Welcome to the second installment of my Shape Up Saturday Series! I’m so excited for this week’s post because we have some work outs for ya! Now, ok I know my abs aren’t there just yet, but I’m working on it. These ab workouts have helped me slim down and start building more muscle and less fat in my tummy region. Back in June when I first started the 21 day fix I hadn’t realized how big I actually got. I didn’t realize it until I took a progress picture and saw how huge my stomach had gotten. If you know me I pretty much had a flat stomach my whole life, so seeing that picture was an eye opener. However, don’t feel depressed! I felt super disgusting and didn’t even want to look at that picture, until I started seeing actual progress! Now, with that being said before we dive into some of my favorite ab workouts make sure to take progress pictures. I would say take one every week if you really want to, otherwise if you are doing a program like the 21 day fix take a picture before and after the program. You may not see a difference when you look in the mirror but when you look at those pictures you’ll be like HOLY C*** I LOOK HOT! Like I said, I know my abs aren’t there just yet, but it’s better than it was yesterday! Now, in the pictures I purposely wanted to show me with a sports bra so you could see that just because my stomach looks thin while standing up I have rolls too! It’s normal, and we have our good and bad angles. Moving on to my favorite ab workouts!
Ok, so for all of these workouts I usually do them all in a row twice. I do about 20-30 of each ab exercise and if I’m really feelin’ it that day I’ll do more reps so about 40-50. I try to do these ab workouts daily or every other day along with my regular workout because the ab muscle is an extremely large muscle which means it takes a lot of work to define it. Don’t forget though if you do these workouts without the correct meal plan you won’t see results. ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN! There’s a reason why that is a legitimate saying. Below are my top favorite ab workouts and my list keeps growing but i wanted to show the ones I do the most.
Stomach Crunches
Ok, these are the most basic ab exercise but I swear it works. If you’re not familiar with a crunch all it is, is a sit up but you don’t go as far up. Make sure you keep your arms to your side and do not hold your head, but let it rest on your hands. Once you start pulling up with your hands on your head and not your actual abs is when you start straining things.
Stomach Crunches to Table
Ok, so these are pretty much just regular stomach crunches but you lift your legs up to a table position and do the crunches up to your knees, or however high enough you can get.
Stomach Crunches-More Modified Version
Ok, now this kind of looks like bicycle (which is also another one of my favs and I can’t believe I didn’t think to add a picture in here until I already started typing this post!) except instead of switching legs back and forth you keep your legs in this position and do crunches, then switch to the other side I’d say after about 20-30 crunches, depending on how you’re feeling. Or if you want just keep going and see how many you can do without hurting yourself.
Opposite Foot, Opposite Hand
Ok, so you can’t see it because unfortunately the camera cut my legs out of the picture. Pretty much what you do is you lift your legs straight up until your body is at a 90 degree angle. You’re going to lift and touch (with your fingers) or at least get close enough to the opposite foot. When doing this make sure your shoulder blade is OFF the ground. Then alternate between sides.
Side Crunch Twist
You’re going to start in a crunch position, except put your foot on your opposite knee as pictured above. The same side that your foot is not on the ground make sure that arm is laying on the ground. Then you twist up to your knee like a crunch only different. Most importantly make sure you are going to your knee, and that your knee is not magically gravitating to you!
Side Crunch
Ok, so I know, there’s so many different types of crunches but that’s really what they all are, similar, but different. For this one you’re going to want to lay down on one side and side crunch up. This will feel awkward at first but trust me it feels good in the end!
Balancing Ab Workout
Ok, so this workout in particular has two steps because I can’t really explain it unless I show you how you start (pictured above) and how you end up (pictured below). All you do is you lay flat and then you lift your body except for your butt and balance yourself. You then crunch into the center as pictured below. Then you flatten back out while still balancing. Do not touch the floor for this entire workout.
**DISCLAIMER**
I am NOT a health care professional, I am not a nutritionist, doctor, or personal trainer. You should consult your physician before doing any of these workouts.
