A set of ab muscles that often is neglected in stomach workout routines are the transverse ab muscles. These core abdominal muscles are situated under the rectus abdominals.  Most of exercises for the stomach muscles target the rectus abdominal muscles and the vertical stomach muscles, ignoring the transverse ab muscles almost completely.

Even stomach crunches, the core exercise of many abdominal training programs,  do nothing for the transverse stomach muscles. These core ab muscles are actually some of the more significant ones you should target. These ab muscles connect to both the muscles of the lower back and the rectus abdominal stomach muscles to form a girdle for your entire abdominal region.

Any ab workout routine aimed at flattening your stomach should consist of specific stomach exercises for the transverse ab muscles. Try the following exercises for the abs and set aside some time to exercise your stomach muscles and begin working to get the toned stomach you want.

Pelvic Tilt

The pelvic tilt is executed by lying down on your back on a flat surface such as the floor or on a exercise bench. If you do this on the floor use an aerobic mat to cushion your upper body.

  1. Bend your knees 90 degrees so that your feet are flat on the floor.
  2. Raise your pelvis from the floor.
  3. Hold your pelvis from the floor for about two seconds,  a count of two Mississippi or longer will be good.
  4. Then lower your pelvis down to the exercise mat or padded exercise bench and just touch it for a quick second.
  5. Continue to do these movements again until you finish a set of 10 to 15 repetitions.
  6. Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions and rest about 30 to 45 seconds between each set.

Make sure to control your movements and maintain a slight tension on your stomach muscles throughout the exercise and do not use momentum to enable you to do this ab exercise.  Also, keep your torso on the floor while you perform this stomach exercise.

Breathing Crunch

The breathing stomach crunch ab exercise is a fairly easy exercise that you can execute just about anywhere.  It is not that easy to complete at first.  However, once you understand how to perform it,  you can perform this ab exercise whenever and wherever you like. 

The one reason this abdominal exercise may be awkward to do is that you will use your stomach muscles in ways that you are not used to.  I do it when I am walking on a treadmill, resting between exercise sets or just running around doing normal everyday activities.

Here is what you have to do to perform it:

  1. Sit upright in a chair or stand naturally and try to relax your torso.
  2. Exhale and think of pulling your belly button in to your spine and squeeze your abs muscles.  
  3. Keep the tension for about 10 seconds before relaxing your stomach muscles.
  4. Then repeat these actions until you can do a set of 10 to 15 reps.
  5. Also, make sure you breathe.   Many individuals are inclined to hold their breath at the beginning which will make performing this exercise much harder and not as effective.

If you are able to keep this tension for up to 10 seconds, try holding the tension for a while longer.  The goal is to hold this tension on your ab muscles until you can not feel it anymore and you can perform an entire set of 10 to 15 reps without trouble.

Also, you ought to be able to talk normally when you do this exercise. So, this is why you can complete this exercise anyplace you like.  It may take a bit to get the feel of it but when you do, you can use it whenever and wherever you want to help tone your abdominals.

Scissor Kicks

Here is one more ab exercise that you perform while lying on an exercise mat on the floor or from an exercise bench.

  1. Lay down on the fitness mat with your back flat and your legs straight out in front of you.
  2. Next, place your hands palms down under your glutes to help keep your back against the floor.
  3. Raise both feet about 10 inches from the floor and aim your toes away from you.
  4. Lower one foot close to the floor without touching it, and lift up the other foot higher.
  5. Now switch the position of your feet – bring up the bottom leg and bring down the upper leg.
  6. Go over these steps again for a set of 10-15 repetitions for each leg.

There are two different ways to perform this exercise:

  • Fast – switch your legs fast until you complete the exercise set.
  • Slow (recommended) – hold each leg position for 2 seconds and keep constant tension on your abdominal muscles.

There are loads of other stomach muscle exercises targeting the transverse abs, but these 3 exercises ought to be sufficient to get you started. Abdominal exercises like these are essential to any tummy flattening workout routine.  The good thing is that you can perform them without any fancy exercise equipment and in the privacy of your own home.

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