The best ab workout does not exist. If you've been shopping around for any amount of time, you might already have hit on this idea. At first, it might have been a little scary. What if there's no best ab workout? What will I do? But then, as you let the idea sink in, perhaps you realized that this is rather a freeing truth. The best ab workout does not exist, plain and simple. It's up to you to find the best ab workout for you, then. This means you do not have to match up to bodybuilders, if you're not a bodybuilder. In other words, you can work your abs in the way that seems most suitable to the type of life you're trying to lead.
This brings us to a larger, more fundamental question, however. What type of life am I trying to lead? In order to define
the best ab workouts for your needs, you'd better hope the answer to this question is, A healthy one. The pursuit of great abs, whether trim and toned, or bulging and sculpted, absolutely requires your commitment to healthy, active living. Anything short of this will be ineffective and frustrating in the long run. So decide this day which type of life you'll lead, and then get busy doing it.
If you're going to start bodybuilding, you've got some reading to do, some major health decisions to make, and a lot to think about when it comes to aesthetics, cultural pressure, masculinity or femininity questions, and the like. When you've sorted through all this, you will likely already have the material you need to get busy stripping away fat, building muscle, sculpting it, and maintaining it. The best ab workout for this type of pursuit is going to take place in a gym, though home work is not out of the question either. As you progress from simple bodyweight exercises to more complex weight bearing exercises, you'll see a difference, to be sure. And then you can decide if you want to be an abs person, or a quads person, or a lats person, or whatever.
If you're going to start simpler by embarking on a fitter, healthier lifestyle, you've still got some reading to do, some major health decisions to make, and a lot to think about with regard to pressure, image, and the like. We advocate balance and patience. Over time, these habits will win out, and you will see a difference. Focus on functional activities that require your entire body. If you want to focus on your abs in addition to activities like basketball, hiking, biking, running, swimming, etc., then do so, but again, there will be no best method here. Be sensible and safe and you'll be fine.
Far from being bad news, the lack of a top notch ab workout frees us to find the ab workout most suited to our goals and desires. Research sensibly and you won't be disappointed.
