Learn Ab Exercises At A Glance

      You’ve seen ab exercises on web sites, in magazines, and in books.  However, unless your are a fitness professional, you don’t have the time or education to figure out how to apply the exercise to yourself.  These moving abdominal exercises help to take the guess workout out of your ab routine.  Instead of spending an hours reading about exercises and trying to figure them out; take a glance at these for instant abdominal education. 

Core Set

1. Standard Crunch – Think about a string attached to your belly button & running through your body pulling your stomach towards the floor.

 

 
2. Knee-up crunches – Focus on keeping the small of your back against the floor even throughout the range of motion. SLOOOW. :)

 

3. Hip lifts – Keep your legs straight and don’t let them rock back as your lift your hips. YES – I’m pushing down w/ my hands so I could hold this forever for the camera, but you should put your palms facing up! :) These are tough… don’t speed through them.

 

 
4. Oblique crunches – You should feel your ribs pressing pinching into your side. Try not to fold forward, but rather bend up trying to get your elbow to touch your feet.

 

 
5. Side Plank Dips – Keep your body in a straight line (one plane) and keep the movement smooth and slow. Your hips should just touch (but not rest on!) the ground.

 

 

 
6. Oblique Leg Extensions– This not only works your obliques, but should also engage your piriformis & hip flexor as well. Don’t let your leg touch the ground, and when the leg is fully extended your butt should be tightly squeezed rotating your leg out ever so slightly (this is the piriformis part).

 

 

7. Supermans – Each side counts as 1/2 of a rep. Your stomach muscles should be engaged when you lift up. Think about your arm and leg not only being pulled up, but also out. Hold it at the top for 2 seconds.

 

 

8. Bridged Leg Lifts – Each leg counts as 1/2 of a rep. Keep your butt down. You don’t need to lift your legs super high.

 

  

9. Pushups – Keep your head raised and looking forward, and your body in a perfect horizontal plane. Your elbows should bend back, not out to the side.

 

 

10, 11, 12. Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6, but do the other side.

13.  Heel Touches – Each heel touch counts as 1/2 of a rep. Keep your shoulder blades off the ground, remember to breathe, and make sure your feet are far enough away from you that you have to really reach to touch the heel.

 

 

14. Bicycle Crunches – Each leg counts as 1/2 of a rep. Each twist w/ leg extension should take you long enough to say “one one thousand” to yourself, no faster. Try to keep your shoulder blades off the ground.

 

 
15. Half Up Twists – Sit up, put your hands on top of your knees and then lean back until your arms are straight. Cross your arms in front of you (each hand holding an elbow) and start twisting! Each side counts as 1/2 of a rep.

 

 

(source)

 

   Nothing looks better in your clothes then some flat abs.  So take 10 -15 minutes out of your day, 3 days a week to tansform your body and posture. 

Adria Ali

(CES, PES, CPT, BS)