I have found ball crunches to be very effective for my abdominals, but I only know the normal crunch variation. Does anyone know some variations targeting the obliques or lower abs maybe?
If you plan on going into body building as a profession leave your obliques alone. Work only your stratus, and intercostals. Obliques will you a muscular love handle which makes your waste wide and judges will mark off for it. As for your lower abs do leg movements. In other words, you work your upper abs by moving the upper portion of your body, and keeping your lower area stationary. So work your lower abs (which usually is harder and should be done more often) keep your upper body stationary while moving your lower body. Leg lifts, knees raises and exercise like this will cut in your lower abs and even out your washboard. Try these techniques and let me know how it goes.