Abdominal workouts do not have to be monotonous

I've been working out for a while, and my ab workouts have become boring. Do you have any suggestions for ab exercises besides the standard crunches and sit-ups? -- Gracy G.

Abdominal work is an important part of any exercise regimen. Not only does a tight, defined stomach have aesthetic and sex appeal, but a strong set of abs helps stabilize your torso and prevent injury.

Since the abdominal muscles can be trained more frequently than other muscle groups, boredom is common when exercising. Below are a few of my favorite ab exercises that I haven't seen many people doing in the gym.

Bench crunches -- Find a flat bench and lie down on it so your legs are hanging off the end. Your butt should be about half on the bench, half off. Place your hands on either side of your head. Look directly up at the ceiling, and keep your eyes fixed in that position throughout the movement.

Keep your lower back flat against the bench-do not arch. With your legs slightly bent, bring them up until your thighs make roughly a right angle with your torso. At the same time, crunch up (making sure not to pull on your neck or head with your arms, and keeping your eyes focused on the ceiling).

Exhale as you crunch up and inhale as you let yourself back down. On the eccentric portion of the movement (the lowering phase), do not let your feet touch the ground. Repeat the movement until you can't lift your legs anymore. At this point, bring your hands down underneath you, holding on to the sides of the bench.

Continue to lift your legs, but stop doing the crunches. This simple movement will really isolate the lower abdominals and also work the hip flexors. The combined leg lifts and crunches will hit both the upper and lower abdominals, and the leg lifts at the end will really emphasize the burn in the lowers, which are commonly the most difficult to bring out.

Swiss ball twists -- For this exercise, you will need a medicine ball and a Swiss ball. Sitting on the Swiss ball in front of a mirror, hold the medicine ball in front of you with your arms extended. Tighten your abs and start twisting side to side, concentrating on only moving your torso.

Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground. As you reach the point in each twist where you turn back the other way, focus on generating torque with your upper body. In other words, with each twist, pretend you're hitting a baseball or a tennis ball. This attempt to generate force with the oblique muscles will intensify the movement, as well as increase torso stability.

Concentrate on flexing your abs throughout the entire movement. It is also important not to use too heavy a weight for this exercise. Doing so will increase the likelihood of pulling a muscle. Use a weight that is light enough to hold easily in front of you for the entire exercise; in other words, if your shoulders are getting tired during the exercise, the weight is probably too heavy.

Cable crunches drop sets -- This exercise is slightly more common, but adding the aspect of drop setting to it will add an extra dimension to the burn. On the cable stack machine, attach the rope to one side. Set the pin to a weight you can handle relatively easily for fifteen reps. Kneel and hold the rope behind your head, with your elbows pointing down to the ground.

Lean forward so your upper body is parallel with the ground and your thighs are at a right angle with your torso. Crunch down slowly, bringing your elbows to your knees. With the same weight, do 20 reps. After the 20th, immediately drop the weight by 25 percent. Do another 20 reps. After you are finished with that weight, drop the weight another 25 percent, and do 20 more repetitions. This combination of three quick sets is short and intense, and perfect for spicing up your ab workout.

Ab work may be the most tedious of all the training aspects, but it does not have to be so boring. By utilizing a multitude of abdominal exercises, you can continually keep your workouts fresh and beneficial, and you will be able to avoid the exasperation of doing 15 minutes of boring ab exercises at the end of your workout.

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