In order to get rock hard abs it is going to take a lot more than just crunches. There are three things that you need to take care of; diet, strength training, and cardiovascular exercise. In order to be able to show of your abs, and actually see muscles that you have worked so hard to define, you need to get rid of fat.

If you want to have rock hard abs, you are going to have to train yourself to think about your abs differently than you ever have before. Get used to the idea of working you entire core. Your core consists of 29 muscles surrounding your lower lumber spine. You will be doing exercise that not only hit the standard 6-pack ab area, but the actually 8-pack of abs that you actually have, as well as your oblique, and your lower back.

In order to have rock hard abs you should target your abs in this order; lower abs first, then obliques, and then your upper abs. We work your abs in this order because your lower abs are your weakest, and your obliques are the hardest to target. Your upper abs are your strongest and are therefore worked last because they will be used will targeting the other sections of your core.

I order to target your lower core do reverse crunches; lay on your back with your legs straight up in the air. Pull your hips up off the floor and lower back down slowly. Again shoot for 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps. For your obliques do side crunches, do 20-25 reps on each leg for a total of 3 sets. lie on your side and simultaneously lift your leg and raise your shoulders up off the ground. Make sure that your motions are controlled and you are not relying on stamina.

The best exercise for your core is crunches on the stability ball. Do this last and do it until exhaustion. You should shoot for at least three sets of 15-20 reps. Roll back until your lower back is resting on the ball. Use your legs to stabilize as you lean back. When your body is parallel to the floor stop reclining. Use this as your starting point. Raise your shoulders and perform a crunch. Keep your hands behind your head supporting your neck and crunch until you fell each set of abs engaged. This will work your entire core and you will feel it!

When you are finished with this workout your abs should be on fire! However it makes no sense to do all of that hard work on your abs and not worry about getting rid of fat. All you will have is a perfect set of rock hard abs hiding behind a nice layer of fat.

Ab and core work is considered a part of strength training and even though strength training will help you burn more fat naturally, you also need to have a proper diet and cardiovascular exercise to reduce the body fat that you have right now. Your diet should consist of 25% protein, 60% carbs, and no more than 15% fat. You should also do at least 30 minutes of cardio at least five times a week to burn that fat.

By keeping these rules, paired with your strength training exercises, you will turn your body into a fat melting machine! You can get a rock hard, totally ripped set of abs to be proud of. You just have to decide that you want it!