Acrobatics: Building Core Strength

hula hoop, the heavier the better, great workout, just spin like hell for 20mins each day and you'll soon have abs of steel

I found an awesome exercise for building up my lower abdomen

Muscle isolation.

Basically, relax everything, and contract only what you want to build up. Having a comfortable posture helps though.

Lay on your back, with your spine long and as flat to the ground as possible. relax completely into this position. then, lift your legs by contracting only your lower abdomen.

when you contract a muscle, breathe in. when you relax and return to the start position, breathe out. Legs can be bent or straight, the important thing is feeling comfortable. Slower the better.

anyway. that's what I'm currently doing. may not work for all posture types, but it's working for mine at the moment

did I mention Capoeira? Its a very good way to build up the muscles you will need for alot of Acro, without jumping straight into doing things that could cause injury. If you stick with it, it often builds into actually doing Acro style movements anyhow. Although the style is a bit different to gymnastics tho (circular momentum vs linear).

LTC, be careful with that exercise, its really easy to $%&* your lower back, if you start getting any pain stop straight away. It works great though if you don't overdo it.

The same movement but hanging from a bar works really well too

A variation on that exercise that works great on the abs is lay flat lift your legs (not with your abs) 20 degrees off the ground, hold with your abs for a minute or two, drop your legs and rest for 30 seconds, then raise your legs 15 degrees, etc.

Do this in 5 degree increments. Doing this on a regular basis will definitely strengthen your abs.

I've been using a load of the exercises in this book for the last few months: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Guide-C...4029&sr=8-1

I've found it really really useful, highly recommended.