Absolutely everyone I know wants flat, sculpted, sexy abs, but it’s so hard to know how to work them properly. That’s exactly why I asked for an entire session with my personal trainer, Ken Cannon, to cover ab work-outs. Oh, the hidden dangers of working abs improperly! I had no idea! Are you worried that you might be working your abs ineffectively? No worries! Here’s my list of the 7 mistakes to avoid when working your abs… thanks, Ken!
To get a complete abdominal work-out, you can’t target just one specific ab area. Your abs and “core” work together, so trying to work out one area, or target one area, isn’t going to happen, or work.
No matter what a particular exercise or diet product promises, it is impossible to lose belly fat without cutting back on calories, doing cardio, and doing a complete body work-out. IMPOSSIBLE. REGARDLESS OF PROMISES. It just will not happen, end of story. No matter how many crunches you do, or how many diet pills you take, you will not lose belly fat.
If you don’t change your work-out, and evolve it over time, no matter what body area you’re sculpting, it will not work. You’ll plateau, and get bored. For instance, when you first started working out, doing 25 crunches was pretty difficult. Now it’s easy, so it’s time to move up!
If you’ve ever done yoga, you know that variety of movement is key. It’s the same with abdominal exercises — you need to work the entire muscle group with a lot of variety. Crunches or sit-ups alone aren’t going to give you the results you want.
Our bodies are amazing, in particular our muscles. We can move up, down, forward, back, left, right… take advantage of that when you’re working your abs! This will improve your ab work-out, so move in a lot of different ways, in a variety of positions, not just laying on your back!
As with any exercise, or really just about anything else in life, if you’re doing it wrong, you might as well not do it at all. If you’re using improper or incorrect form while exercising your abs, you could be in danger of injuring yourself… and you’re not getting an effective work-out, either!
Your abs are no different than any other muscle group — it’s not a good idea to strain them too much. If you’re sore the day after you focus on your abs, that’s a sign you need a day off. Beginners ought to work their abs 1-3 days per week, and work their way up to 3-4 days per week.
Now that you know what to avoid when you’re working your abs, you can have a more effective work-out, and get better results… and what could be better than that? Big thanks to Ken, my personal trainer, for the tips… and for my flat, sexy abs! Do you have any other ab work-out tips to share? Please do!
Top Photo Credit: gspss