Simple abdominal exercises for a taut, toned tum

Many people desire great-looking abs, and some even join a gym or health club for the sole purpose of achieving this goal. But did you know that, aside from its aesthetic appeal, a lean, toned stomach offers significant health and fitness benefits too? Strong ab muscles help to enhance one’s posture, improve performance in sport and even aid in combating certain chiropractic ailments.

Are your abs more flab than fab, or are you the proud owner of a taut, defined stomach? Whether you’re determined to tighten up your belly or wish to maintain that washboard stomach, Virgin Active’s ab workouts and abdominal exercise guides will help you to blast away belly fat and achieve the shape you want. Our professionally-designed ab workouts can be done at home or at your gym or health club, where our personal trainers are always on hand to offer you the help or encouragement you need.

Try out these abdominal exercises next time you’re at the gym:

• Bent-knee sit-up
• Seated barbell twist
• Flat leg bench pull-in
• Ab crunches
• Adominal exercises
• Ab workout

Abdominal exercise techniques
Ab workouts are an important part of total body fitness, but performing them incorrectly could actually cause more harm than good. This is because your abs are responsible for stabilising your core, which is the origin of all body movement. When you’re doing ab workouts, it’s essential to isolate your stomach muscles so that you avoid putting strain on other parts of your body, such as your lower back or neck.

Virgin Active’s personal trainers and health and fitness experts have designed a range of effective ab workouts aimed and strengthening your core, ab and oblique muscles. By following the step-by-step guides to the abdominal exercises listed above, you’ll tighten and define your stomach, improve muscle tone and get the firm, flat belly you’ve always wanted.

Are your ab workouts providing visible results?
If you’re doing daily abdominal exercises but not seeing visible results, your ab workout may not be targeting the correct sets of muscles. When exercising your abs, you should focus your attention on your oblique muscles as well as your upper ab muscles. Your gym’s personal trainers will show you how to do this correctly.

Virgin Active’s abdominal exercises have been carefully designed to encourage optimum results. Check out our ab workouts now, or visit your nearest Virgin Active Health Club, where our personal trainers will help you design the ideal ab workout to suit your exercise goals.