Group 1: CENTER ABS
Butt-Ups
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Tips: Begin a pushup position but with your elbows on the ground and
resting on your forearms. Your elbows should be bent at a 90 degree angle. Arch
your back slightly out rather than keeping your back
completely straight. Raise your glutes toward the ceiling, squeezing your abs
tightly to close the distance between your ribcage and hips so you end up in a
high bridge position. Lower back down slowly to your starting
position. Repeat. Don't let your back sag downwards.
Crunch - Hands Overhead
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Tips: This variation makes it
tougher than regular crunches. Lie on the floor with your knees bent. Keep your
feet flat on the floor. Stretch your arms overhead and cross your palms. Curl
your upper body forward and bring your shoulder blades just off the floor. Keep
your arms aligned with your head, neck and shoulder. Don't move them forward
from that position! Slowly lower down after squeezing your abs tight!
Crunches
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Tips: Lie flat on your back
with your feet flat on the ground, or resting on a bench with your knees bent
at a 90 degree angle. If you are resting your feet on a bench, place them three
to four inches apart and point your toes inward so they touch. Place your hands
lightly on either side of your head keeping your elbows in. Don't lock your
fingers behind your head! Push the small of your back down in the floor to
isolate your ab muscles. Begin to roll your shoulders off the floor. Continue
to push down as hard as you can with your lower back. Your shoulders should
come up off the floor only about four inches, and your lower back should remain
on the floor. Focus on slow, controlled movement - don't cheat yourself by
using momentum!
Jackknife Sit-Up
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Tips: Lie on the floor on your back. Place your arms straight back
behind your head. Bend at the waist while raising your legs and arms to meet in
a jackknife position. Lower arms and legs back to the starting position. Keep
your elbows and knees locked!
Sit-Up
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Tips: Lie on your back on the
floor with your feet about should width apart. You may find it easier to put
your feet under something to hold them down. Lift your upper body, bending at
the waist, until you're sitting up vertically. Keep your arms at your sides,
crossed in front of you, or behind your head, but do NOT attempt use your arms
to pull yourself up. Do not raise your feet off of the ground. Smoothly lower
your body back to the floor. Repeat.
Toe Touchers
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Tips: Lie back on the floor
and elevate your legs up into the air. Make sure you keep your lower back
pressed flat into the ground. Exhale and crunch forward to touch your toes. (Touching
any part of your foot will work!) Remember, don't pull
your chin down towards your chest. Keep your head in a neutral position.
Tuck Crunch
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Tips: Like on the floor with
your hands either crossed over your chest or behind your head. Bend your knees
and hips to form right angles. Keep your lower legs parallel to the floor and
your feet crossed. Lift your shoulder blades a few inches off the floor by
curling up. Slowly return to the starting position after squeezing your abs.
Group 2: OBLIQUES – SIDE ABS
Air Bike
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Tips: Lie on your back and
put your hands behind your head. Raise your legs so your thighs are perpendicular
and your lower legs are just above parallel to the floor. Curl up and bring
your left elbow toward your right side while drawing your right knee in to meet
it. It is like you are riding a bike. Alternate sides,
continuing the motion back and forth. Remember, don't just flap your
elbow across your body, actually rotate your shoulder across and squeeze your
abs.
Alternate Heel Touchers
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Tips: Works your obliques. In
order to complete 1 repetition, each heel must be touched once. So, get into
position, crunch over and touch your right heel once, then crunch over and
touch your left heel once, and now you've completed 1 repetition. Lie down on
the floor. Bend your knees and keep your feet 18-24 inches apart. Keep your
arms straight down at your sides. Crunch forward and up about 3-4 inches.
Remember to keep your lower back pressed flat against the ground. Keep your
head in a neutral position. Alternate touching your right
heel and then your left heel. Remember, touching each heel once is one
rep!
Cross-Body Crunch
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Tips: Lie on your back and
bend your knees about 60 degrees and keep your feet flat on the floor. Place
your hands loosely behind your head. Curl up and bring your right elbow and
shoulder across your body while bring your left knee in toward your left
shoulder at the same time. Reach with your elbow and try to touch your knee. Do one side for all your reps, then switch to the other
side. Try to bring your shoulder up towards your knee rather than just your
elbow.
Oblique Crunches
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Tips: Works your side
obliques. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent (placing your knees on the
floor or resting on a bench). Place your left hand over your left ear. Roll
your upper body up to the right until your left elbow touches your right knee.
Concentrate on tensing the sides of your waist and holding contraction
throughout the movement. Slowly lower to the starting position. After
completing a full set of reps on the left side, switch to your right side and
do the same thing.
Oblique Crunches - On The Floor
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Tips: Lie on your left side
with your legs on top of each other with your knees bent a little. Loosely cup
your head with your right hand. Crunch up as high as you can go, keeping the
movement in the lateral plane as much as possible to work the obliques. Do both
sides.
Russian Twist
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Tips: Secure your feet either
by placing them under something that won't move or by having a partner hold
them. Start in the position shown above, leaning slightly back and clasping
your hands in front of you. Moving only at the trunk, rotate
to one side. At the end of your range of motion, quickly reverse the
movement and rotate to the opposite side. Repeat in a rapid fashion for the
full number of reps. You can also hold a weight or
medicine ball to increase the difficulty.
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Tips: Works your obliques and
helps stabilize your spine. Lie on your side and support your body between your
forearm and knee to your feet. Hold position for two to four seconds. Repeat on
the other side. Build up to at least 60 seconds on each side of your body!
Side Jackknife
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Tips: Works your obliques.
Lying on your right side and keeping your left leg over your right one, place
your right hand in a comfortable spot and clasp your left hand behind your
head. Bring your torso and left leg toward each other as you pull with your
obliques. Squeeze for a moment and return to the starting position. You can use
ankle weights to make it tougher!
Group 3: LOWER ABS
Bent-Knee
Hip Raise
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Tips: This is like the Reverse Crunch but with a longer range of motion. Outstretch
your hands to your sides with your knees bent at a 60 degree angle and your
feet just off the floor. Using your lower abs, roll your pelvis backward to
raise your hips off of the floor. Your knees will be over your chest. Squeeze
your abs and then return to the starting position slowly. You can straighten
your legs to make it harder or wear ankle weights.
Decline Reverse Crunch
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Tips: Lie on your back on a
decline bench and hold on to the top of the bench with both hands. Don't let
your body slip down from this position. Hold your legs parallel to the floor
using your abs to hold them there. Keep your knees and feet together. Slowly
contract your abs, focusing on bring your pelvis up and in towards your chest Let your abs do the work! Slowly lower your pelvis to the
starting position, keeping constant tension on the abs. Don't
arch your back inwards while you are at the down position!
Flat Bench Leg Pull-In
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Tips: Works your lower abs. Lie on a flat
bench with your legs off the end. Place your hands under your butt with your
palms down. Put your legs straight out. Bend your knees, pulling your upper
thighs into your midsection. Return to the starting position. You can hold a
dumbbell between your legs to make it harder.
Leg Pull-In
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Tips: Work the lower abs. Lie
on the floor with your hands under your butt, your palms down, and your legs
extended. Bend your knees and pull your upper thighs into your midsection.
Return to the starting position. Concentrate on your lower abs. You can hold a
dumbbell between your feet to make it harder.
Reverse Crunch
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Tips: Like on the floor on your back. Put your hands by your sides with
your feet up and your thighs perpendicular to the floor. They should not go
down lower than this during the movement. Using your lower abs, roll your
pelvis backward to raise your hips off the floor. Your knees will now be over
your chest. Return slowly to the starting position. You can use ankle weights
to make it more difficult.
Scissor Kick
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Tips: Start by lying on your
back with your arms by your sides and your palms facing down. Extend your legs
fully with a slight bend in your knees. Lift your heels about 6 inches off the
floor. Make small, rapid up and down scissor-like motions as you lift each leg
to about 45 degrees into the air and lower your heel until it is about 2 - 3
inches off of the floor.
Group 4: BACK EXERCISES
Hyperextensions (Back Extensions)
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Tips: Lie face down on a hyperextension bench,
tucking your ankles securely under the footpads (or on the floor and under some
secure object, or have someone hold your feet). Adjust the upper pad if
possible so your upper thighs lie flat across the wide pad, leaving enough room
for you to bend at the waist without any restriction. Start with your body in a
straight line. Cross your arms in front of you or behind your head. You can
also hold a weight for extra resistance. Slowly bend forward at the waist as
far as you can while keeping your back FLAT. Do not round your back. Slowly
raise your torso until your legs and upper body are in a straight line again.
Do NOT arch your back past a straight line!
Superman
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Tips: Lie face down on the
floor with your arm stretched out directly overhead (like Superman flying,
hence the name). Raise your arms, chest and legs off the floor and hold it
there for 2 seconds and squeeze. Lower back to the ground and
repeat. You can also do these one arm and leg at a time as follows:
Raise your left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising
your chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the
muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground then raise your
right arm and left leg and hold for a second. You can push down with the hand
that is on the ground to help raise your other arm and chest higher off the
ground. This exercise, even though it only uses your limbs as resistance, provides
an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles.
Swimmers
Tips: Mentioned in the discussion above as similar
to the Superman exercise. Lie face down
on the floor with your arm stretched out directly overhead (like Superman
flying, hence the name). Raise your right arm, and left leg off the floor at
the same time and hold it there for 2 seconds. Lower back to
the ground and repeat. Do the same thing with the opposite arm/leg.