Looking for a good, quick ab exercise to add to my day.

I have been doing pretty good on my diet and 90 minutes of Bikram's yoga three or four times a week and I've lost 8 pounds in a month... I'm really noticing the difference in how I feel and in how my legs and arms look, but I can't spot a change in my belly pudge which is what I want to get off the most (like almost everyone else). I know fat comes off from where ever it wants and that I can't spot treat or whatever, but can someone suggest ten or so minutes of ab work I can do each day to help me along? Thanks.

Crunches are your best bet and take minutes to do, you can even do them while sitting on the couch.

Put your bum right at the edge of the couch and lift your legs up off the floor, crunch your legs into your stomach (this sounds simple but you will feel it burn)

Also you can work your stomach muscles by getting a yoga ball and mat there are hundred of exercises you can do while sitting in front of the telly.

The hardest one for me is to lay on the mat face down, prop yourself up on your elbows and tip toes, and see how long you can stay like it. even my brother who works out every day and is a construction worker cannot do it for longer than 2 minutes.

i disagree. why not try other versions of strength training and or cardio? while yoga does work your core muscles spot training is not effective and does not work. my stomach is my "problem" area as well and i have noticed a great change from working my butt off doing various strength exercises and random cardio (soccer, squash etc). Also diet is a huge component. if you feed your body excess cals they have to go somewhere. There are two things to consider here... the muscles on your stomach and the fat covering the muscles. what i've described gets rid of the fat covering. britishvixen spoke mainly to the muscles piece....

Lay on your back and extend your legs.  Lift them off the floor (keeping them straight and together) and make the letters of the alphabet.  The lower your legs are, the harder it is.  I still can't make it past R without taking a break, lol.

Hehe, I like the alphabet idea.  I think I am going to do that! 

I'm with jt1226. This sounds like "I know I can't spot reduce, but I'm going to try to anyway." Working larger muscles is more efficient for fat loss, as are load-bearing activities (ie weights or things that involve you standing up, that is, bearing the load of your own body). I'd spend the 10-15 mins jumping rope instead of lying down, working a small muscle. You will develop hard abs, but they will be hidden beneath a layer of fat, most likely.

If you are going to go with an exercise, then the about.com exercise section says the bicycle is the best exercise.

With ALL the above exercises, MAKE SURE NOT TO ARCH YOUR BACK. All of them seem conducive to it -- especially the one where you are sitting up on the edge of the couch, the alphabet one too, and the bicycle. If you're sitting up, just sit up first with your feet on the floor, note the shape of your back, and keep it there as you do the exercise, or even curve back a little bit so that your pelvis tilts up.

When lying on the floor, use your core muscles (NOT your glutes) to press your waistline against the floor, and keep it there as you do whatever it is you do with your legs -- don't let your waist pop up or separate from the floor. If you can't keep it pressed against the floor, modify the exercise so that you can -- for example, with the alphabet, only lower your legs as far as you can maintain this position.

 THE PLANK! is my favorite abs excersize.  Put your forearms on the ground and extend your legs back like a puch up position.  keep your butt down so your back is straight then HOLD forever.  work your obliques by alternately leaning your hips down to the floor from the plank.  I usually sit in front of the TV and try to hold is for a whol commercial break etc....

For some reason this one REALLY makes me abs burn.  I love it!

these are great ideas! *bump*

An exercise I really like is....while doing a regular crunch you punch your arms 4 times to the top, alternating arms, and punch down doing the same.  This works not only your obliques but also the back.  The key is to do these slower...think resistance!  The big thing to remember is that any time you work out you need to hold your abs in as well as do kegals (I'm not a mom yet....but when I become one I will have this part down!)

If you have a exercise ball another good one is to lay on your back and hold the ball between your legs and extend your legs out (but off the floor), your arms need to be extended over your head (off the floor).  Then with legs straight and arms straight, raise both to meet in the middle and take the ball in your hands.  Lower arms and legs to pencil position (off the floor) then back to center swapping the ball's position.  This should be a slow motion and one pass is feet-hands-feet.

On the planks line....I can't do them for a full minute yet....but I do them as long as I can then I drop to my knees making sure my thighs are tight together and my butt isn't in the air.  We usually do them at the end of Turbo so I am pretty shot....I have done them prior and am usually able to last at least 45 sec.

Steer away from crunches.  They will strengthen your central outer abdominal muscles which will in turn pouch your stomach out more.  Find a good Pilates class or video.  Pilates exercises (like the plank mentioned above) are great for leaning out your entire body and will help make your core longer and leaner.  Good luck!

Squats using just your body weight or a bar with weight really works your core hard as well as toning your glutes/hamstrings-- it's a key move to truly develop your whole ab/core strength & you get bonus major muscle group work out---

also try leg flutters--

look up military basic training workouts-- there you will find pretty extensive major core moves that will truly kick your abs along with your butt!

Original Post by jillmenow:

Lay on your back and extend your legs.  Lift them off the floor (keeping them straight and together) and make the letters of the alphabet.  The lower your legs are, the harder it is.  I still can't make it past R without taking a break, lol.

Is there a link of pictures of these letters? I can't visualize them

...
A
B
C
D
etc

:) I think what you might be confused about is this: to "make" the letters of the alphabet, you want to pretend you're drawing them with your toes. Keep your legs together and stretched long, and pretend there's a big piece of paper at your toes and paint on your toes and by moving your legs (without bending your knees though) you want to write the alphabet. Does that make any more sense?

All the suggestions above are great.  I'm a new member so you don't have to take my advice but here goes nothing.  I have been strength training for about 6 years and the best way to get abs and your whole core in shape is to add weight training to your routines.  Yoga can easily incorporate light weights (2-5 pound dumbbells) and it will also intensify the burn! Which is always a great thing.  I also found jump rope a really good one to lengthen and strengthen your middle.  Hope this helps! Good luck

Thank you all for your great suggestions. I will try them out right away until I find the best ones for me!