Lower Back – These muscles are often neglected, but they are an essential part of a strong, stable core. Weakness in the lower back can lead to a number of nagging body pains.

Examples of exercises that work the Lower Back: ,

A good ab workout should…

3. Work your muscles to exhaustion.

This is where most people go wrong with ab exercises. Just like any other workout, if it doesn’t feel very hard, it’s probably not working. Choose core exercises that make your muscles burn and leave you sore the next day. To increase the difficulty, do the exercise while holding a weight such as a medicine ball or dumbbell.

It may also be helpful to do each set “to failure” rather than a designated time or number of reps. For example, instead of doing 10 , do as many as you can while maintaining good form. Instead of holding a for 30 seconds, hold it as long as you possibly can! Your body will shake, your muscles will burn, and sweat may drip off your nose onto the mat, but your body will thank you later.

Use the three guidelines to create your own killer ab circuit. Here’s one of my favorites:

Repeat the circuit 3 times