Crunch on exercise ball.

Stability balls are common in gyms today. The right ball for your height is one where you can sit on it, with your knees bent at right angles and feet resting on the floor. Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll back slowly. Now lie back on the ball until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor. Cross your arms over your chest and slightly tuck your chin in toward your chest. In a slow and controlled manner, contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees. Your shoulders should roll up and in like the edge of a carpet rolling inwards. To make the exercise easier, spread your feet wider apart. To increase the difficulty level and involve the waist / oblique muscles, draw your feet closer together.

For best results.

Start with 2-3 sets of each exercise, 8-10 repetitions. Increase by 8-10 repetitions each week till you work your way up to a set of 40 repetitions in each set. 2 sets of 35-40 repetitions a day for the abdominals is ideal, and you do not need to train more than that.

Breathing during abdominal muscle exercises.

With all abdominal muscle exercises, exhale as you contract / exert / come up / crunch your abdominals; inhale as you relax / lower / return to the starting position.

Points to remember.

1. If you have lower back injuries or pain, consult a doctor before you begin, so you don't hurt yourself. Also see a physician if you are over 35, have been sedentary for a long time, have high blood pressure and/or cholesterol, are a smoker, have chest pains or shortness of breath or have had a joint or muscle injury.

2. The best time to exercise to burn body fat is first thing in the morning (on an empty stomach).

3. It's not the number of repetitions, but the quality and technique that gets results. Overdoing sit-ups can hurt your lower back. Besides, the best way to get those flat lower abdominal muscles is to be patient for 8-10 weeks, eat a healthy diet and do regular aerobic exercise.

4. Try and do your abdominal exercises last in the routine. Abdominal exercises are not very tiring, and do not tend to 'slow you down' unlike running on the treadmill or lifting heavy weights. Do the abdominal exercises towards the end of the session.

Page 2 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next