Building your abdominal muscles requires more than doing exercises and lifting weights. You need to chisel your midsection and build up your six-pack musculature at the same time.
As a person who has also struggled with getting picture-perfect abs, I can attest that some tips and tricks with abs crunch machines and fitness approaches are better when it comes to getting chiseled abs.
Here are some of the most effective exercise and sculpting tips with ab crunch machines:
Will I Get Abs If I Have A Thick Midsection?
You can do deadlifts and crunches until your legs give out and there isn’t an ounce of breath left in your body, but they won’t help you reduce fat. There’s no way to target reducing fat in your body through exercise. If you wish to get washboard abs, you’ll need to work on bringing your entire body’s fat percentage down, which means burning more calories than you’re eating and consuming meals in a calorie deficit.
Also, having a chiseled abdomen doesn’t mean one is always maintaining a healthy body weight. Some individuals get six-packs because they eat less or consistently do excessive cardio exercises. You’ll need to find a balance to get your abs but also effectively maintain them.
Do I Have To Train My Abs Daily?
To answer your question, you don’t need to train your abs daily. When you’re training your other muscles like shoulders, legs, and arms, you’re indirectly engaging your core and your abs. And they need post-workout recovery time. Of course, you only activate your abs if you’re doing exercises like deadlifts, military presses, and squats or using an ab crunch machine.
However, you’ll be doing low-impact training on your abs even though you’re actively working on other muscles. You’ll reap the best results by allowing them to rest fully between workout sessions.
Training For Your Abdominal Muscles
You’ll need to focus on both your ab exercises and eating habits. Training your abs is a non-stop activity where you have to eat mindfully and put in 20-30 minutes of training a few times a week. You’ll also need to rest your muscles and eat nutritious meals high in protein. The only “secret” to getting amazing abs is good form and consistency.
You can opt for several exercises and ab machines to get started. Here are some regions you can target:
Obliques
This region runs alongside your ab muscles. I prefer to use light weights and a high volume of reps so that muscles don’t expand so quickly as the midsection thickens simultaneously. You can use Russian twists, cable wood choppers, and captain’s chair oblique raises.
Upper Ab Muscles
You can target this area when you draw your upper body to the lower torso and stabilize the region by shortening the distance between the pelvis and the ribcage. You can do machine crunches, decline-bench crunches, and rope cable crunches.
Lower Abs
You can get target these muscles by using your legs to shorten the rectus abdominus. You can perform mountain climbers, decline-bench reverse crunches, and hanging leg raises.
Some Great Fitness Ab Machines To Help You Target Your Abs Muscles
Here are some great fitness ab machines that you can get for your home or commercial gym:
Fitlaya Fitness Ab Machine For Your Home
This is a great machine that can give you a professional machine-level ab workout from the comfort of your home. It can also take your ab workout to the next level. Once you get it out of the box, it can take you less than five minutes to assemble all the parts. You can follow the instructions in the manual on how you can use and store the machines.
It’s a foldable machine that can be taken out when you wish to work out and then put away out of sight. The material and frame are made of sturdy and heavy-duty steel and include a high-quality knee cushion and foam-covered handgrips. You’ll be able to get a comfortable workout with a weight capacity of up to 440 lbs.
The machine offers you 4 different resistance and training levels for your fitness needs. These levels can help you target your abdominal muscles more effectively and maximize your workout efficiency at home.
Moreover, the machine also has a smart LCD screen that can show your repetitions, workout times, and burnt calories.
XtremepowerUS Ab Machine
This machine is a powerhouse when it comes to targeting your abs muscles. You can tone your abs with these sleek and sexy pieces of equipment that have an adjustable seat and a solid frame. You can place your hands on the handlebar and start rolling the machine to target your love handles as well.
If you’re new to fitness and ab training, this machine will be perfect for you. It’s mostly intended for beginners and long-time fitness enthusiasts. It has a curved travel track that conforms to the natural curvature of the spine and allows you to execute an abdominal lift in perfect form.
It also has a multi-angle adjustable seat for both men and women using this equipment. To increase the resistance, you can add weights to the plate loading posts up to 300 pounds. This plate-loading feature will allow you to crunch your abdominal muscles more effectively and achieve great abs with consistency.
The machine has an assembled length of 49 inches, a width of 18 inches, and a height of 51 inches. So, you can get an idea if this machine can fit in your home gym, living room, or another room in your home. The best part about the machine is its convenience and ease of use. It won’t let you make excuses about skilling your ab days.
The Ab Coaster PS500
The Ab Coaster PS500 is an ideal combination of design and technology to provide you with the best results. Here are some of its amazing features.
- One-year warranty
- Upgraded nylon covers and foam pads
- An easy-to-read manual and DVD and 2 meal plans
- Digital counter for your repetitions and calories
- A multi-angle knee pad to target your obliques
- Support people from 6’10 inches in height to 4’10 inches in height
- Heavy-duty steel metal frame
- Upgraded steel rail system
- Support up to a weight of 300 pounds
- Steel bearings in the track
No matter what your height or weight is, you can enjoy a smooth and steady motion while you exercise and feel confident in your movements. The company claims that the machine can withstand a weight of 300 pounds, but I believe it is robust enough to back up the claims.
So, the machine can not only handle wear and tear but is very comfortable to use as well. Your knees and arms will be protected by the high-density foam padding while you do your reps. You can also adjust the angle of the machine to target your ab muscles more effectively. So, if you’re wondering if Ab Coaster PS500 is worth the investment, it absolutely is. I’ve personally used this, and the results were astonishing. I was able to maintain my muscle mass and chisel my body at the same time.
The Ab Coaster works the same way as leg raises but without threatening or straining your body. However, if you think it’s a quick way to get abs, not quite. You’ll still have to put in the effort with your other ab exercises, and the Ab Coaster will be a huge assistance when your other muscles are sore.
If you’re ready to embark on your fitness journey, pick out at least three ab exercises for your ab day and do four sets of movement for each exercise. Also, keep your rest period short, around 30-60 seconds. For bodyweight exercise, ensure to use a controlled movement till muscle failure, not to a predetermined rep target. And for your upper ab movements, try to choose weights and do reps that also help you reach muscle failure between 12-15 reps.
Now that you know the basics, you can start your training!
