Abs, probably the most annoying part of my fitness routine.
See the problem is, once you get pretty strong abs, keeping those results
becomes harder and harder. The body becomes used to what was working before,
and after some time, progress starts to steadily decline.
Not Fair. Not Fair at all.
We’ve worked so hard for that
sore feeling that lets us know our tummies are tightening. Why is it going
away!
I like
my workouts to be quick and efficient and having to make my ab sessions longer
and longer began to drive me bonkers. Luckily, I discovered how to up the
intensity and cut back down the time. It’s all about making normal exercises harder
and adding resistance. Tools to help with this can be found in your gym. I have
a lot of workout equipment/dvds at home. However, these few things will single handedly
make me go to the gym so I can get my abs burning!
The Bosu
Ah,
rediscovering the bosu was the best thing ever. This little half fitness ball works
wonders. It makes every crunch more effective and can be used for balancing and
planks as well. It’s a little tricky to figure out just what moves to do. I’m
honestly still experimenting and learning. But Youtube is a great source of
inspiration and video demonstrations!!
Some of
my go to moves:
1. V-Sits…balance yourself on top of the
bosu with your legs up and arms supporting you on the ball behind you. Extend
your legs in and out, making your body flatter and then bringing it back up
into the V position. A more advanced version of this involves just balancing
and not using your hands for support.
2. Half Bicycles…Lie back on the bosu so
that the arch of your back fits right along the side curvature of the bosu (I’m
super technical with my terminology, I know). Assume a crunch position. Now,
extend one leg parallel to the floor, leaving one down to support your weight. With
your arms behind your head, bring the extended leg’s knee in while performing a
twisting crunch towards your knee. Extend the leg back and release the crunch. See…like
a bicycle, but half. (This is my first attempt at explaining an exercise, bare
with me…hopefully I can get someone to document me doing this in the future!)
For an even more challenging move, try to do a full bicycle on the bosu, like
this…
3. Crunches- The Bosu makes even the
average crunch more effective. Simply set yourself up with your back aligned
with the curve of the bosu like so…
and crunch! Focus on extending your upper body fully back,
and then crunching while lifting your hips to get the rib cage as close to the
hip bones as possible. Also make sure to lead with your chest. As Chalene Johnson would say, make sure there's a fist's distance between you chin and your chest. The bosu allows you to get a way fuller range of motion
than if you were to do crunches on the ground. Try all your usual variations of
crunches using this extra resistance!
4. Planks- Probably my favorite use of the
bosu! It makes planks more challenging by destabilizing your supporting
foundation. I love to do side planks with a fully extended arm placed on the
top of the bosu.
I also balance as I do hip dips in this position. You can flip
the bosu over, so the flat part is facing up, and do planks, mountain climbers,
pushups… The possibilities are seriously endless.
The Fitness Ball
The
fitness ball can be used for a lot of the same things as the bosu. It provides
instability, requiring your abs to work harder to balance, and makes it
possible for you to get a fuller range of motion. Some things I particularly like to do
with this are…
1. Alphabet planks-
Place your elbows on the ball and roll out so you are in an angled plank
position. Keeping your arms on the ball, trace out the alphabet, moving your
hands together, so that the ball is in constant movement as you are trying to
hold your plank.
2. Jack Knifes- Place
your stomach on the ball and roll out, so that you are in a push up position
with your ankles and feet kept in the air by the ball. Stabilizing your core,
bring your legs in towards your arms, creating a huge contraction, and then
extend them back out, all while moving the ball along with you. In a more
advanced version, keep your legs straight and lift your hips up while rolling
the ball forward with your ankles/feet.
Captain’s Chair
I’m not
sure if this is really what it’s called…I had to google it. But that thing in
the gym that looks like a chair with no bottom!! This is an ab killer. Get up
on the equipment and place your back against the pad. Place your arms in
position, gripping the handles. Hanging like this, lift your legs (straight)
until they are parallel to the floor, and lower down. Repeat. (I usually do
sets of 12). Make sure to make the movement slow and controlled, contracting
your abs the whole time. After one set of these…I usually do a set with my
knees bent, where I lift my bent knees up together and lower without touching
the side supports of the apparatus, keeping my core engaged the whole time. Try doing 3-4 sets of each!
These are just a few tips from my
ab experience! Much more to come, and hopefully I will get better
pictures/explanation skills as this blog goes on. You have to start somewhere,
right?!!!
When I implemented these moves into
my routine, I felt that awesome soreness again, and brought my abs to the next
level. I hope when you’re in a rut, this will help you too. Some of this is
already getting easy for me…so you know what that means, more experimenting to
come!
Be Well.
Love, Julie
No comments:
Post a Comment