1. Can You Exercise the Upper and Lower Abs Separately?
2. Can I Lose Belly Fat by Doing Lots of Crunches?
3. What Is the Best Abdominal Exercise?
4. Does the Order of Ab Exercises Matter?
5. Can I Use Weights When Exercising the Abs?
6. How High Should I Lift Up During a Basic Crunch?
7. How Often Should I Do Abdominal Exercises?
8. What's the Best Pilates Exercise for the Abdominals?
9. How Does the Captain's Chair Exercise Work the Abdominals?
10. Do Standing Side Bends Exercise My Abdominals?

Do you know the best way to work your abs? If you are tired of doing dozens of crunches and want a better way it helps if you understand where your abs are and how they work.

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Check out the Abdominal Muscles Anatomy Overview, and then pick several new Abdominal Strengthening Exercises you may not have tried.

Index: Abdominal Exercises - Muscle Anatomy and Function

1. Abdominal Muscles - Anatomy and Kinesiological Overview
2. The Rectus Abdominis Muscle
3. The External Oblique Muscles
4. The Internal Oblique Muscles
5. The Transversus Abdominis Muscle
6. The Hip Flexors
7. Design an Effective Abdominal Exercise Routine
8. Great Ab Exercises To Try

Our watch these videos for some new ideas:

Strengthen your Abs and Core Muscles with Free Weights

Build Core and Ab Strength with Crunches

Mouth guards are essential during sports that have a risk of injury to the mouth. The most effective guard should fit well, be comfortable, stay in place, be durable, easy to clean and should not restrict speaking and breathing.

Learn more about mouthguards and how they can save teeth and prevent mouth and jaw injuries.

If you want an inexpensive and efficient workout, the jump rope might be the ultimate "must have" piece of fitness equipment. When done properly, jumping rope can improve cardiovascular fitness, improve balance and agility, increase muscular strength and endurance, and burn calories.

Workouts Tips - Ways to Use a Jump Rope

• Rope Jumping For Fitness
• Interval Training Workouts
• Circuit Training Routines
• Cross Training Routines

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Are there safe and unsafe exercises? In the past the fitness industry had long lists of "banned" exercises that fitness instructors were told no one should ever do. Today we're learning more about exercise safety and we don't talk about good and bad exercises, only exercises with a higher degree of risk of injury to an individual.

Educated fitness instructors and personal trainers know that what is safe for one athlete may cause an injury in another. They also know that many of the high risk exercises simply require a high level of fitness or skill to be done safely.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking of good and bad exercises, but do learn to determine what is right for you.

• How to Recognize Unsafe or Dangerous Exercises

Most of my readers report that they enjoy adventure travel and active vacations that involve lots of activity all over the world. If you are one of the many who train at low altitude and plan to exercise at high altitude, you need to plan ahead. Check out these tips and precautions for high-altitude exercise.

Other High Altitude Vacation Resources:

• Altitude Training and Athletic Performance (Book Review)
• Exercising in Extreme Weather Conditions
• How to Unclog (Pop) Ears In Altitudes
• About Adventure Travel

To be a great golfer, you need to learn and practice proper technique, but two basic often overlooked simple conditioning exercises can improve your golf game and reduce your risk of injury. These conditioning exercises focus on core strength and flexibility.

• How to Build Core Strength
• How to Build Stronger Abs
• The Best Stretches for Golfers
• Conditioning Tips for Golfers

Learn How To Hit Longer, Straighter Drives

How To Prevent Golf Injuries
Common Golf Injuries
The most common golf injuries occur in the lower back, elbows, shoulders, hands and wrists and are generally defined as either cumulative (overuse) or acute (traumatic) injuries. Proper conditioning and swing mechanics can often prevent golf pain and injury

Golf.about.com offers a great "head-to-toe" and the latest equipment reviews.

While we may lose muscle mass with age, research is showing us how we can slow that loss with weight training. Many people assume that with age comes an automatic decline in physical fitness, but more seniors are showing us that this doesn’t have to be the case. It is becoming common to find athletes well into their sixties and research supports the idea that many of the so-called 'age-related' declines in fitness in the average person may be due to lack of use rather than exclusively due to the physiology of aging.

If you don’t exercise and want to start it's helpful to begin by building strength before starting aerobic exercise. Many older exercisers can walk faster and with less risk of falling after doing strength training exercises for several weeks. This is most likely due to stronger legs muscles and better reflexes.

Learn More:

Many Seniors Lose Fitness Due to Lack of Training, Not Just Aging
Personal Training for Seniors
Older Athletes and Performance
Exercise and Osteoarthritis
Older Athletes May Need Custom Exercise Programs
Older Couch Potatoes Gain Most from Exercise

A detailed exercise program designed specifically for you can improve your fitness quickly while keeping you safe and injury-free.

One of the things that sports medicine physicians and personal trainers do is develop exercise ‘prescriptions’ or exercise guidelines for their patients and clients. While almost anyone can safely exercise, some people may benefit from meeting with a professional trainer for an exercise consultation. The top two reasons to get exercise prescriptions include safety and efficiency.

Two measurements give your trainer a good baseline measure of your starting point. Those include:

• Fitness Assessment and Evaluation
• Body Composition Measurement

But the heart of the prescription is a detailed plan that takes into consideration your current health status and your goals. To understand how an exercise program is designed, you need to first understand the principles of sports conditioning. It's also helpful to make the program safe, enjoyable and effective.

Review these training tips for athletes.

Does therapeutic sports massage improve performance or recovery?

Most athletes are on the lookout for seek new, proven ways to train more effectively, improve their performance, prevent injury, and recovery quickly. With heavy training schedules and little time for rest, athletes are among the biggest users of massage therapy services. And the growing number of massage therapists that offer sports and other therapeutic massage therapies have allowed more and more recreational athletes to receive and enjoy sports massage.

What It Is and How It Works - Sports Massage Basics

Massage Types and Techniques
Have you thought about trying massage but don't know which type to choose? Learn more about the most common types of massage in this video: