If you do daily crunches and sit ups but aren't getting the ripped abs you want, then you may need to tweak your workout and diet. Genetics and lifestyle play a big part in determining your physique, and many people are just predisposed to carrying more belly fat. However, targeting that soft tummy with the right exercises will help you feel stronger while getting a slimmer waist. In this article, we'll talk about some six pack abs exercises that really deliver results.

Standing side bends is another of the many six pack abs exercises that also targets those hard to work oblique muscles. Stand up straight and suck in your stomach. Keeping your legs straight and your arms at your sides, lean from left to right. Make sure you don't rotate at the hips. Instead, keep your upper body in a forward-facing position and simply tilt your body left and right. This easy ab exercise primarily works the oblique muscles, but it also engages the entire abdominal wall and some of the lower back muscles. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps. This is a great exercise to do at the end of the day. You'll feel the stress just drain out of your body as your back muscles relax.

To add a little more oomph to your abdominal exercises, try the double crunch, which combines the crunch and another exercise called the knee raise. This exercise places more emphasis on the lower abdominal region. Lie flat on your back against the floor with your legs in the air and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle so that your calves are parallel with the floor. Take a deep breath, suck in your stomach, keep your eyes focused on the ceiling, and raise your upper body off the ground until it is at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Make sure not to pull your neck. Hold the contraction for 2 to 3 seconds and slowly return to the starting position.

If you are looking to actually increase the size of your ab muscles, then weighted six pack exercises are your best bet. Since muscle tissue will only grow significantly when an overloading weight is placed upon it, and you must treat your ab muscles like you would any other muscle in the body. You wouldn't get as developed doing push-up after push-up as you would with heavy bench pressing, so the same principle applies here. Terrific options include decline weighted sit-ups, weighted abdominal twists (moving from side to side), and hanging leg raises with weights strapped to your ankles. If you are at home or work, hold books or bottles of water as you perform your exercises. You'll be amazed at how something as small as a two-pound weight will help you to get defined six pack abs much more quickly.

Many people have well developed abs that hide beneath a layer of fat. This is where diet and cardio exercise come into play. To show off those toned muscles, you have to lose fat. Opt for a diet that is high in protein and low is sugar and carbohydrates. A healthy diet combined with six pack abs exercises will get you the results you want.