Sit Up With Chest Press
a) Lie down on your back. Bend your legs and place your feet firmly on the ground to stabilise your lower body. Hold a dumbbell with both hands.
b) Curl your upper body all the way up toward your knees. Exhale as you lift.
c) As you curl up, press the dumbbell out directly in front of you to form a right angle between your arms and body.
d) Slowly, lower yourself down, returning your arms and body to your starting point. Inhale as you lower.
Ab Workouts: 5 Ways To Blast Belly Fat And Build Muscle
THE GOAL: Building a strong core and ab muscles
THE EXPERT: Trainer and Huffington Post Canada blogger Jordan Cieciwa of One Fit City based in Winnipeg
THE INFO: There’s often a misconception about doing a long set of crunches and getting rock hard abs. Cieciwa says maintaining a proper diet , cardio work and increasing the difficulty of workouts are all ways to get stronger abs. And along with exercises like sit-ups, it’s also important to work out the legs for a solid core as well.
This workout below focuses on three different muscles to pull the core tight and make your abs functionally stronger. Start off this routine with a 10-minute run to warm up, followed by two sets of each workout for 15 reps. Next, run again for five minutes, followed by two more sets of 10 to 15 reps and finish with a 10-minute run to cool down and a stretch. Try this exercise twice a week.
THE MOVES:
WORK: Obliques
Lay on your mat with a Bosu balancer underneath your back. Next, come up to a crunch and reach out to the left side, then right.
Bicycle:
WORK: Obliques
Keep your hands behind your head and make sure your shoulders and elbow are straight. Come up to a crunch, keeping your core tight and neck away from your shoulders. Move your elbow towards the opposite knee, creating a bicycle movement.
Sit-Up:
WORK: Rectus abdominis
For the sit-up, remember to keep your core tight and use your ab muscles to move up .
Leg Lifts:
WORK: Rectus abdominis
Plank:
WORK: Transverse abdominis
Exercise Recommendations For Osteoporosis
The exercises in this post help you build abdominal strength, improve your balance and reduce your chances of a fall. But there is a lot more to a comprehensive exercise program for osteoporosis.
In fact, exercise is an essential ingredient to bone health. If you have osteoporosis, therapeutic exercise needs to be part of your osteoporosis treatment program.
But what exercises should you do and which ones should you avoid? What exercises build bone and which ones reduce your chance of a fracture? Is Yoga good for your bones? Who should you trust when it comes to exercises for osteoporosis?
A great resource on exercise and osteoporosis is my free, seven day email course called Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis. After you provide your email address, you will receive seven consecutive online educational videos on bone health one lesson each day. You can look at the videos at anytime and as often as you like.
I cover important topics related to osteoporosis exercise including:
- Can exercise reverse osteoporosis?
- Stop the stoop how to avoid kyphosis and rounded shoulders.
- Key components of an osteoporosis exercise program.
- Key principles of bone building.
- Exercises you should avoid if you have osteoporosis.
- Yoga and osteoporosis should you practice yoga if you have osteoporosis?
- Core strength and osteoporosis why is core strength important if you have osteoporosis?
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Abs Are Made In The Kitchen
Youve probably heard this saying before, but its true.
You can do as many stomach exercises as you want, but youll never see them if you dont put in the dietary work.
If you dont want to see your abs , then do the ab work to strengthen your core and forget about this section.
You need to drop weight in order to begin seeing your abs. If you cant see your abs all at once dont worry, youll get there.
Dieting and working out takes time, and youll see the improvements slowly.
As long as youre burning more calories than youre taking in, youll eventually see your abs.
Additionally, try to cut out your sodium and heavy carb intake. Both sodium and carbs retain water.
In fact, for every one gram of carbs that remains in your system your body may retain up to four grams of water.
Carbs are great if youre working out and need energy. However, its the empty carbs where youre hanging out, sitting on the TV, watching the football game without any plan on hitting the gym that day.
Theres a reason you probably feel a bit bloated after a massive Thanksgiving meal. All those potatoes, casseroles, and who knows what else, packs on the carbs, which packs on the water weight.
With a big holiday meal, you can easily pass 100 grams of carbs, which means youre holding onto 400 grams of water. Thats almost a full pound of water your body is holding onto.
Were not going to give you a specific diet to follow here.
If Diastasis Is Present
While the exercises in this article are appropriate for diastasis recti, Women with severe diastasis recti are in the greatest need of starting an abdominal rehabilitation program as early as possible, warns Cram. Do not start abdominal or any other exercises until your client sees a physical therapist.
Avoid all spinal extension, deep spinal flexion and spinal rotation. Instead, opt for functional abdominal work like squats while cueing to engage the abs, suggests Wiebe.
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Losing Fat And Gaining Muscle At The Same Time
To understand why losing fat while gaining muscle can be problematic, we need to explore both processes.
Lets consider the following points:
-
To lose fat, your body needs to be in a caloric deficit. This deficit forces your body to use pre-existing fat stores for fuel.
-
To gain muscle, your body needs to be in a caloric surplus. This surplus provides the energy your body requires to repair and build bigger muscles.
Given this, losing fat at the same time one is gaining muscle seems impossible.
However, if we go a few steps deeper into the science, it IS possible!
To appreciate the nuance here, lets get into some specifics on losing fat and gaining muscle separately, and then well combine them.
I’m A Beginner: What Are The Best Stomach Exercises For A Beginner
If this is the first time you’re focusing on abdominal exercises, you should gradually increase the intensity of the movements you do. Basically, you shouldn’t be attempting any single-arm planks if you’re falling to your knees within 10 seconds when doing a standard plank.
If the move is too difficult or advanced for you, the chances are that your body will overcompensate elsewhere and throw your form off. Not good.
Instead, try and get to grips with these basic moves before progressing onto the trickier exercises:
- Dead bugs
- High plank with knees on the floor
- Forearm plank with knees on the floor
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Aim For Quality Not Quantity
Sacrifice quantity for quality. Doing hundreds of sloppy reps with your exercises will not produce quality results. Keep your reps in the 15 to 20 range and aim for three to four sets with each exercise. Increase resistance with your exercises as soon as you are able to do 20 reps easily. Work your abs three days a week and take at least one day off in between to prevent over-training.
Why Is A Strong Core So Important
Obviously, it pays to look beyond aesthetics when building up core strength it’s also a crucial factor in maintaining good overall health and mobility of your body. Some of the strongest people in the world dont have six-packs, but they can lift a lot or perform tremendous feats of athleticism, describes Klika.
A strong core is a major factor in staying free from injury particularly in the hips and knees, says Michelle Arent, director of training and conditioning at Rutgers Center for Health and Human Performance in the US.
However, and this is important, the core is more than the muscles running alongside the front of your stomach. In fact, the core itself is a 3-dimensional ‘box’ shape that includes:
- Your abdominals
- Your glutes
- Your lower back muscles
So, when we talk about building a strong core, we’re actually talking about building a strong ‘trunk’. Capice?
We’ve collated a mega list of both bodyweight and weighted stomach exercise for women… keep scrolling for the best tummy exercises with weights
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Understand How Ems Works
Electromyostimulation commonly referred to as EMS or electrical muscle stimulation targets motor neurons to activate fast-twitch muscle fiber. When you exercise, your brain sends signals through the spinal cord via interneurons that communicate with your motor neurons to move your muscles to perform crunches, sit-ups or other movements.
EMS completely bypasses your brain and spinal cord, sending impulses directly to your muscles and activating contractions at a much faster rate and for more extended periods than you consciously could make your body move.
Although this seems like you could work out while you’re sitting on the couch watching TV, the studies show that the EMS is effective when done in conjunction with targeted exercise at the same time.
That’s because as you are initiating your slow-twitch muscle fiber consciously, the machine is stimulating the fast-twitch muscle fiber as well. With all your targeted muscle fiber contracting rapidly, a 20-minute session two times weekly is usually all that’s needed to produce results over several weeks.
Get The Right Stimulation
Not every electrical ab stimulator will help build stomach muscles. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation units commonly called TENS units for example, stimulate the nerves to provide pain relief. Although you feel a pulse and might even feel the muscle contract slightly, the TENS unit is stimulating the nerve in a single part of the body, not building muscle.
That’s because TENS units target sensory neurons in your body that send pain signals back to the brain. The current is designed to confuse the pain signal and stimulate the release of endorphins. This type of stimulation does not fully contract the muscle therefore, you won’t tone your abs no matter how long you use a TENS unit.
Electronic pulse massagers focuses on relaxing a specific muscle, not contracting them. EPMs can be an enjoyable way to wind down after heavy exercise, but they won’t build muscle either.
Read more:How Do Ab Belts Work?
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Strengthen Your Belly: Free Crunches With Obliques
This movement, known as free crunches with obliques, is a fun and effective way to work your mid-section while engaging your hip muscles at the same time.
Instructions:
Tips:
- Make the movement feel slightly mechanical. This will help ensure proper form.
- Exhale as you lift and twist. Inhale when you come back down to the floor.
- Keep your elbows pulled back.
- Try to keep your legs straight the entire time.
- The lower your legs go, the more challenging the exercise will be.
Dont use your head, hands, or arms to do the crunch. Let your stomach muscles pull your head off the floor. Your hands and arms are simply supporting your head.
What Should I Eat To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle
Remember, your eating strategy needs to include two points to lose fat while gaining muscle:
You may be thinking, Thats all well and good Steve, but whats that actually look like?
It looks like this!
Taken from our Guide to Start Eating Healthy, which I really want you to read.
The plate is composed of the following:
- 1-2 servings of protein
- 2 servings of vegetables
- 1 serving potatoes, rice, or pasta.
- 1 serving of fat
- 1 zero calorie or low calorie beverage
Lets hone in on protein for a moment, because its the critical piece for building muscle.
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
- Meat .
Not a meat-eater? Read our massive plant-based guide!
A serving of protein is about the size and thickness of your palm.
*The 4 oz serving is for an uncooked piece of meat. Cooking reduces about 25% of the weight, bringing it down to about 3 oz.
If youre curious, heres how much protein is in a serving of food:
- 4 oz serving of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
- 4 oz serving of salmon has 23 g of protein
- 4 oz of steak has 28 g of protein.
While all of the Healthy Plate above is important, I want you to pay extra attention to your protein intake since we are trying to build muscle.
If youre having trouble making your protein intake goals, check out our Guide on Protein Supplements for some tips and tricks to up your intake, including some awesome smoothie recipes.
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Strengthen Your Transverse Abdominis
To strengthen a muscle, you want to do the movements that activate it. Since its not a good idea to start a coughing or sneezing exercise regime, breathing with a forced exhale is the best way to strengthen this muscle. Practice Pilates breathing or ujjayi breathing to strengthen the transverse abdominis.
Exercises To Help Lower Abs
The goal of these exercises is to target key parts of the lower abs and strengthen them to improve posture, stability, and balance in daily activity.
Most lower ab exercises can be done without extra equipment. However, some of the moves listed below do require sliders or towels.
1. Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers work your entire body as well as your core. They are a form of cardio as well meaning, they increase your heart rate when you do them.
To get started, place yourself in a plank position. This means elevating your body off the ground with your arms . Remember to keep your body straight and your pelvis tucked slightly. Your arms should be shoulder-width apart with both palms on the floor. Your legs should be extended behind you, feet together.
Once in this position, slowly move your right knee to your chest then back again. Next, draw your left knee to your chest and back again. This is one repetition .
Continued
Increase your pace and move quickly to exercise the rectus abdominis a pair of muscles that runs down your abdomen and forms the bulk of the abdominal muscles.
You should repeat this exercise several times for optimum results. Professionals recommend 15 to 20 reps on each side for beginners.
2. Lying Leg Raises
This exercise strengthens your lower abs but doesnt require you to hold yourself up while you do so. Instead, lie on your back with legs extended, feet together. Rest the palms of your hands on either side of your body.
3. Crunches
Continued
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When Can I Begin To Exercise
It is important to rest for the first 2 weeks at home, but you do not need to stay in bed. After the first few days following post-abdominal surgery, you can begin to build your strength and stamina by going for short walks each day. Your abdomen muscles will gradually strengthen over this period and then you can begin implementing floor exercises into your daily routine.
After 4-8 weeks, ask your doctor if you can begin more strenuous exercises with an exercise ball or resistance bands to further strengthen your abs. Do crunches while reclining on an exercise ball or perform leg lifts. Or simply hold a resistance band wrapped around the arches of your feet to isolate and tone the muscles below your waistline.
Exercise and build your abdominal muscles with strength training, but only when your doctor says it is safe to do so. After 8-12 weeks, you can perform sit-ups, bicycles, and flutter kicks while lying on the floor. Be sure to keep your lower back flat against the ground to maintain proper form.
How Do You Lose Fat
There is a simple answer and a slightly less simple answer when it comes to losing body fat.
The simple answer: consume fewer calories than you expend or burn.
Eight words, and one or two of those could probably be thrown out.
When your body needs more calories than the amount you are eating, you are in a caloric deficit. Your body doesnt have the calories it needs as fuel, so itll start breaking down parts of itself for its energy requirements.
The hope is that your body will mostly pull from fat stores, though depending on how you are training it will also break down muscle too.
Said again: when you are eating a caloric deficit, your body will pull from both its fat stores AND existing muscle for energy.
From a physique and health standpoint, obviously wed prefer that your body doesnt break down muscle when in a caloric deficit, and instead really focuses on using fat stores instead.
I make this point for a reason: your goal in fitness shouldnt only be weight loss, despite the common vernacular used.
Who cares what the scale says, right?
The goal instead is to reduce body fat while also keeping the muscle you have .
That leads to a better physique and a healthier body.
This is why there is a big market for devices that supposedly assess your body fat percentage.
And lower body fat percentages are where toned arms and 6-pack abs hang out.
You may be asking, Steve, whats easier to do? Burn more calories or consume less?
Good question.
Which is easier?
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