Many of the women in my Pilates and yoga classes ask how they can get a trim and toned middle. Aside from doing cardio to reduce overall body fat, exercises that target the core muscles are key. Crunches on an exercise ball, Pilates 100s, the always challenging Bicycle Crunches, and Reverse Curls are all essential exercises when it comes to strengthening your abs.
One tip to keep in mind when doing these strength training moves is to move with control. You want to use your muscles, not momentum, to ensure that your abs are doing all the work. You can even pause slightly between reps to make sure you're not just rocking from one rep to another. Keep your abs contracted throughout the entire range of motion, and you'll feel the burn instantly that lets you know your hard work is paying off.
Paul's Boutique
Tomster
Bottega Veneta
this item couldn't be more off-base, from the exercise recommendations to the admonition to "feel the burn." i don't know where you've been, but the core isn't worked while lying on one's back and crunches do not have any functional strength benefits.
1anonymous, what the heck are you even talking about?
2I think Annonymous must have skimmed the article and not actually read it. Regular crunches are not very effective but the article talks about medicine ball ctunches and reverse crunches, both good stomach exercises. Also "feeling the burn" links to an article about how you shouldn't stop when you start to feel uncomfortable but keep pushing through a while longer. I don;t know about annonymous but if I stopped everytime I felt my muscles working, I would have no muscle tone or definition.
In any case I would also reccomend doing weighted ab exercises. Adding weight can add considerable more muscle since if you aren't using weight you are limited to your body weight and can easily plateau. Can fit sugar do an article on ab exercies that utilize weight? I am thinking rope pull downs, weighted medicine ball crunches, weighted romanian twists etc.
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