Get ready for an intensive blast that will do a final bit of tightening up in preparation for the summer holidays, many of you want to know a good work out to flatten the stomach and pull in the waist. So I shall cover four exercises that will help to tone this area. Work on around 3-4 sets of 20 repetitions for each exercise. Remember however it is also important to be following a balanced nutrition regime to keep excess body fat at a low level, as it is not possible to shift fat from an area of the body by just exercising that part.
Body Balance Situp
The advantage of using your own balance instead of hooking your feet under something, is that it stops your hip flexors coming into play and allows all the work to be focused on your abdominals making them work much harder.
Lower Abdominal Crunch
For this you can hold a swiss ball between your ankles or use nothing but make sure you are managing to lift your pelvis off the floor with each repetition, to gain the full effect of the movement.
Cable Chop (Obliques)
Our obliques are often neglected in exercise, but they are extremely important as they help the trunk of our body to rotate, by using exercises which make us twist we will also help our waist to stay in better shape.
Balanced Back Extension
With the other exercises working more on the front of our trunk, we do also need to maintain balance. Back extensions on a swiss ball are a good way of maintaining some lower back strength and tone, and again by not securing your feet and relying on your balance on the ball, we focus on the lower back muscles and stop the hamstrings coming into play.
For any Indoor / Outdoor Training Sessions Contact me on 07797886575
Steve Longstaffe (PT Fitness First)
