If you feel ridiculous using your Ab Rocker, and you just can’t bring yourself to do another crunch, there are several exercises that you can perform.  These 3 exercises are among the best stomach exercises you can do to obtain an attractive, firm midsection, both upper and lower, without curving your back.

Doing stomach exercises where your back is straight is not only going to work your abs harder but will protect your back from unnecessary stress and potential injury.

To get a little extra fat off of you and really get your abs working, you can do these exercises in a circuit. I like to do this workout after a hard interval training session to keep my metabolism high and keep the fat burning that little bit longer.

The ab wheel rollout is the first stomach exercise to perform You can substitute a barbell with a 5 kilo round weight on each side if you can’t find an actual ab wheel to use at home or at your gym. Start from a kneeling position with your body upright and your shoulders above your hands placed on the wheel or barbell. Slowly let your whole body fall downwards with your back straight as you roll the wheel or barbell forward. Go as far as you can making sure your back does not bow and hold for a couple of seconds. To complete the exercise, return to start. 10 reps is a good goal to shoot for.

Stability ball jack-knives will be your next exercise that you will perform directly after finishing the ab wheel rollout. You will find this to be one of the best stomach exercises that can be performed in a number of ways, which you will feel more confident about as you get more accustomed to this effective exercise. As a novice, you will begin by resting your elbows in a plank type stance, on an exercise bench, while placing your shins atop a stability ball. Be sure to maintain control of the ball as you tighten your ab muscles and pull your knees up as close to your chest as possible, and then release them.

A press up added between the knee tucks is an advanced move that you can add as you strengthen your body and become more comfortable with this exercise. If you are already at an advanced stage of fitness and you require a greater challenge, you can add a modification by starting this exercise on one leg, as you bring the leg on the ball forward, you kick the other leg out, so that your knees are going to one side or the other rather than kicking straight out. ( both very challenging but look super cool!)

You should aim for 10 – 20 repetitions of the exercise that you decide on.

So as you drag yourself off the stability ball its time to finish with a mountain climber with rotation. You have likely performed the regular mountain climber exercise, where your knees come in to meet your chest, but with the mountain climber with rotation, you will be having your knees come up to meet the opposing elbow. You will find that the oblique muscles of the mid section will get a better workout by adding this rotation in. In order to get the maximum benefit, you will want to contract your abs and keep them braced and retain a flat hip.

10 reps on each side for this exercise at a minimum.

In my opinion these are 3 of the best stomach exercises that not only give great results but burn fat and give you a strong healthy back. Time to say goodbye to crunches!!