5 Home Exercises To Flatten Your Stomach

A flat, tight stomach that shows off your well-defined abdominal muscles is a symbol of health and sexiness for both men and women. Here are 5 home exercises to flatten your stomach:

1. Bicycle crunches: Research has shown that the bicycle crunch is one of the very best ways to strengthen your stomach muscles. And, all you need is a soft surface - preferably an exercise mat - to get started. Here's how to do it:

a. Lay down on your exercise mat while looking at the ceiling or sky.

b. Keeping your shoulder blades off of the mat, lift up your body as if doing a basic crunch. (Be sure to keep your spine and neck straight - do not bend your neck!)

c. Lift your legs off of the mat, placing one leg at a 90-degree angle and the other at 45 degrees.

d. "Pedal" your imaginary bicycle. Be sure to touch your right elbow to left knee, then left elbow to right knee, as you pedal. Repeat 10-15 times.

2. Exercise ball sit-ups: The exercise ball is something that has come into more common use at gyms and home-based workout spaces in recent years. While doing exercise ball sit-ups does require that you have this important extra piece of equipment, this exercise is a lot of fun - and it takes the monotony out of doing traditional sit-ups. Here's how:

a. Buy an exercise ball that matches your size and stature.

b. Sit on the ball with both feet flat on the floor.

c. Roll back until you are facing upward with your back parallel to the floor.

d. Tighten your ab muscles in a way that pulls your body upward to a 45 degree angle, then let yourself back down to a flat position parallel with the floor.

e. Repeat until you get a burning feeling in your abs. Rest and then do two more sets.

3. Brisk walking: As mundane as it sounds, walking is an amazing exercise for showing off your abs. This is because walking burns the fat that would otherwise hide your rock-hard abs. You should try to get at least 20 minutes of walking in each day. If you own regular tennis shoes, they will do fine. However, you may want to buy some good cross-trainer or running shoes.

4. Isometrics: Isometrics consists of doing mainly of a limited range of muscle movements, focusing instead on tightening your muscles. You can even do these at work! Here is how to do isometric abs exercises:

a. Sit up straight in your chair.

b. While breathing in, suck in your stomach as much as possible.

c. Tense your stomach up, as if it were about to be punched.

d. Breathe out slowly while keeping your stomach tight. While breathing out, tighten your abs and rotate your pelvis upward.

e. Finish breathing out. Then relax and repeat.

5. Proper diet: Okay, "diet" is technically not an exercise, but you would do well to treat it like it is. Maintain a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet whenever possible. That means eating very few breads, cookies and cakes, while also reducing high-fat dairy and meat products. Focus on fish, veggies, and fruits.

With these 5 exercises, you will be on the road to a flatter tummy in no time.

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