Doing sit ups and crunches alone will not turn your belly into a six pack. Only because these ab exercises don't focus entirely on your abs and will work the hip flexors once your abs are exhausted.

Working the hip flexors too much can actually make your belly look fatter so you'll want to learn some proper exercises to strengthen and shape your abs. Doing constant sit ups and crunches will only result in a sore neck!

Proper crunches WILL help shape your abs but you have to do them right. Keep your eyes up focusing on the ceiling and only go one-third of the way up. Contract your abs while breathing out and repeat until you can't do anymore.

Some of the best ways to shape your abs will require you to use weights, and you don't even need to focus specifically on the ab region. Weight lifting like squats and dead lifts may be the two best ways you can really begin to shape your abs. When you are doing these exercises, your abs will naturally flex and work hard to stabilize your body. Since you are using weight resistance, your abs will most certainly get more ripped than by doing your normal sit-ups or crunches.

The food that you eat is the one determinant that you will have to control if you want nice abs. If your diet is no good, it doesn't matter how hard you work in the gym, you'll never develop or shape your abs the way you want to. Dieting is the most important aspect when working to develop your abs.

Once you begin to get in the habit of eating healthy and working out on a consistent basis, including doing dead lifts and squats, your abs will begin to form even without dong ab specific exercises. Of course finding a few ab exercises to include in your workout will only speed up the process. Just remember that sit-ups and crunches are not the answer. Dieting and using squats and dead lifts in your workout routine are!