abdominals the next level

I had some time this morning so I am adding in another area that we all like to work on. The Abdominals. If you have been doing your breathing that is a good thing. You are working your abdominals. If you have been doing crunches that is also good but it gets boring doing the same thing over and over.

(On a side note please remember that you can not spot reduce. Just doing crunches for the abs will only strengthen the muscle not reduce the overcoat of body fat)

The Plank
You are on the floor for this exercise. Lie flat on the floor. Curl your toes under because you will be up on your toes- for the upper body you will be elevated and resting on your forearms. Make sure that you have your elbows are aligned right under your shoulders. Otherwise you will be placing a lot of strain on your shoulder joints.

Elevate your body - for beginners you will want to have your body straight like a table. For this exercise hold in your abs. This will help protect your lower back. see how long you can hold this position. Go for 3 rounds of 1 minute each round. (you will need to build up to this slowly.)

For advanced movement- while holding the plank position raise your backside up toward the ceiling and then lower into your table position. Do this for 3 rounds of 1 minute each.

As time goes on and this gets easier and then you can perform the walking plank
This is for the next level advanced. (this one is a killer)

Get into your plank position. Instead of having your hands facing forward you will now have your hands face inside.( like you are getting ready to cross your arms across your chest. You will Still have your elbows aligned under your shoulders. You will now place one arm in-front of the other and start to walk forward. Use your feet to help take small steps to move forward. Start with 4 forward moves and then go back the 4 steps. Work up to 3 rounds of 10 walking forward and then 10 walking back to your starting position.

DON'T forget to stretch your abs after this. Lie on your belly and get into your sphinx position. Hold for your 3 breaths.