Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be talking about how you can get a great ab workout using bands. This is going to be the first entry in a two part series! You can see part two if you follow the link here: If you have any questions about today’s blog, then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
Today we’re going to really get you a great ab workout using bands. We’re going to utilize the elastic properties of them to activate the core and make sure that all of the muscles are working, but especially the abdominal muscles.
Just a reminder that the core by definition, is your torso without your arms or legs. So your core is the front, back, sides, it’s all of it. So we’re going to be working the abdominals, but in working to stabilize ourselves with bands we’ll be working the full core. As a personal trainer in Amarillo, I get a lot of questions about the difference.
Now a lot of people get upset because they think that core just means abdominal, so what they really want to focus on is abs. And if you want to work on your abs, then using bands is a great thing to do.
So a lot of times when you’re doing your crunches, and your planks, you may not be activating the way that you should. That’s where that upset comes in. People think that they’ve been doing all of that core work but they can’t get their core to look the way that they want it to. Well the problem is that possibly they’ve been working the wrong core muscles for what you think you should be working. And second, you may not be engaging correctly. Bands are going to help to fix both of those issues because we’re going to be working all of the core muscles, including the abdominals, and we’re also going to be engaging the muscles properly because we have to resist the elastic properties of the bands.
To get started you’re going to have a band anchor somewhere. I have mine on the back hich of a door, but yours can be anywhere that you can safely install one. The easiest however, is on the back of a door. And you want to make sure that it’s obviously a door that no one is going to try and open. And I have anchors on the top and middle hich of the door.
So I’m going to be showing you five exercises for you today. And what I want you to remember for today is that from is key.
So it doesn’t matter if you 200 reps if you do it with bad form. We want the most reps with the best form. If you start to lose form, or start to feel the muscles fatigue too much and get to that max out, then you want to go ahead and stop and rest. It’s not worth it to be going with bad form whenever the muscles are not activating properly during that time. So in order to get them to activate properly, you have to have great form.
So the bands that I use are a special type that are meant to be stretched about five to six feet. If you go any further than that, it leads to over stretching and that can lead to tearing.
With your bands you want to make sure that you don’t see any dry cracked areas or any little tears. Even a small tear can lead to something popping open, so you want to be sure to replace those bands about once a year. Even if you don’t need to quite yet, be sure to be checking them every time you use them.
Also with my bands, each color has a different resistance. And each brand may have a different color scheme. The red band that you got from one set may not be of the same resistance as the one you go from another. So you want to make sure that you know which resistance that you’re using and that you’re using the appropriate resistance for your body.
So to start off, I’m going to have you grab the band that’s at the top of your door and go into your straight leg rollout.
To do that you’re going to have your feet about hip width apart. You’ll be wanting to stand close enough to the door to where you can feel the tension in the band, but not too much.
So hold the band out in front of you, stomach pulled in tight, and feet hip width apart. You want to imagine that you have a bar coming across your abs and that you have to lift up and over that bar. So keep that tummy in tight, and pull that band straight down to your hips, and lift up and over as you roll down vertebrae at a time. So your head drops, your spine drops, and you’re reaching down. And you’ll notice how the hips press back into almost a deadlift position. So you’re pressing the hips and then you roll back up.
Now, notice that the goal wasn’t to get to your toes. You aren’t trying to reach all of the way down, but to reach a point of resistance.
The goal to start out with would probably be about 10-15 reps, and then you can move on to the next exercise.
I’m going to end the first part of this series here. Part two will continue with a decline chop, a seated bending roll, a kneeling twist, and we’ll wrap it up with a side squat.
If you can’t wait for the next blog and want more information, then give us a call! If you’re wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz And you can now read part two at the link here: https://customfitness.biz/2018/02/01/using-bands-get-great-ab-workout-fab-5-exercises-part-2-custom-fitness-amarillo-personal-trainers/
At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.