How to Get Abs for Girls
1 Start with sit ups and/or crunches.
To do a basic sit up, lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Cross your hands across your chest and smoothly lift your upper body, from your shoulder blades to your lower back, off of the ground. Sit all the way up, pausing for a moment at the top of your motion. Then, smoothly lower your body back down and repeat. Don’t strain or use jerky movements and don’t lift with your neck. The stress should be on your ab muscles, not your neck. Keep your back straight – never hunch while doing sit ups. To do a crunch, which is easier than a sit up, just lift your shoulder blades off the ground – not your whole upper body.
Sit ups and crunches work your central abdominal muscles. Your ab muscles, as a whole, are fairly large, running from the waist to just below the chest.[1] For well-rounded, sculpted abs, it’s important to hit every part of your abdominal region. While it’s important to work your central abs, don’t give too much attention to your six pack – an uneven ab workout can lead to lower core stability than a well-balanced workout.
Another good central core workout is the plank exercise. This exercise, which is a good core workout on its own, is highly versatile – by adding different poses and/or movements to the basic plank, you can work a wide range of muscles.
2 Do leg lifts.
Lay on the floor with your legs straight and pulled together. Keeping your legs straight, slowly and smoothly lift your legs to a vertical position so that they’re pointing at the ceiling. Gently lower your legs to the floor and repeat. Don’t separate your legs or bend your knees as you do this exercise, unless you find it too difficult – in this case, modify the exercise so that you’re bringing your knees to your chest, rather than pointing your feet towards the ceiling. For an extra challenge, try holding a medicine ball or a small weight between your legs as you do this exercise!
Leg lifts work your lower abs. Though they’re especially hard to work and “define,” well-toned lower abs can take your six pack to an eight pack! Additionally, like the other core muscles, the lower regions of the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles play an important role in hip and spine stabilization, which, if not maintained, can lead to back injury.[2]
Other lower ab exercises like reverse crunches and hanging leg lifts also target the hard-to-hit zones just above your hips, contributing to a toned upper pelvic area.
3 Do bicycle crunches.
Lay on your back in the basic sit up position with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Tuck your palms behind your head, keeping your elbows bent. Raise your right knee up towards your chest. As you raise your knee, gently lift and twist your upper body, touching your left elbow to your right knee. Ease your upper body back down and lower your right knee as you simultaneously raise your left knee, touching it to your right elbow. Repeat this motion, alternating knees and elbows.
Bicycle crunches work your obliques, which are a must for any thorough ab workout. Not only are these muscles on the side of your torso important in terms of abdominal strength and core stabilization, they also look amazing when they’re cut and defined. Firm oblique muscles will make your sides appear tight and trim, giving a slimming effect. If you really concentrate on your obliques, you may eventually see the coveted ” bulge” just above your hip bones that signifies powerful oblique muscles.
Oblique sit ups and side planks, are also great exercises for your obliques. Within minutes, you’ll feel that satisfying burn in your sides!
4 Hit your legs, glutes, and back with lunges.
One great exercise which hits your legs and glutes while simultaneously using your hips, back, and abs as secondary muscle groups is the lunge. To do a lunge, begin by standing straight upright with your feet hip-width apart. Take a big step forward with your right leg. Bend your right leg and lower your body down towards the floor, keeping your back straight, until your right knee is bent at 90 degrees. Push yourself back up to a standing position, keeping your weight on your right foot. Repeat this motion with your left leg. Do this exercise slowly and smoothly – straining or jerking can hurt your knees or back.
Though you’re probably mostly interested in working your abs to get a tight stomach, it’s important to give attention to all of the core muscles, including your legs, glutes, back, and hip muscles. Concentrating solely on your abs can give you a “lopsided” appearance insofar as you’ll have a well-developed stomach but the surrounding areas will be flabby. More importantly, a good, varied core workout is essential for good posture, balance, spine stabilization, and overall health. Don’t neglect any muscle group between your chest and your knees – you may regret it!
There are a huge variety of exercises for your supporting core muscles. Do everything from lunges to hip flexor exercises to leg raises with a stability ball. A strong, solid core is an absolute must when going for sculpted abs.
5 Don’t believe common ab workout misconceptions.
Because tight abs are so widely desired, ab workouts naturally attract urban legends and other unsubstantiated claims. Don’t believe everything you hear when it comes to building sexy abs – if a certain piece of information sounds too good, it probably is. Below are corrections for two common misconceptions:
You can’t spot-burn stomach fat. This is a widely-circulated myth. It doesn’t matter how intensely you work out one specific body part – exercise doesn’t remove fat from that specific body part.[3] Rather, fat is lost gradually from the entire body. To lose belly fat so that your abs will show, you’ll need to lose fat all over.
You shouldn’t only do ab exercises. Doing countless crunches will give you stronger ab muscles, but you may not see the results in the form of tight, sculpted abs. Often, for someone to get abs, she must also diet and make other lifestyle changes (see below) for the abs to become clearly defined.
