Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be wrapping up the two part series on how to get sexy abs for Valentine’s Day! Now be sure to read part one if you haven’t already at the link here: https://customfitness.biz/2018/02/09/want-sexy-abs-valentines-day-part-1-custom-fitness-amarillo-personal-trainers/
And as always, if you have any questions about today’s blog then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
Okay, so the second exercise is going to be your plank. However, we’re going to change up this plank today. So we’re going to add a weight in, and it’s your choice on the size. However, if you have shoulder issues, I would recommend a lighter weight. You’re going to be supported on your forearms, but you’ll also be using those shoulders to help you move that weight. So you want to make sure that it’s not heavy enough to cause injury, but not light enough that you aren’t challenging yourself.
So you’re going to get into your plank position on the floor and place that weight next to your forearm. You’re going to lift up onto your toes if you’re comfortable with that, or you can stay on your knees if you need to modify that. In either case you want to make sure that your back is not sagging, it’s lifted up. You want to make sure that your stomach is engaged tight. And you want your knees or toes are down on the floor and are squeezed in toward the elbows. With that you are actually making a contraction inward, almost like you had a mat underneath you and you’re trying to squish that mat up.
So what you’re going to do in this position is take it into that plank, and reach over without shifting the body weight. Your don’t want to be rolling, you want to keep the body nice and still. And you’re going to reach over, pick up the weight on the outside of your forearm by reaching across the arm that it’s next to, and pull it across the body. That weight will now be on the outside of the opposite forearm. Then you repeat. Pick it up with the opposite hand, pull it across, and then put it on the outside of the forearm that it started on.
You’ll keep going with that for the time allotted, or the reps allotted. If you’re doing the reps system with the ladder, then you’re going to do one on each side to count as one rep. You don’t want to double count.
And as you move that weight over the movement doesn’t have to be drastic. It can be a slide over, it just has to cross over your forearm without touching. So you’re trying to pick it up, move it to the outside, put your arm inside, and then repeat.
Again, you’re trying not to rotate throughout your body. You don’t want any twisting through the shoulders, hips, legs, you want to try and keep everything as still as possible. You want just the arm moving over to be your motion.
For exercise three, we have a supine jackknife.
So if you’ve done thirty seconds or more of each of those exercises, you should really be feeling it in your core by now, especially if you’ve been engaging right.
So you’re going to get into your jackknife position with your back flat on the mat. You’re going to bring your knees into your chest, and tuck your hips under so that you can feel that lower back press into the mat. You want to know that the lower back is going to stay the same. So between the ribs and hips, that spine is not going to lift and it’s not going to lower. It’s going to stay nice and flat so that you don’t have any excess arching in the back, and you’re going to do that by engaging your core. So really tighten through the abs, tighten through the core muscles, and maintain that spine so that you really stabilize it.
From there the legs are going to come up into a tabletop position with your shins parallel. If you want to modify it and make it more challenging, you can point your toes up to the ceiling. Either way that spine is going to stay right where it’s at.
The arms are going to reach straight up, and you’re going to start with arms and toes reaching together. You’ll notice your shoulder blades coming up off the ground. You can modify with the head down. Otherwise, if the head is up that means that the base of your shoulder blades are lifting, so you should have a fist sized space between your chin and chest at all times. If you feel like it’s collapsing, then you need to rest that head down, take a break, and then come back to it when you can get good form.
So you want that fist sized space, and belly button pushing down. You’re going to reach up to the toes, keep the form the same, then extend your arms and legs out away from each other to where you can still maintain the spine, and then you’re going to pull back up together. So extend out, maintain your spine, pull back in. if you notice the belly pushing up, that would also be a cue that you need to not go out as far.
So there you have those three ab exercises! And again if you do them you want to make sure that you do them a, b, c. then you go back through them again, and again.
So by performing that circuit, you’re going to be able to fire different areas of the abs. So you notice on that half teaser you’re working through those side obliques. With the plank you were working through that rectus abdominis in the front. And in the jackknife you’re getting the rectus abdominis but you’re also getting the internal and external obliques fired up by holding that position in the way that you are.
So that ends the two part series on how to get sexy abs for Valentine’s Day! If you want to know more about Custom Fitness and what we do here, then please 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/2018/02/10/want-sexy-abs-valentines-day-part-2-custom-fitness-amarillo-personal-trainers/
At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.