Wonderfull The 4 Best Exercises for Your Core

 a professor of exercise science at Auburn University, has found that dozens of moves (some familiar, some new) are better than crunches at working your core—without putting stress on your spine. How did she do it? She lab-tested ab exercises using an EMG machine to measure the strength of contractions. One of her favorites is the no-frills Pilates Hundred. This isometric exercise was 31 percent more effective than traditional crunches at targeting the external obliques (the V-shaped muscles running diagonally down your sides). The Hundreds are also uniquely effective at working the deeper ab muscles, Olson says, which support the spine. 

Starting position: Lie on your back with your knees bent at 90 degrees, shins parallel to the floor (arms at your sides). 

How to do it: Lift your head and shoulders. Inhale and pump your arms, palms facing down, 3 to 4 inches off the floor, 5 times. Exhale and pump your arms 5 more times. This is 1 breath cycle, or 1 rep. Repeat until you have completed 10 breath cycles.



Could this be the recipe for deflating the muffin top? A recent study compared three groups—those who ate a reduced-carbohydrate diet, those who combined the diet with strength training and those who combined the diet and strength-training with cardio workouts—and found that a three-tier approach was the most effective strategy to decrease abdominal fat. It's important to note that the exercises you choose and the effort you put into them really matter, says Marta Montenegro, a certified strength and conditioning coach who teaches exercise physiology at Florida International University. Instead of ho-hum treadmill-trotting and sit-ups, she recommends high-intensity workouts, which have been shown to be more effective at reducing the belly fat you can pinch with your hand, as well as the visceral fat that pads internal organs (which has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes). 
Montenegro put together this hard-core high-intensity workout based on the latest research, her work with clients and her own experience (that's her in the photos; those abs don't lie).