3 of the best stomach exercises for men and women and not a crunch in sight

So if your bored of crunches or looking like an idiot in the ab rocker here are 3 of the best stomach exercises you can do for flat sexy abs that don’t require you to round your back and will work the whole of your abdominal region.

To avoid unwanted stress on the lower back area and cut down the possibility of injury but also get those abs working harder than ever before, it is important to do exercises that incorporate a straight back.

My strategy is to perform these stomach exercises in a circuit fashion just after a  strenuous interval workout like those found in Turbulence Training that gives me a great ab workout and makes sure I keep my metabolism high to burn a extra body fat.

The first exercise is the ab wheel rollout.  If you haven’t got one of these at home or the gym a small barbell with a 5 kilo round weight on each side does the trick.  Start from a kneeling position with your body upright and your shoulders above your hands placed on the wheel or barbell.  Slowly let your whole body fall downwards with your back straight as you roll the wheel or barbell forward.  Get your body as close to the floor as possible without arching the back, and remain in this position for several counts. Then return to the starting position.  10 reps is a good goal to shoot for.

Check out this video for a good demonstration on how to use the ab wheel properly

Stability ball jack-knives will be your next exercise to do directly after finishing the ab wheel rollout. This is a fantastic stomach exercise and there are many variations you can attempt as you become more proficient.  As a novice, you will begin by resting your elbows in a plank type stance, on an exercise bench, while placing your shins atop a stability ball. You will want to control the rolling of the ball in and out by bringing your knees to your chest or as far as you can while contracting your abs

Click here for more inspiring and unusual stomach exercises

As your fitness level increases, you can enhance these stability ball jack-knives by placing your hands on the ground instead, and doing a push-up after each knee raise. For an even more intense workout, trainers can place just one shin on the ball, and as that knee contracts, the other can extend, or you may prefer to bring your knees in at a diagonal instead of directly forward to the chest. This looks a lot cooler than the ab rocker and provides a serious ab challenge.

Shoot for 10 to 20 reps no matter which variation you choose to attack.

Here is a very detailed description to do these properly

Your last exercise is going to be a mountain climber with a rotation, and even though you want to rest, don’t do it.  You are going to assume the traditional plank position and bring your knees to the opposite elbow rather than bringing your knees to the chest as in the classic version of this exercise.  Your obliques do a lot of the work in this exercise because of this rotation.  With this exercise, supported abs and flat hips are crucial for the best results.

Its got to be minimum 10 reps each side for this one

Here is a quick video to give you better idea how to do the cross body mountain climber

By following the above routine, you will be performing some of the best stomach exercises available, that will not only give you great abs but burn more fat and keep you back strong and healthy.

And the best part is that you will never have to do another crunch!

Click here for more ab workouts that give great looking abs but don’t involve crunches

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