Best abdominal exercise?

So what do you think is the best ad exercise(s)

I am looking to put together a good ab workout..


Inclined crunches?
Weighted everything?

Recently read an article that said weighted crunches (lay on the floor, get the rope as close to your head as possible, and put the weight high enough so you can only do 6-8) is the best bet.

They were going on the principal that doing hundreds of crunches might make for better endurance but really doesn' t overload the muscles, which makes them bigger.

You don' t bench 135 x 25 times and then just keep increasing.. Most people in the forum will tell you to train heavy. So why any different with abs?

Granted, each individual will respond differently. That goes back to the calf debate if you should go heavy for 6-8 or 15-20. Some people get stronger at the 6-8 range but notice no size increases.

So this is just a general statement above.

And of course, diet affects how visible the abs are since males seem to carry most of their weight around the mid-section.

So my vote is for weighted crunches, then incline crunches (holding a weight to the chest). Of course incline weighted crunches, you might be able to hold more weight then is safe.

Try this for abs:crunches ,leg raises,vertical leg raise,1/4 situp(don`t go all the way downto keep tension on the abs) do these in a row,no rest, forcably exhale at the contraction of each movement,then repeat for 4 sets each.Do the reps slowly making the abs do the work avoid momentum as far as reps go do as many as you can each set these will drop as the sets increase remember to keep moving only rest after all 4 exercises are done.And get on a good diet ,and add cardio if you`re not already doing it.you can`t spot reduce.

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Weighted Incline Crunches.

Hands-down the best ad exercise. Most muscle fibers utilized.

What about lower abs? Ive had 6 children, one c-section so my lower abs are totaly useless. My upper abs, though buried under body fat are quite strong and getting stronger each week. But the lower abs are so difficult to work. I cant for the life of me do a reverse crunch. My behind just WILL NOT come off the floor!
Any ideas how i can exercise this area effectivly?

I found an interesting link on the abs.. not too techie.. Good short read.

http://www.stumptuous.com/abtraining.html

You might try some hanging leg raises. I' ve seen setups where you put your elbows on the pads, and grip handles and are hanging and raise you legs (knees bent) straight up.

I' ve also seen at my gym since that machine is gone, people hang from the pull-up bars, and raise their legs up (bending the knees so the legs are not being raised straight out).

My own experience is that a weighted crunch on an inclined bench seems to work the overall abdominal area. Upper when I' m starting off, and lower at the top.

If you want some cool pictures of various exercises for your abs (including a section on lower abs), this guy has a nice site. His theory is that lower ab weakness is actually from the inner abs not being strong enough. You' d have to read up but his site seems dedicated to abs and appears to be rather friendly.

Give this one a shot as well:

Best Abs

I think you' ll find some pretty good info at these 2 sites. Maybe I' ll make a FAQ about Abs.. hummm.. thanks for the idea

For lower abs there are tons of exercise my favorites are:
Seated Knee-up
Reverse Crunch
Hanging Knee Raise
Scissor kicks

Those are just to name a few