Abs

Have you ever wanted a six pack? Or maybe even an eight pack? Or just to lose some stomach? Well, there is no guarantee these will give you these, but they could help! What you really need to do is stay dedicated to working your abs and running. I'm not the best example, because I often get lazy during a sport season and lose my 'abs' during them. The only time I've ever had an eight pack was in the dead of winter. I was happy with it and stopped working out my abs, and went back down to a four pack.

I was not going to describe crunches or sit-ups, but I remembered seeing people on my athletic teams totally doing crunches (the easiest ab workout) wrong.

Crunches. Crunches are super easy. If you have never worked out, you can start with this. First, lay down on your back. You can do pretty much any thing with your legs, as long as they are doing the same thing. Now, if you are disciplined enough you can put your hands behind your head, as long as you DON'T pull your head up with your hands. This is very tempting and very bad, hence why you must be disciplined. It will make your workout almost useless and you can hurt your neck easily. If you can't keep yourself from pulling your head up with your hands, put your index and middle finger on your temples. Now that you are ready to do a crunch, you 'crunch' your abs so that you bring your shoulders off the ground. Don't do just your neck and head. That is way too easy and you could strain your neck. Now let your body down. Repeat. Slow is a little better.

Sit-ups. This one is a little harder, but still very simple. Get ready like a crunch, but put your legs down in front of you, bent at the knee. Your hand should be on your chest or by your temples. Behind your head is a bad idea. You'll probably do something to your neck. Now sit-up. Try and keep your feet on the floor while doing this. If you can't, then have someone or something hold your feet down. Just keep sitting up until you get pretty tired. This will get pretty easy, so you might try and add weight later.

Leg lifts. These are pretty simple as well. All you have to is lay down on your back. Put your hands where they make you the most balanced. Then with your legs straight as possible (without straining to make them straight), pick your legs up until your 90 degrees at the hips. Let you legs down, but don't let them touch the floor. Repeat.

In-and-outs. These are kind of like a mixture of sit-ups and leg lifts, but much harder. You want to start with your legs and shoulders about 6 inches off the ground. Then pull your knees and chest together. Then push them back out. Try and keep balance. This may require you to go slow, but that's good. Repeat.

Pulse-ups. There are like a very hard crunch mixed with a leg lift to me. I like this one. Get your body in leg lift position, bring your legs so your hips are bent at 90 degrees. Keep your heels facing the sky, and your toes pulled back. Now lift your hips a few inches off the ground, and let them back down. Repeat. Try not to push with your arms. After all, this is an ab workout.

V-up. A V-up is like an in and out, but you start with your body and legs on the ground. Put your hands over your head, and keep your legs straight as possible. Now bring your body and your legs together. Let them down and repeat. This one is hard to balance, so don't worry if you can't get it for a while.

Oblique V-up. Your obliques are the sides of your abs. These are not quite as important to work as your core abs, but if you're doing all this stuff for your core abs, you might as well add this to your workout list. To start, lay on your side, place you hand that's on the floor near your waist. Your other hand should be on your head, where ever it is comfortable. Now you may begin. Like in a V-up, bring your body up at the same time as your legs. Your legs can bend, that makes it easier to balance. Repeat. Switch to your other side once you're done with that side.

There are tons (I mean TONS) of other ab workouts, but I'm not going to list them all. Just Google "ab workouts" or something like that...