You’ve probably tried a lot of areas focusing on your abs in an attempt to get them in shape. Unfortunately, exercise on its own won’t make you get ripped abs in the way you want. You’re also going to need to eat right and should change your diet in coordination with a workout designed specifically for your goals.

This is not to say exercise isn’t important. In fact, it will be the focus of this article. When you pair the tips here with the right diet, however, your results will be better than ever. In the meantime, work on increasing the amounts of various exercises that you do – unless, of course, your doctor advices against it.

Sometimes, the exercises you’re doing now just aren’t effective enough. The double crunch is a great, more intense, version of the regular crunch. Keeping your elbows back and your knees at a right angle, raise your shoulders as you pull in your knees while you contract your abs for a great workout.

An exercise you might not have heard of is the side bridge. Starting from your right side, push yourself up with your right arm until it is fully extended. Then, extend your left arm up into the air on the other side as well. Hold this position as long as you can. It also works very well on your love handles.

Also, try other variations on familiar exercises, like the plank superman, which comes from a basic plank exercise. Start in the position you already know, but lift an opposing arm and leg. Hold the position for a couple of seconds and then switch to the other side, doing as many of these as you can.

The first few times you use this exercise, you should aim for twenty repetitions, but keep adding more over time. This holds true for any exercise you want to perform. Part of the reason you might not have been succeeding is that your exercises just weren’t working you out at the level you needed.