Perfect Beginner Abs Workout – How to Workout Core Correctly

If you stopped a random stranger and asked them which part of their body they would like to improve the most, chances are they would say their stomach or midsection. For some people, the midsection reveals the level of fitness stature visually of another person.

A common area of pain is the lower back. A factor to this pain can be due to weak core muscles. Your core is not just something people look at to see whether or not someone is in shape, it is important for its function and performance as well. ItÔÇÖs rare to find someone with well defined and functioning muscles.

I believe itÔÇÖs said that there are more millionaires than there are people with 6 pack abs in the world.

One particular reason for this is to have a visible six pack you have to have a low body fat percentage.

If you arenÔÇÖt lean, it doesnÔÇÖt matter how well developed your core muscles are because no one will be able to see them!

Another reason that 6 pack abs are rare because people donÔÇÖt focus on the right exercises and movements.

Today, IÔÇÖll be giving you a perfect beginner friendly ab workout that you can complete to get a shredded 6 pack, but first, we need to understand the muscles of the core. There are many muscles that make up the core, but today IÔÇÖm going to focus on four major parts.

If you target these muscles with exercises, with proper form, you will develop an incredible core, as long as you are lean enough.

The abdominal musculature acts to prevent the vertebral column from continually hyperextending. (Extension of a limb or part beyond the normal limit)

This midsection can be split into four parts:

• Rectus Abdominis
  • LetÔÇÖs start with the Rectus Abdominis. The rectus abdominis is responsible for a few functions but primarily for bringing your rib cage closer to the pelvis or vice-versa.
  • The Rectus Abdominis acts to pull the anterior pelvis toward the sternum or to pull the rib cage down toward the pelvis. This action results in spinal flexion. The Rectus Abdominis has a large stabilizing component because itÔÇÖs line of action is parallel to the spinal column.
  • The Rectus Abdominis could be split into two parts since itÔÇÖs so long. The lower fibers and the upper fibers. When you do a sit-up or leg raise where you bend your body at the hips, it wonÔÇÖt train the abs in its full range of motion. To effectively train the abdominals you want to make sure to the abs in a full range of motion.
  • When you do a sit-up or crunch, the upper fibers develop due to the lack of shortening in the lower fibers.
  • To produce shortening of the lower fibers, it is necessary to do exercises such as reverse crunch or hanging leg raises. These are also known as bottom-up exercises. During these exercises, the upper fibers will remain isometrically tensed.
• External Obliques
  • Next are the obliques. These muscles are on the sides of your body and theyÔÇÖre responsible for twisting your trunk and bending you at your sides. 
  • When performing oblique exercises itÔÇÖs important to not twist or bend at your hips. Twist at your sides. DonÔÇÖt compensate with your arms or legs.
  • The obliques have a rotary component but itÔÇÖs canceled out with both sides contract at the same time.
  • One of my favorite rotating oblique exercises is the cable side chop as demonstrated here.)

• Internal Obliques
  • These are underneath the external but perform the same functions. 
• Transversus Abdominis
  • Finally, letÔÇÖs talk about the muscle that everyone seems to forget – the transverse abdominis. This muscle isnÔÇÖt paid attention to since it isnÔÇÖt seen but it is underneath your abs ensuring that your bore stays tight. The Transverse Abdominis is activated when you suck in your belly. It can be activated in almost every core exercise but having a specific exercise for it can reduce back pain and also lead to a smaller waist..

Now that we have discussed the muscles of the core, we have to talk about stabilizing your core. Stabilizing your core is the ability to tight and support, think about when someone is going to poke you in the belly. This function is crucial because it keeps your spine safe every time you move. 

The abdominal muscles and the hip flexors work together to create maximum Range of Motion in your ability to raise the legs as high as possible.

LetÔÇÖs put all of that together into a good basic routine for great core muscle development. Do the following routine 2-3 times a week for best results.

Exercise #1

Reverse Crunches

• The reverse crunch will bring your pelvis closer to your rib cage. When performing this exercise make sure that youÔÇÖre not kicking up your legs in the air. Bend your knees, tuck your legs and imagine rolling your body up like a piece of paper.

Exercise #2

Elbow to Knee Crunch

• Lie flat on your back and place your hands behind your head. Bend your knees and bring them up so that your thighs and hips form a 90-degree angle, calves parallel to the floor. With elbows flared lift your shoulder blades off the floor and hold the position. This is your starting position.
• Twist your upper body in one direction bringing the elbow to the opposite knee while fully extending your other leg. Hold and then return back to the starting position to repeat in the opposite direction.

Exercise #3

Elbow Plank

• Planks are a popular exercise for the stabilization of the core. Everyone seems to do them and everyone seems to do them wrong. If you want to work your core and NOT your hip flexors itÔÇÖs important to round your lower back and tuck your tailbone.

Exercise #4

90/90 Crunch

• Lie flat on your back on an exercise mat and raise your legs with the knees bent at 90 degrees.
• Place your hands lightly on both sides of your head for support. Tip: Don’t lock your fingers behind your head. This will be your starting position.

• Using your abdominals, lift your shoulders and upper back off the floor by bending forward at the waist. Bring your elbows towards your knees. Tip: Push the small of your back down on the floor as your upper torso rolls off the mat. 
• Squeeze the top contraction, then slowly return to the starting position. Tip: Focus on slow, controlled movement – don’t rock your body or use momentum.

Do these exercises with perfect form. ItÔÇÖs really easy to involve the hip flexors in core exercises so if you have a bad form then you wonÔÇÖt work the core as effectively.

To make it easier for you, IÔÇÖve organized all this information for you in an easy to use PDF that you can take with you and use on your mobile device whether youÔÇÖre at the gym, at home, or outside.

You can download your FREE Ab Workout Here.

Please remember that this workout is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly have your shredded six-pack, then you need to make sure your nutrition is also optimized for you to be lean. For a step by step program that will take out all of the guesswork for you, head over to thetitanprinciples.com and get started with one of my coaching programs.

Thanks for reading, donÔÇÖt forget to show your support by sharing this article and comment below on what youÔÇÖd like me to cover in my next. See you next time!