Work it. Simply slapping through a series of crunches is not very effective. Slow things down. Hold at the top of each movement. Don't pull on your head or neck with your hands. Lift up and curl forward until your shoulder blades clear the floor. Take the time to truly feel your muscles working. If you can do more than 15 repetitions at a pop, you're either not doing them correctly or the exercise is too easy. Strive for impeccable technique and experiment until you find a combination of exercises that offers a properly intense workout.

Enough is enough. Work your abs two to four days a week, giving them at least a day's rest between workouts. Do 3 to 10 sets per workout, 8 to 15 repetitions per set. Doing more than that probably won't give you better results.

Spot training, yes. Spot reducing, no. Your abs respond to training just like any other muscle; work them properly and consistently and you'll be rewarded with a middle that's firmer and tighter. However, don't expect to melt away tummy fat by doing hundreds of crunches or by spending an hour a day with the latest ab gizmo. You simply can't spot reduce this or any other area of your body. The only way to reduce the body fat around your middle is by combining a sensible diet with fat-burning aerobic exercise -- and even then there's no guarantee you'll lose exactly what you want to lose.

Keep it real. The appearance of your middle muscles has a lot to do with heredity. You can do everything right but still not have the flat, sculpted tummy of your dreams. Does that mean you shouldn't exercise your abs? Of course not! Just have realistic expectations about what you can and can't achieve.