In order to reach a maximum abdominal development, it’s enough to train them only once or twice a week, but these workouts have to be really hard. Don’t do exercises for all abs areas on the same day: for example, train your rectus abdominis on Monday and your intercostals and serratus on Thursday. Your abs muscles need this time to recover after the hard workouts. Here are some sets of exercises for abdominals, which every bodybuilder should know and do regularly. Make sure, that you do all the listed exercises to failure.

Upper Abs Exercise

Lie flat on the floor, with your hands behind your neck, raise your head, shoulders and back off the floor. And here’s a small secret: try two breathing techniques to provide different types of muscle contraction. When crunching your abs, inhale each time on one training day. Another day do the same, but exhaling. You need to do two sets each time. You can also do this exercise on an incline bench, on the Swiss ball or on a Roman Chair to provide your muscles with more resistance.

Lower Abs Exercise

Lie flat on the floor, lay your arms along your sides. Pressing the arms against the floor, lift your lower body (including hips) to a 45-angle degree. When crunching your abs, inhale. This exercise can also be done on the Leg Lift Stand or lying on a bench.

Serratus and Intercostals Exercise

Lie on the floor, bend your knees and stay so all the time, your heels should be against your butt and your feet should be slightly off the floor. Rotate your knees so that they reach the floor on each side alternately. Do three sets.

Obliques Exercise

Obliques are the muscles below your belt line. They can be trained with the following exercises. Place a broom handle on your shoulders behind your head with your hands holding the outer ends from the back side (it looks like a crucifix). Twist the upper body, but keep the hips fixed to stretch and pull your obliques. Do three sets.