One of the top fitness 'wishes' that I hear (from men and women) is to have a flat stomach or to get that visible 6-pack. And for some reason, a lot of women who have had kids think that is something that just doesn't happen after pregnancy- good news is that's not true! I never had a visible six-pack until after having my two children (with back to back pregnancies, mind you!). Check it out:
Pregnancy #2 (just 8 months after pregnancy #1):
So it's definately do-able, but there's a reality check side to this too. Whether you know it or not, you have a 6-pack right now (for real!). You always have one, but whether it shows or not depends on the amount of adipose tissue (fat) on top of it. What does that mean? Well, you could do 1,000 crunches a day (which would be impressive) and still not be able to see your abs if you have excess fat- so part of the ab challenge is that you have to mix in cardio and weight bearing activity for an all-body workout and lose weight so you can see the work you're doing with your abs!
I have an Abs workout below. It is important to understand that this, as written, might be too hard- I'm not there with you as an individual writing your plan based on what's going on with you- I'm writing down what I just did. You may need to modify the numbers a bit- but as long as you are going to failure (can't do anymore because you actually physically can't), you'll get something out of this. Every time you do it, you'll be able to do more- write down what exercises you you do and how many (or how long) you made it through. You'll be really encouraged by progress on paper before you see the abs that are right there under the surface, just waiting to be revealed!
I'm going to write a series of 3 ab workouts that you can alternate between- change it up so that neither you nor your body gets bored with it. You can change it up as often as you want, as long as you're consistent with the fact that you're doing something. This doesn't take very long and this workout would be something that you would tack on to your other workouts or put between cardio days if you'd rather do it like that. To get results, something is better than nothing, but I would do this at least 3 times a week when you're in change-mode. You know your body best and what you are capable of, remember, hurting yourself doesn't get results- do not work out your abs while they are still sore from the last workout. On days like that, do other activity, and focus on getting good ab stretches done.
***Make sure you check the form notes at the bottom of this before getting started, and as with everything, you must have had a doctor's permission stating that you are healthy enough for working out before starting any fitness plan.
As with any workout, do your warmup and stretching. It does you no good if you get hurt, you'll be set back in your goals more than the five minutes it would have taken to warm up!
___________________________________________________________________________
Abs Workout 1:
100 Crunches- (Every 20, change your style by moving your legs alternating between: classic, butterfly, knees to the left, knees to the right, back to classic) *if you can't do 100, go 2 minutes to failure
Side plank, hold for 30 seconds on each side- step it up and finish this move with 15 elbow touches to the ground in front of you before switching sides
Superman - 2 30seconds (10-15 second pause between) or 1 minute for the vets.
100 more crunches (same alternations) - or - 50 situps (or 2 min)
V-Ups - 2 minutes to failure
Donkey kicks- 25 each leg- focus on holding in your core (hands & knees, kick one leg up behind you at a time)
100 crunches- (same alternations)- or- 50 situps (or 2 min)
High kicks (pretend there's a chair in front of you. Stand behind the 'chair'. Swing your right leg up and over the 'chair' as if you were passing over it without knocking it over. Do the same with your left leg to the same side. Then repeat the same motion in the other direction, left leg, right leg.) 2 minutes to failure.
Reverse crunches- 2 minutes to failure
STRETCH for 5 MINUTES minimum. This workout didn't take very long and stretching is necessary for you to repair which means to build the results you want to see. This can be added to your other workouts or tacked on to the end of the day (you don't have to workout abs at the same time that you go do your cardio or whatever- as long as you warmup, you'll get the same results, maybe even better because your energy has been restored after your other workout).
___________________________________________________________________________
FORM NOTES:
I can NOT stress to you how important it is that you do crunches or situps correctly. If you do them incorrectly, you can hurt yourself or train your abdominal muscles incorrectly in a way that actually pushes your tummy area furthur out! Not good. Check out these form videos (which I had nothing to do with the filming of):
Crunch form:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK1eTLViYXI
Superman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc6UVRS7PW4
V-Ups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aviRfr_y4N4
Reverse crunches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlTvnfOr6_Q
Situp form- don't use momentum. If you can't get up slow then you're done, if you jerk and swing to get up then you're going to hurt yourself. I always use something to brace my legs. Although many reputable programs show 'hardcore' versions of situps where the legs are not restrained, I find that this significantly increases the strain on my neck and back, and unless you're really good at isolating the right muscles, you dont' get that much out of making it hard for the sake of making it hard. Rather, just have your feet restrained and focus on the right moves in your core area- if it's too easy, increase the reps and don't hurt yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment