When deciding to lose weight or tone up, often a person's abs can be one of the hardest things to keep nice and looking good! This is because often everything we eat and digest into fat will settle around the stomach area causing which is more affectionately known as a 'muffin top'. This can be extremely embarrassing yet comedy value for others depending on how they feel about their appearance and how high their self esteem is.

Abdominal workouts can be one of the most difficult workouts to do as some are effective and others are not, this is why research has been conducted into this area to find out which is the most time effective and muscle effective.

The workout that has come out on top in this research for improving abs is the bicycle crunch exercise. This is a relatively strenuous exercise as it works your abs to the maximum yet the results have been the best out of all.

The name of this exercise is rather self explanatory as you are required to lie flat on your back and bring your legs up in a bicycle motion slowly whilst your hands are behind your head. When you bring your knees up to your stomach touch your elbow and knee then repeat with the other leg.

It is advised thirty minutes of this exercise each day should begin to show effects within two weeks. Perfect for the busy worker or the exercise hater!

The workout that came second in the research of abdominal workouts is the captains chair exercise. To successfully execute this workout you'll need a vertical knee raise machine, this are relatively cheap to pick up and are worth every penny when you see fantastic abs looking back at you in the mirror!

To do this workout, hold onto the handlebars of the machine and let your legs dangle, then slowly begin to lift your knees into your chest, this is to be repeated and is advised that you should do thirty to forty minutes of this exercise a day and you should get to see results in around a fortnight.

Also, not only does this exercise workout your abs, it also works out your thighs and upper arms meaning you're essentially doing and three in one!

Out of the research conducted this workout is the third favorite, the crunch on an exercise ball workout. You will need an exercise ball for this workout, but you could easily and cheaply pick these up from sports shops. Again, this workout is relatively self explanatory.

To execute this workout you must sit on the ball with your feet on the floor and then crunch your body but for no more than at a 45 degree angle for maximum effect. This activity should be done around four or five times a week as results are often quickly noticeable and doing it too often could do damage.

Abdominal workouts are one of the most popular forms of exercise due to the need for the perfect abs and these workouts are most commonly done during the summer or just before due to the want for the perfect beach body.

This guide should help you decide which abdominal workout would be best for you.