Athletes of all sports from baseball to football to hockey base their physical training on improving the strength of their core using compound movements. That's great for pro athletes, but what about guys who just want to get ripped abs?

First off, let's acknowledge a hard truth: Not all six-packs are created equal. Some guys need to work their belly to exhaustion before they can carve out abs, while other dudes seem to get theirs to pop without a single situp.

Regardless of where you fit on the fitness spectrum, effectively training the core comes down to the three planes of motion: frontal, sagittal, and transverse. Doing abs exercises in a circuit style keeps the intensity high and will likely lead to more fat loss.

According to a study done by the American Council on Exercise, there are three abdominal workouts that are most effective in achieving a strong core and washboard stomach muscles.

Bicycle crunches use all of the abdominal muscles, including the rectus abdominis the front ab muscles that make up the visible six-pack.

The captain's chair stimulates both the abdominals and the obliques that line the sides of your abs.

Finally, crunches done on a medicine or balance ball will engage the rectus abdominis and, due to the balance they require, will engages smaller ab muscles, giving a well-rounded burn.

Six-pack abs are impressive to look at, and often conjure up images of hours spent in the gym however, obtaining a strong core is surprisingly easy, if you know how.

Visible abs are actually made in the kitchen a diet leading to a low body fat percentage is the most important things but there are various workouts that will successfully harden and transform your abdominals.