The flat belly. Is it even attainable? The answer is YES! While a good diet is the biggest factor, you need to be doing the right ab exercises. (You might have abs under all that squishy stuff, but no one will EVER see them if you keep eating cupcakes and drinking margaritas.)
Most of us will never have abs that look like this. I think I would scare my husband if I did.
So after you've mastered your diet (yeah, right!), you have got to do the right kind of ab exercises to get a flat belly. Most women are rely on crunches to get it. I want to make one thing clear: Crunching is not the most effective abs workout. Crunches work only the muscles on the front and sides of your abdomen. It's important to target all the muscles of the core to get more defined abs—including lower back, hips, and upper thighs. Core exercises like the plank help train muscles to stabilize the spine and pelvis so you can avoid back pain and improve posture. They also burn more calories than crunches because they work more muscles.
We do a LOT of plank based exercises at bootcamp. Not much of just holding a plank, but a lot of exercises that require you to start or stay in a plank while completing the circuit. I love this illustration because it shows all the muscles you are working while in plank. Get to burning, calories!
I love this comparision. If only you could see yourself in plank. No really, it's not pretty.
This is a plank modification if you are not to the point where you can hold your body up. Be sure to keep your body low (opposite of what Miss Elephant is doing) and think about squeezing your belly button into your spine. And KEEP BREATHING.
Happy Planking!
-marietta
No comments:
Post a Comment