixing it up.

When it comes to exercising, you want to avoid working out at a consistent pace. It’s all about the intervals. What are intervals, you ask? Interval training is all about incorporating bursts of high-energy exercise into a moderate workout. For example, if you are walking at a steady pace, sprint for 20 seconds every other minute.

A workout study, using exercise bikes, was conducted between two groups of women. The study revealed that women, who rode exercise bikes for 20 minutes, doing 8-second sprints and 12 seconds of moderate cycling, lost more fat than those who cycled at a consistent pace for 40 minutes. What this means is that your workouts will be a half as long, but you’ll burn more fat.

You can incorporate intervals in almost any activity or exercise routine. Use the examples below to boost your workout!

Use Time

The clock can help keep you on track with your workout itinerary. So many people like to socialize during their workout, which means they aren’t exercising at a sufficient pace to lose weight. Go at a normal pace for two minutes and then amp up your workout for 1 minute. Repeat this cycle for 30 minutes.

Use Music

A lot of people like to workout to different playlists. Use music to your advantage by having an even mix of upbeat and moderately paced songs. You can walk, run, dance, Zumba, or bicycle to the music.

Use Visual Goals

If you are exercising outside, jog or bike at a comfortable pace. Keep your eyes ahead of you and sprint to, for example, a stop sign that is roughly 20 yards away. When you reach your target, go back to your original pace. When your breathing returns to normal, set another marker to sprint to, and so on and so forth.

Make This Drink

Ingredients:

• 6 cups filtered water
• 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1/3 cup mint leaves

Instructions:

• Mix all of the ingredients together in a pitcher and store it in the fridge overnight, so that the flavors can infuse. Drink it all the next day. It will help flush fat from your body.

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Guys, well nobody for that matter, ever wants to have a flabby stomach. The washboard stomach, six-pack abs, or whatever you want to call them is the ultimate goal. How do you achieve these fabled abs if you have excess belly fat? Getting rid of belly fat is not rocket science, but it also isn’t as easy as people think.

Crunches don’t get you abs. Wait…let us clarify that you won’t be able to see your abs if you have belly fat, even if you do crunches. Working out your abs will build muscle, but that muscle will stay hidden under the belly fat. You have to take further action by making dietary, workout, and lifestyle changes in order to trim the fat to see that washboard.

High Intensity Workouts

Rather than grunting in front of the mirror trying to curl 120lbs, try lifting lighter weights in circuits that workout the entire body. For example, do ten squats with 100lbs immediately into 5-7 pull-ups, and finish the circuit with a 45 second plank. Do not rest between exercises. Rest for 1 minute after completing the circuit and then repeat it two more times. Always make sure to do at least 15 minutes of cardio at the end of your workout. Never skip a full cardio day either!

Simple Carbs Are Your Enemy

The things that taste the best are usually the worst for you. All that fat, oil, and sugar may taste good going down, but it does not help with managing your weight. You’ll be well on your way to a flatter stomach if you cut foods like donuts, ice cream, cookies, bread, and cake out of your diet.

Don’t Starve Yourself

Starving yourself to get rid of belly fat is not a good idea. Your body is very efficient at managing reserves and it will keep you from depleting your energy. If you cut a lot of food out of your diet, then your metabolism slows down, which ultimately increases your fat storage.

Go Plant-Based

Meat, meat products, dairy products, processed foods, simple carbs, refined sugars, and fried foods contribute to belly fat. It makes sense, then, to eliminate these foods and switch to foods that keep your body functioning optimally. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains like quinoa, barley wheat, or steel cut oats are foods you should focus on for proper nutrition; and 80% of losing weight is diet.

When you are trying to lose weight and get rid of belly fat, you have to understand that you won’t see an immediate difference. Losing weight takes time, especially if you have 15-20lbs or more to lose around your midsection. If you stick to your diet, exercise regimen, and don’t cheat, you will trim that belly fat!

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