Most of us search for ways to tone up our abdominal area. However, a lot of us can't or don't want to do basic sit ups, for various reasons. Here are a few alternative exercises that are very effective in tightening the abdominal area.

Use your furniture. Simply sit up straight on an ottoman and hook your toes underneath a chair in your living room. Lie straight back across the ottoman. Then, slowly bring yourself back up to a sitting position. Do as many repetitions as you think you can. Lie on your bed . Lie back, place your arms to your sides, and lift your legs (keeping both legs together) in a pointing straight up position. Then slowly bring them down. When your legs are about 2-3 inches from the bed, hold them there for 1-2 minutes. Then lower the legs and relax. Do as many reps as you can. Note: If you have problems sleeping, it is not recommended to use your bed for activities other than sleep. See How to Fall Asleep for details.Do scissor cuts. Keeping your legs and arms in the same position on the bed, lift your legs and cross one over the other. Just work at your own pace and do what you feel you can. Multitask. While cleaning up the kitchen or doing chores, try to remember to tighten your stomach muscles and then let them relax.

This tip works great for your rear-end, as well. Add a little bending and stretching into your daily activities whenever you can.Climb stairs. This can be great for your stomach, as well as other parts of your body. If you'd like, you could buy or have someone make a step-master for you.Eat a high-fiber diet, with healthy and moderate amounts of food. This will help to keep your body in good condition, and make it receptive to workouts. A small amount of apple cider vinegar added to a cup of prune juice may be good to try. Exercise when you can. Use a bike or exercise bike regularly--it will help to tighten your abdominal area and improve your overall health.Stand up while doing the sit up motion. Be sure to keep your back straight and maintain your posture. Alternate your angle of attack to work different muscles, even going so far as to do the sit up backwards.

Stay faithful to whatever route you take.Any exercise is better than none at all.
Some of the exercises listed are easier on a person's back than the traditional sit-up.Having an exercise bike can help you to exercise even when the weather is not nice outside.Be sure to record your exercise activity. It's highly recommended that you use a calendar with large spaces to write in. Keep it hanging in the room where you have your exercise equipment or where you exercise. When recording exercise activities, use abbreviations, such as "EB" for exercise bike.Save your calendars. This way, you can look back, from year to year, to see how long that you stuck with it. Hopefully, you will be amazed with yourself and very pleased.
If sit-ups are too hard for you and you start to feel serious pain after doing sit-ups, do some crunches instead. (a crunch is not as effective as a sit-up though)

Don't be too hard on yourself. You'll enjoy exercising more if you don't drive yourself into the ground. Don't set unrealistic goals for yourself, such as trying to look like a certain celebrity or supermodel. Sit Ups are not the best exercise for persons who want to lose belly fat.Breathing procedures are always taken complacently by people as they do not see any direct and immediate impacts happening. It is not so, and deserves attention. Dress worn during the exercise should be light and should not hinder your activity. Short trousers and shoes can be useful for comfort levels but it is up to the person’s wish with his mode of exercising.