Stomach Exercises

[Bluestar07]

I don't know why but I don't like doing crunches.. Is there anything else I can do for a toned stomach?

My dance instructor makes us do these exercises which is supposed to tone the abs area.



1. Lie on your tummy. Now raise youself on both forearms on the floor (your arms bend at the elbows to form a 90 deg angle) and on your toes. Your body should form a long straight line from your head to your heels and your abs pulled in. Make sure you don't sag in the middle like a hammock or lift your hips up. Concentrate on using the ab muscles to hold yourself straight. It looks like a very easy pose but .... well, try to hold it as long as you can and see what i mean

It's very much like the plank pose in yoga except you are resting on your forearms.

2. Same as the above except that this time, turn on your side and use only 1 arm for support. Again, make sure your body forms a straight line from top to toe and concentrate on oblique muscles to hold you straight. Repeat on other side.
Like the side plank pose except you rest on forearms

http://www.yogabasics.com/asana/

choose "standing poses" and "plank" / "side plank" poses

 

[haleyanne]

Bluestar07, we have to do those for track except it is on our elbows . My coach has us do like 5 or 6 of those types of things and he call the whole routine core. Some of them can hurt your back if you do them wrong so be careful. Another one we do is call dead bug: You lay on your back and do one leg at a time first raising it to a 90 degree angle, then 60, then 30 you hold each for like 15 seconds or something and repeat with your other leg. For each you hold your opposite arm up. Its pure torture if you ask me but it does help.

 

[SweetFantasy]

but what about eating? if you eat bad food and exercise do you actually lose weight still?

 

[dsq]

hi sweet fantasy, in general, you lose weight as long as your intake calories is less than the amount of calories you burn. but eating the wrong types of food will eventually catch up to you later on in life (e.g. malnutrition, poor immunity, poor overall well-being etc will probably show up first then cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer etc later on in life)

 

[Paper Doll]

I would like to know this, too. I have a little tone at the top of my stomach and do loads of sit-ups, but it doesn't seem to make any difference to my lower stomach. I'm not fat, either; a size 2-4.

Some excellent exercises for the lower abdominal muscles are the pilates "100's" and the pilates "hip flexor". In order to fully strengthen your abs, you need to perform abdominal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominal_muscles) AND hip flexor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_flexors) exercises. <--- This is also because if you try to perform other exercises like leg lifts, etc. - you will be unable because the abdominal muscles and hip flexors keep the torso stable. If you are too weak in these areas then you cannot properly tackle other exercises that require their strength. However, the pilates hip flexor exercise isn't demonstrated in the following link. To perform the pilates hip flexor exercise, lie flat on your back with your transverse abdominal muscles pulled to the floor. Imagine that there is an arrow pierced through your belly button pulling you to the floor. There should be no space to slide your hand between the floor and your lower back. Keep your arms to your sides with palms downward. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and keep them pressed downward - do not lift them as you pull your hips upward. Also, do not raise your neck forward or you will strain it! Then inhale for five seconds as you raise your hips (whilst squeezing your glutes) - careful not to overextend your back. Then lower your hips for five seconds as you exhale. It's awesome! (If you have difficulty... then you might be lifting your hips too high - you don't need to lift them very high! It's the breathing and contraction that is the key importance - breathe out as you contract!)

http://beauty.expertvillage.com/videos/pilates-video-100s.htm Although I wouldn't say this woman is the best instructor. Find a pilates class near to you and try it out! It's important to have one on one contact with an instructor so she (or he) can correct your mistakes.

MAKE SURE that you do everything correctly. Maintain the correct posture and don't strain your neck or back!!! You can seriously damage your body if you exercise incorrectly.

 

[style_star]

I don't know if anyone goes on this thread anymore, but I was wondering about getting lines on the stomach, not defined abs, but toned lines, one in the middle, and two on either side, like in this picture:

VS Pink

If you work on your abs, is this the stage before getting visible abs, or does it depend on the workout?
I'm not very knowledgable about this.

 

[satin chic]

I have a small line like that on my stomach. It's the stage before getting visible abs, I think. (I got it by pilates, btw)

 

[alix*]

^ How long have you been doing pilates for?

 

[style_star]

^Thanks for responding, satin chic.
To elaborate on alix*'s question, what are some of the exercises in pilates that target the abs and how long did you do them??

 

[Eurasian Mélange]

Thanks Paper Doll! I'll look into doing pilates. I wanted to do it for a long time, but it was always too expensive for me to go to a class.

style_star - I have the centre line naturally (not as obvious as in that pic), but it became more defined with doing several different kinds of sit-ups. Ones where you go straight up and also where you twist as if you're trying to touch your knee with the opposite elbow.

 

[style_star]

^Thanks so much!
I've been seeing a lot about the side crunches online, and I started doing them a couple days ago.

I heard that they could help with the "lines" but I wasn't sure. Thanks for confirming!!

When I suck my stomach in, I have the line too, so hopefully it will become more defined if I lose a little bit of flab and do daily stomach exercises.

How long have you been doing them for?

 

[satin chic]

^ How long have you been doing pilates for?

Not for very long, actually. I did it on and off again once to twice a week for about three months until I got it, I think.

 

[Eurasian Mélange]

How long have you been doing them for?

You're welcome! I stopped doing them a while ago, but before that I had been doing them for several years. I didn't have time to do any more because of school, but I used to do between 60 and 100 (all together, not 60/100 of each type) at least three times a week. I started off with 20 in the beginning and worked my way up as it became easier. I should start doing them again!

I can't remember at which point it became very defined, though. Sorry!

 

[Eurasian Mélange]

I forgot to mention (and it's too late to edit now) that I now do Egyptian belly dancing, which keeps my stomach in shape. So far, the main move I have learnt that helps tone your stomach are 'belly bumps.' Basically, you use your abdominal muscles to puff out your stomach and suck in. Make sure you breathe normally and don't do it too much as I was warned by my belly dancing teacher that it can make you go running to the toilet if you push yourself too hard!

 

[style_star]

I forgot to mention (and it's too late to edit now) that I now do Egyptian belly dancing, which keeps my stomach in shape. So far, the main move I have learnt that helps tone your stomach are 'belly bumps.' Basically, you use your abdominal muscles to puff out your stomach and suck in. Make sure you breathe normally and don't do it too much as I was warned by my belly dancing teacher that it can make you go running to the toilet if you push yourself too hard!

Thanks again for all of this insight!

Are belly bumps when you do a type of vertical roll on your stomach by sucking in and jutting out your stomach? I think that's what you meant but I can't be sure.

If that is the case, then I'm happy it has a use because between exercises I do that sometimes. It feels useful because you can feel a bit of a strain in the ab area but I always thought it was only wishful thinking.

 

[Eurasian Mélange]

Thanks again for all of this insight!

Are belly bumps when you do a type of vertical roll on your stomach by sucking in and jutting out your stomach? I think that's what you meant but I can't be sure.

No problem! Belly bumps is just puffing out your stomach so you make yourself look as fat as you can and then sucking in as far as possible so that you can see your ribcage. It's a great workout if you try to do it for a long time, or to do it very fast! The rolling thing also helps, but I don't know whether the bumps and rolls are equal in how they exercise your abs or if one is better than the other.

I tried to find a video on youtube of the belly bumps for you, but all I can find are videos of pregnant women and fat people walking into each other.

 

[kissablekae]

hey guys im watching tv right now and im watching infomercials
has anyone tried Hip Hop Abs(.com, if you want to check it out)

they dont have it in stores and you can only order it through them..

ive been looking for a fun way to get in shape and i like the idea of doing it by dancing like a fool.

 

[Alvedansen]

are there any special exercises i can do to get rid of "hip" fat? i have a flat stomach, i just want to get rid of the little flab on the sides...i'll post a pic so you know what i mean, don't know the proper english name for it

apotheken-umschau.de

 

[Inaya]

^^ in my experience, bicycle crunches... and lots of them! best way to eliminate lovehandles and tighten the core as a whole.