Top 10 Proven Ab Killers of All Time

Jackknife_mini

4. The Jackknife

The Jackknife is a variation of the regular crunch, and it strengthens your upper and lower abdominal muscles, or the rectus abdominus group, at the same time.

To perform a jackknife, lie on a firm mat on the floor with your legs together and extended straight in front of you and your arms extended straight back over your head, like you’re stretching.

Engage your abs and bend at the waist, bringing your arms and legs over your body to meet above your belly.

Hold this position for a couple of seconds, keeping your ab muscles tight, then slowly ease back down to the starting position. Work up to three sets of ten reps each.

To spice things up a bit, hold a medicine ball between your feet or wear ankle weights as your perform the exercise. You can also do a side jackknife to really work the oblique muscles and obliterate those love handles.

Lie on your right side with your hips, knees and feet stacked and your right arm supporting your weight, your right hand on the floor directly below your shoulder and your left hand touching your head, elbow pointing upwards. Bend at the waist and bring your legs up toward your torso. Squeeze your abs and slowly lower your legs. Repeat ten times, and switch sides.