Trying to educate consumers and aspiring exercisers as to what are the best ab exercises is no easy task and it is an issue that is made all the more demanding by virtue of the fact that there is such a gross amount of misinformation out there. Many people assume (wrongly) that the best ab exercises are exercises which focus solely on the abdomen region and so the likes of sit ups and ab crunches are favoured over other exercises. Needless to say, the exerciser who actually implements these exercises in their exercise and fitness regime will quickly discover that they are on a hiding to nothing.

We gain fat whenever the number of calories we ingest on a daily basis exceeds the number of calories our body actually needs at a given time. The excess calories are stored around the body as fat deposits and whilst a small amount of fat in and around the body is perfectly ok, when it is in excess, this is when it manifests itself as flab.

Without a shadow of doubt, one of the best ab exercises around is swimming. Swimming is an extremely effective aerobic exercise which means that in addition to the various muscle groups within the body being exercised and challenged in a safe, injury free environment it also means that the body’s metabolism is significantly accelerated.

The best ab exercises will be any form of exercises which increase the body’s metabolism and for those of us who do not have the advantage of a degree in nutrition, biology or personal fitness then a quick definition is in order: metabolism refers to the rate at which a body converts calories into energy. At the risk of grossly oversimplifying the process, the faster your metabolism then the more calories you will burn in any given period of time.

Please note that weight lifting and other exercises which are specifically designed and intended to help sculpt muscle tone and mass also have a crucial role to play in the process and this is because the body will require far more energy to sustain muscle tissue as opposed to fat tissue. Therefore, the higher the muscle content on your body then the higher your metabolism will be. I would like to issue one final caveat to the issue of what are the best ab exercises and that is this: make sure you opt for an exercise you will enjoy, and more importantly, where you are at a reduced level of risk of sustaining an injury during the course of it.