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It is not easy to get a flat stomach. Diet alone can help one lose weight, but losing weight is only part of the solution towards the visible flattening of your stomach. In order to truly have flat abs that you can be proud of, you need to repeatedly do very specific exercises that target your stomach’s problem areas so that you can harden your muscles and tone your abs.

Bicycle Crunch Exercise

Billed as possibly the best exercise you can do for your midsection, the bicycle crunch requires no equipment and is based off the standard sit up. It ranked highest in an EMG test (Electromyography - a test for judging activity levels in muscles) for not only the abdomen, but the internal and external obliques as well.

To do a bicycle crunch, you first need to lay on your back with your head against the ground just as you do with the standard sit up. Put your hands behind your head. Then lift your legs in the air and start pedaling them as though you are riding a bicycle, with one leg stretched out while the knee of the other one is coming towards you.

As you pedal, use your abdomen to hold your head up and touch your elbow with the opposite knee. So when your right knee is coming towards you, you should try to touch your knee with your left elbow.

Captain’s Chair Exercise

This uses a specific type of exercise equipment that dangles you high in the air with your arms (from elbow to finger) flat against two strong and sturdy bars. As your arms dangle, lift your legs to your chest slowly (don’t swing) and then slowly lower them back down again. These constant, deliberate movements make the captain’s chair exercise the second best exercise for both your abdomen and your obliques on the EMG test.

Exercise Ball Sit Ups

While sit ups (known technically as abdominal crunches) are not the most effective workout, sit ups on an exercise ball are considerably more effective. The difference has to do with the balance you are keeping on the ball, which allows you to be working your obliques even though you are technically working out in an up and down motion.

You should place your rear end on the exercise ball and your feet should be fully planted on the floor. You should then lean back, put your hands behind your head and slowly roll with the exercise ball, remaining balanced, as your abdomen lifts your shoulders at approximately a 45 degree angle.

Getting a Flat Stomach

All three of these exercises work all three of your muscle groups (your rectus abdominus and your internal and external obliques) and they were the three most effective exercises according to the EMG test. The only way to truly get a flat stomach is if all three of those muscle groups are exercised effectively and efficiently, but if you perform any of those three exercises regularly, you will be able to get a flat stomach in no time.

Richard black helps people learn about losing belly fat
at his website on losing belly fat.