4 Health Benefits Of Strong Abs

Not only do toned abs look great, they also provide some practical health benefits. Working your abdominal muscles is more than just trying to achieve the perfect beach body, it is about improving your quality of life and increasing your health. So what type of health benefits are we talking about?

Having strong abs:

1. Improves your posture, by helping you stand up straighter and taking the strain off of your back.

2. Decreases your risks of back injury. When lifting heavy objects it is easy to strain your back, which is why strong abdominal muscles help prevent back injuries - your abs will share some of the load.

3. Decrease your risk of developing heart diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. This is because by working your abs you are burning body fat, and the less body fat that you have the lower your risk is to develop these diseases.

4. Help protect your during athletic activities. Playing sports or doing other athletic activities exposes you to many possibilities of injury, like pulled abdominals. However, by working your abs and making them strong, you decrease the chance of injury.

So you see that strong abs also provide practical health benefits - even more motivation to keep working them! There is no better time than now to start down the road to a new, healthier and stronger you.

Increase your self-image, confidence, and health by working your abs. To learn more on how to firm and flatten your abs, visit http://www.lifefitnessblog.com/

Would you like to know how to get rid of your belly fat once and for all and get six-pack abs with minimal effort? Click here to learn how I got firm, flat abs.

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The Two Best Ab Exercises For A Flat Stomach And Great Female Abs

Before you start thinking it, "no it's not crunches". They will not get you the flat stomach and top female abs you're after. Crunches don't come close to the most efficient and effective two abs workouts I'm going to take you through later on in the article. In fact the injury level with crunches, either to the neck or back run at shocking levels, and the results obtained are poor.

Before getting onto the abs workouts that lead to top female abs, it's critical that you understand a fundamental truth.

"It does not matter how great you're abs are if they're covered by a layer of fat you're simply not going to see the muscle definition beneath them"

In order for the flat stomach and hot abs to shine through you're going to have to ensure a body fat level below 8% for men and below 12% for women. Once you get to that level the 6 pack abs will be clearly visible. The only way to get down to those levels is by intensive cardio workouts.

Back to building great female abs! The first exercise I'm going to recommend will surprise many people, but I recommend it on the basis of the latest scientific research carried out in Canada. They compared abdominal muscle activity during various exercises including those specifically designed for ab workouts. They found the exercise that registered most strongly was the simple squat. It worked the core abs muscles harder than many abs and lower back exercises.

Clearly if you really want to work those female abs hold some weights in your hands while performing the exercise. However don't feel you have to. The data suggests even light warm-up squats targeted the abs intensely.

The second exercise to achieve the flat stomach you've longed for is best done while sitting down. It's a special type of exercise known as isometric and made hugely popular by the Russians in the 1960s. It's a way of exercising without moving the joints and the associated muscles. Here's how you apply it to creating great female abs:

Breathe in deeply and pull in your stomach as hard as you can without causing yourself any pain. Now tense your stomach muscles hard as if you are about to get hit in the stomach and your bracing yourself for this eventuality. You'll start to feel the muscles quiver a little as they become tighter. Now breathe out keeping the tension in your stomach muscles and crunching them hard so that your ribs move slightly inwards. Relax, and repeat 10 times.

If you carry out these two simple exercises daily you'll start seeing those female abs popping out in no time at all. Your stomach will become flat (as long as it's not covered in layers of fat) and you're posture will improve. Add a little cardio workout to your routine and you'll quickly be on your way to fantastic results inside 6 weeks.

What are you waiting for?

If you're looking for a solution to building 6 pack sexy female abs, you need to look no further than www.6packabs.org. Where you'll find advice on abs workouts, diet, and nutrition, and all aspects of building a flat stomach.

How To Get Flat Abs Fast - The Secret Tricks Of The Trade!

Ok people let's get into it! Its clear that your here reading this article as you wish to stop messing around and get down and dirt with insider info on how to get flat abs fast. No matter were you are at with your current fitness levels be it overweight, fitness trainer, bodybuilder etc these principles will take you down the right path when applied to your day to day life.

The biggest component is going to come down to your currently eating - Now when i say this I'm talking times between meals & what your eating. How often you eat is just as important as when you eat. To those of you that don't know already, our body is a incredible vehicle. When we have not had a meal for over a couple hours we simply begin to slow down, which then leads to our metabolism slowing right down.

So first things first, diet and eating intervals. I want you to eat 5 - 6 times a day to ensure that your metabolism stays cranked. This will ensure that your burning of as much calories as possible when simple sitting down or sleeping. The next aspect of your diet is the food that you consume, we need you eating foods that will not slow down your body's natural fat burning ability. Sludgy foods like fried foods and meals with excessive amounts of cheese such as Pizza will slow your body right down. Believe it or not our body takes quiet some time to recover from such foods.

One of the best ways to alter your currently eating habits is to first deal with your day to day items. If you eat white bread - get red of it now and convert to Wholegrain as a bare minimum. If you enjoy multi grain, take this option and its far better for you. We want/ fibre in a diet so non processed foods or meals that contain grains are usually very good for you.

Want to know How to Get Flat Abs fast? Learn all there is to know about Diets/Workouts/Fat burning tips!

Go to http://www.truthaboutabprograms.com

Here you will find Ab diets, killer ab workouts and all round top notch advice for getting abs fast

The Abs... More Important Than You Think

What comes to your mind when I say the word “abs”? Do you think of the infomercials advertising “6 second abs” or the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue? Most people focus on training their abs to look thinner or sexier. But, do you realize the importance of your abs in everyday activities? Most yoga instructors do. And that’s why one of the focuses of yoga is to build your core abdominal strength.

Important for posture

Your abs attach to your spine and pelvis, helping balance your back in good posture. Often times, when your back is not supported in the correct posture by your abdominals and back muscles, back pain occurs. Did you know that back pain accounts for approximately 50 billion dollars in health care costs each year. This is not something to be taken lightly -- so remember -- one of the best ways to prevent back pain is to strengthen your abs.

It often takes a conscious effort to sit in good posture. But, even if you get into a good sitting posture, you will need the abdominal and back endurance to maintain it! How are you sitting at your computer right now? I would bet most of you are sitting in a slumped posture….some more than others. To sit in good posture, you should have a slight inward curve in your back with your ears directly over your shoulders.

One way to strengthen your abs while working on your computer is to use an exercise ball as your chair. Yes, you heard me right! In fact, I am sitting on my exercise ball as I write this article.

Important for balance

Without abdominal strength, you will have difficulty sitting, standing and walking. Your center of gravity is located at your sacrum or roughly just below your belly button. Therefore, your abs play an important part in keeping you balanced at your center of gravity.

Think about someone who is a quadriplegic or paralyzed from the neck down. They are not able to sit by themselves because their back and abdominal muscles are paralyzed. In other words, they are no longer able to balance themselves. In contrast, a paraplegic, someone paralyzed from the waist down, is able to balance and sit by themselves because only their legs are paralyzed leaving their abdominal and back muscles intact. This proves that our abdominals are important for our balance.

If you are now sitting on your exercise ball, you can practice some balance exercises and strengthen your abs simply by rolling your hips forward, backward and side to side. Make sure to pull your stomach inward during these motions.

Exercise your abs

Now that you know the importance of your abs, you need to integrate abdominal strengthening into your regular strength training. Abs should be trained like any other muscle – 8 to 12 repetitions, 3 times per week.

I have several suggestions for where you can start.

1. The Two Best Abs Exercises: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/best-ab-exercises.html
2. Lower Abdominal Exercises: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/lower-abdominal-exercises.html
3. Abdominal Ball Exercises: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/abdominal-ball-exercises.html

Remember the abs! They are more important that you think!

Written by Shelley Hitz, Licensed Physical Therapist and Certified NASM Personal Trainer.
Sign up for her free Exercise Advice journal at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/journal.html or read more of her articles at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com. Get your free unbelievable abs ball workout here!