We all want the best fit and firm stomach that we can get. But to do that you often need to take a lot of time out your day, drive out to the gym, find a mat or an abs machine, stand in line, and afterward drive all the way back.

Often, you don't have the time or the inclination for all this hassle. The good thing is that you don't have to do all that. There are plenty of excellent belly exercises you can do at home to get a strong, firm, stomach. In this article, I'll lay out a few of them.

Home Belly Exercises - Stomach workouts in your PJs

1. The Plank - This is an ultimate static exercise and one which can really get your stomach hard. You do the plank by positioning yourself similarly to a pushup only with your forearms on the floor instead of your palms. You hold this position while maintaining a straight back for 30 seconds or more. Trust me, you will feel your abs straining like crazy.

2. Leg raises - Lie on the floor in your living room, place both hands at the sides of your body, and raise both legs straight in the air above you at a 90 degree angle. The movement is to raise your legs straight up from the pelvis using your abs. You can easily listen to the news or the radio while doing this. It's an excellent lower belly exercise for your home.

3. Scissors - Lie on the floor resting on your lower back, buttocks and forearms. Raise your upper torso and head from the floor, raise both legs straight about 5 inches (10 centimeters) off the floor and a little apart. The movement is to crisscross your legs in a scissor like movement while keeping your legs off the floor with your stomach muscles. If you can last a minute doing this then you're in pretty good shape.

4. Another home stomach exercise you can do is the waist crunch. This is great for those stubborn love handles. You lie on the floor as if to do a regular situp. Lower both knees to one side until the lower of the two touches the floor, while maintaining your upper body straight. Now, do the same movement as the crunch, only instead of working your central abs, the twist in your lower body is making you target your waistline. Do as many reps as you can and then switch sides.

5. Standing leg crunches - This is a little exercise that I came up with. You stand straight and then bend one leg and bring that knee as close to your chest as you can in one swift movement. Do this one leg at a time and you will feel it in your abs.

Use these 5 home belly exercises, make sure to eat right, and you should feel a definite improvement in your abs.