Body Part of the Month: Abs

For many people, the abdoinals are marjorly tough to tone.  Everyone says that they want to improve their abs and there are some easy and quick exercises that you can do to accomplish this goal.  There are a variety of great ways to lean and tone your tummy.

Pilates-this core based workout focuses on strengthening and lengthening all muscles in the entire body while maintaining and developing core strength as the foundation to all exercises

Planks-Before you brush your teeth in the morning get into a push-up position and hold your body frozen there for 1 minute.  After a week, see if you are able to do it for longer!

Physio-ball crunches- using a phsio-ball can enhance and challenge your abdominals and make boring crunches a little more difficult.  It allows more range of motion, therefore requiring the abdominals to work harder to elevate the upper body.

Cherry Pickers-Try balancing on your tailbone (with your feet just off of the floor) and holding a medium sized weight with both hands, then twist and tap the weight behind each hip without lowering the feet to the ground.

V-Up Challenge-This exercise is designed to challenge and target your core.  Lying down on your back on a mat, hold a weight between both hands and place a physioball between your ankles.  Curl your upper body to reach the weight toward the ball as the legs lift up toward the ceiling.  Then slowly, lower your legs and arms so that each are hovering just above the surface of the ground.  Then curl back up to the starting position.