reduce your belly fat, because who wants to spend time getting sculpted abs you can’t see? And carry out an exercise routine that is specifically targeted to your abs and obliques.

Building up core strength and sculpting those muscles isn’t easy, but having a good program to work from is half of the battle. Check out number eight for an exercise that people don’t normally associate with abs that can make a difference!

Cable Crunch

The cable crunch works your main abdominal muscles (your six pack). Bend from the waist and let your abs do the work, pulling your upper body (and the weight) down towards your thighs.

Standard Crunches

Standard crunches again work your abdominal muscles and help to quickly tone up the muscles there. They are a good addition to an ab-focused workout, but they can hurt your back when you're new to them.

You should also be aware that while crunches are great for your abs, they don’t work the whole core, therefore they don’t burn fat as you do them.

Start off with one set of ten to twenty-five reps and build up to two sets as you get stronger.

1. Seated Barbell Twist

The seated barbell twist focuses on your obliques. You should aim to get your elbow above the opposite knee, but if you find you can’t do that at first without it hurting, go as far as you can go, as it’s easy to hurt yourself doing these at first.

Start out with two sets of ten and work up to three sets of fifteen to twenty as you build your strength.

The Russian Twist

The Russian Twist is a great exercise to do at home where you might not have all of the equipment you’ll need for some of the exercises. Not only is the exercise easy to master, but it works your entire core, meaning it can help you with your abs, your obliques, and even your glutes.

Start with three sets of fifteen, working up to three sets of twenty-five.

1. The Advanced Russian Twist

Once you’ve mastered the basic Russian Twist, which we talked about in point four, you can move on to a more advanced one. To do this, raise your feet a couple of inches off the ground before you start, and keep them there the whole time you complete the exercise. This will make you really feel the burn in those abs.

Start with one set of ten and slowly build up to three sets of fifteen.

The Leg Raise

Concentrating mainly on your abs, but still providing secondary effects to your entire core and upper arms and shoulders, the leg raise is by far the most effective abdominal exercise you can do – and also one of the most difficult. This is an exercise for those who have already achieved good strength overall and now want to target specific areas.

Start with five sets of three to five reps and aim to get to fifteen reps per set.

The Advanced Leg Raise

The leg raise is often seen as the hardest abdominal exercise to master, and with good reason. Once you have mastered it, there’s no reason to stop there. Try an advanced leg raise, by raising your legs straight out in front of you rather than curling them.

Start with five sets of three to five reps and aim to get to fifteen reps per set.

Cardio Activity

Doing cardio is an important step to getting perfect abs – and one that so many people skip. While cardio won’t directly help you to build muscle, it will burn fat effectively, meaning that that washboard stomach you’re working on will actually be on show.

Cardio isn’t all about running, so if you find the idea of running soul-destroying, try something else instead: rowing, spinning, jumping rope, swimming, boxercise and Zumba are just a few examples.

You should include at least one cardio session per week, but ideally, you should be looking at three to five twenty-minute cardio sessions weekly.

Flutter Kicks

Flutter Kicks (also known as Scissor Kicks) work on your mid and lower abs, glutes, and quads. Not only are they great for tightening your major core muscles, but they also help to burn belly fat too.

Start with three sets of twenty-five reps and either work to increase to fifty kicks per set, or set a timer and do the kicks continuously, starting with thirty seconds and building up to one minute.

Reverse Crunches

Reverse crunches focus on the lower abs, but they also have an impact on obliques too, making them a good all-rounder. The reverse crunch can be done at the gym on a bench, but it can also be done effectively at home on a mat.

Start with three sets of ten, working up to three sets of twenty-five.

Reverse Oblique Crunches

The reverse oblique crunch (or decline oblique crunch) focuses on your obliques, an area often overlooked when focusing on your abs. The exercise will help to pull in the muscles on the sides of your abs for a more streamlined look. Reverse oblique crunches are a great exercise for anyone with moderate to high fitness levels.

Start with two sets of eight to ten reps, building up to three sets of fifteen.

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