Best Abs Exercises for Women – Easy Flat Belly Moves

There are so many different ab exercises to choose from that will tone our body. Influencers like Chloe Ting and Emi Wong have tons and tons of YouTube videos giving us different content so that we can pick what suits our lifestyle the best. But in reality, not all ab exercises will be as effective to our bodies. In fact, a lot of exercises you try out really can be a complete waste of time. In this article, you’ll learn about the best abs’ exercises based on studies.

Remember that exercise alone will not get you abs. A proper diet, healthy lifestyle, and continuous effort are just some of the key factors you’ll need for this. There are many muscles in the abdomen that need to be worked out for you to get the best abs. That means you should target exercises that work out all those muscles at once to get the best efforts quickly.

10 Best Abs Exercises for a Tone Body

1. Bicycle Crunch

This exercise is one of the best for your obliques. Your obliques are also called your ‘six-pack muscles’ so make sure to focus on bicycle crunches. This type is supposed to be even more effective than normal crunches.

So how do you do a bicycle crunch?

• Lie on your back on a yoga mat and bring your knees up so that your legs make a right angle with the floor
• Move the top half of your body like you would in a normal crunch while performing a bicycle pedaling movement with your legs.
• When you perform the crunch twist your body so that the elbow touches the other knee. (Left elbow touching right knee and vice versa)

2. Flutter Kicks

This not only tones your lower abs, but also the thighs, back, and hips. Though these are simple movements, they are actually rebuilding your muscles and making them stronger.

So how do you do flutter kicks?

• Lie flat on the ground on a yoga mat with your arms by your side.
• Raise your legs so that they are right above your hips but remember to create tension in your abdomen by keeping your back on the ground.
• With your legs still at that angle, start moving your legs up and down alternately in a small motion.

3. Planks

We’ve all heard of planks because they’re the most common exercise to strengthen your core. Planks are not only helpful for abs, but can also improve your posture, balance, and flexibility as they strengthen the spine.

It is also a great way of burning a lot of calories even though there’s no movement in the body.

So how do you do a plank?

• On a yoga mat, place yourself in a push-up position
• But now bend your elbows so that your lower arms are flat on the ground and form a right angle
• Your entire weight should rest on your forearms
• Keep your body straight and put your head down and hold this position for at least a minute

4. Reverse Crunch

Also known as the short cut to a six-pack, reverse crunches will work your muscles at a high intensity for a long time. Which makes this easily one of the best abs’ exercises for women.

So how do you do a reverse crunch?

• Bend your knees at a 90-degree angle when lying flat on the ground
• Make sure your arms are at your side with palms facing down
• With your thighs perpendicular to the ground, lift your hips off the floor and crunch towards your chest

5. Leg Lifts

These are similar to flutter kicks in terms of movement. Leg lifts once again target your lower abdominal muscles and help you control your core muscles in no time. They are one of the best abs exercises to get shredded and are simple.

 

So how do you do a leg lift?

• With your back firmly on the floor, lift your legs up at least a foot from the ground
• Move your legs up and down at that height while keeping tension in your abdomen

6. Side Plank

These planks might be a little hard at first, but don’t give up. A lot of the time, the hardest ones will give you the best results, and that’s exactly the case with side planks.

They have several benefits other than improving your obliques as they also tone the glutes, quads, thighs, upper body, and hamstrings.

So how do you do side planks?

• Lie on your side on a yoga mat with one of your arms propping you up
• Your forearm will be perpendicular to your body and one leg will be on top of the other
• Raise your hip up and hold yourself in this position for at least half a minute

7. Vertical Leg Crunch

As you can see most of these exercises are variants of planks and crunches. Planks and crunches on their own are effective, but introducing slight changes in them makes it possible to engage all the core muscles.

The vertical leg crunch is no different and is a variant of the normal crunch except with the legs being perpendicular to the floor.

 

So how do you do a vertical leg crunch?

• Lie on the ground with legs in the air at a 90-degree angle to your mat.
• Keeping your legs in the air, only move the upper body in a crunch
• Slowly do crunches and hold them for a bit when you go up
• Make sure to keep your legs in only that one position

8. Plank Crawl

Known to be the best abs exercises for toning the core, the plank crawl is tough and resilient. They also help in strengthening the upper body while simultaneously prepping your abs.

So how do you do a plank crawl?

• First, stand up straight normally
• Slowly bend down and touch the floor
• Once you touch the ground, use your hands in a walking movement until you reach the push-up position
• Using the same motion, move back to just bending position
• Lift yourself back to a standing position

9. Boat Pose

A pose in yoga, this exercise seems to be simple and relaxing but actually does a lot more. It not only focuses on the abdominal muscles, but is known to help in metabolism, reducing stress, concentration, stamina, and much more.

So how do you do the boat pose?

• Sit on the ground with knees bent and feet on the floor
• Lean back and balance yourself as you lift your legs off the floor
• Move your arms straight in front of you as the body forms a V shape

10. Sit-ups

Doing these multiple times a day, every day leads to toning of muscles everywhere making it one of the best abs’ exercises. Sit-ups will increase your overall muscles and hence increase the number of calories burned, giving you a sculpted look.

So how do you do a sit-up?

• Lie on your back with your legs bent
• With your arms at your sides and palms facing down slowly move your upper body up and forward towards your legs
• Hold this for a few seconds and lie back down with your legs still bent

Conclusion

We can see from this that to get sculpted abs, the best exercises are planks, crunches, and their variants. So many different types of these exist which you can do daily for at least twenty minutes to get that toned body.

Also, make sure to be conscious of your diet and sleep habits as those can make it harder to get proper abs.