Who loves crunches? Not me that’s for sure. I found a great
list on Health.com of 24 different ab exercises to help tone, tighten and shrink that waist
(do I sound like an infomercial?).
Courtesy of the sixpackfactory.com. Thankyou. |
I spent alot of time researching this, you can thank me later. And in the interest of fairness...
Grumbles about how hard it is to find a non sexual picture of a womans abs where she's not holding a tape measure |
The usual sit-ups and crunches work the outer abdominals, but they do little for your core. You need to challenge your core by doing more complex movements that require the muscles to work to stabilise your body. This usually involves challenging your balance. These types of exercises are often found in pilates.
Health.com's ab workout can be found at http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20664616,00.html
This article has some very interesting exercises and I have
to say, if you’re doing them in the gym you may feel like a weirdo. If you’re
worried about this, don’t be, there are plenty of less conspicuous exercises in
there.
I wouldn’t do all these exercises daily. I would probably
pick 3 or 4 and do them twice a week as instructed. Try and pick ones that work
different areas of the core and abdominals. You’ll notice some say they work
the core, others say they work the obliques, or the lower abs. If you don’t
know what any of that means, just do the exercise, if you’re doing it right
you’ll feel where it’s targeting. If you’re struggling to choose the exercises,
at the end of the 24 slides, there is another workout called 4 Weeks to Flat Abs,
which is a preset workout. This title sucks. I do not condone it. If you’re
overweight, simply doing ab exercises is not going to give you a flat tummy. That
being said, the workout is good.
The key to ab exercises is control. Make sure you’re not
using your hips or pulling with your head or your arms. If you’re just randomly
swinging your arms or legs you’re not getting the full benefit, not to mention
you’re at risk of kneeing yourself in the head during the Donkey Kickback. Try
to focus on your abs. Even if you only move slightly, if its movement from your
abs you’re getting the benefit.
If you go all the way through the 24 exercises you’ll notice
that some are simply slight variations on a previous exercise, that’s cool too.
Any adjustment you make keeps the body guessing and will stop you getting
bored.
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