There are four ab exercises that I recommend above all others to give you the core muscles of your dreams. I like to break them up by choosing two of the ab exercises to do after one workout, and then the other two exercises after another workout. And I work my abs 2-3 days per week, with at least one full day off in between. Follow this advice, along with a solid cardiovascular routine, and you should notice a stronger, more muscular midsection after only a few weeks!

• Bicycle Crunch - Lay flat on the floor with your hands behind your head. Begin pedaling your feet as if you were riding a bicycle. Your knees bend as they raise towards your chest, one at a time. Crunch at your waist and cross your right elbow to your left knee as it approaches. Then cross your left elbow to your right knee. To be clear, your elbow does not actually need to touch your knee for this exercise to work, but you should feel definitely feel the strain in your rectus abdominis muscles (what you would normally call your 6-pack).

• Captain’s Chair Leg Raise - Place your elbows and forearms along the pads of the chair. Allow your legs and feet to hang straight down. This is the starting position. You are supporting yourself entirely by your arms, with your back against the backrest. Lift your thighs upward towards your chest, bending at the knees, until your upper legs form a 90 degree angle with your torso. Lower your legs down, straightening them back out as they go. Do not lower your legs all the way to the starting position, because this will tempt you to swing your legs and get momentum going. This does not work the abs as well. You want the entire motion to be slow and controlled, feeling the work in your abs throughout.
• Reverse Crunch - The reverse crunch is a great exercise to work your lower abs as well as your lower back. Start by laying on your back with both your back and legs flat on the ground. You will want to hold a dumbbell or some other weight to counterbalance your motion during the exercise (see video below). Begin the motion by bending at your knees and lifting your legs upward towards your chest. As your legs approach your head, your lower back will come off the floor slightly, and you will feel the squeeze in your abs. Focus on maintaining this feeling throughout the exercise for maximum effectiveness.

• Exercise Ball Ab Crunch - I am a huge fan of exercise balls for my ab workout, so I would definitely recommend using them. I like to do these crunches in three directions, forward, left, and right. You can squeeze each section of your abdominal muscles and you will feel how it works a different part of your abs for each. Again, focus on your abs as you are performing this exercise.

I would recommend you start with about 12 reps for each of the exercises listed above. After doing each of them a couple times, you will get a feel for how many reps you can do. A word of caution: it isn’t all about the highest number of reps, though. Sometimes, you can get a better workout performing 20 reps than you can doing 50 because the quality of each will be better. Break them up into 3 sets each, maintain control throughout the exercises, and focus on the squeeze in your abs for each of them. Slowly increase the intensity of your ab workout as you feel comfortable.