Some common exercises often referred to as the best abdominal exercises like sits ups, crunches, leg raises, etc involve very little duration, a set of 10 sit ups will take less than a minute to complete. It means these exercises wont burn off many calories, its been proven many times that energy must be burned in order to lose permanent weight. Also they all tend to be anaerobic in nature. When exercising the abdominal muscles anaerobic exercise results in the use of carbs for energy and not fat.

It now appears that the most common and popular abdominal exercises may NOT actually be the best exercise for losing fat around the abdominal muscles. None of these can "spot reduce" fat from around the stomach area or the love handles. Lets face it, we all know of people who have tried doing tons of sit ups every night yet never look any different!

The main benefit from the abdominal exercise is the toning and firming of the stomach muscles which helps to tighten the posture that may give the appearance of a slimmer midsection. The waist can sometimes appear smaller because the muscles are slightly stronger which helps to hold the stomach in a lot more firmly.

We all potentially have those famous washboard abs that we would love to show off, they just happen to be hidden under a layer of excess fat. Really what people should want from the best abdominal exercise is a reduction of fat around the stomach to allow those washboards to show through. Burning fat should be the main purpose of the best abdominal exercise and the most effective activities for burning fat directly are aerobically based exercises like swimming, rowing or brisk walking. These exercises not only help burn fat directly from fat cells but also burn many more calories than doing 200 sit ups. If you want washboard abdominals then work with the body by controlling energy balance and selecting a healthier diet along with the best stomach exercise!