Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of My-Personal-Growth.com, a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and development.
HOW TO TIGHTEN UP YOUR STOMACH MUSCLES
Kevin Sinclair
Most people want to look
their best, especially during the warmer spring/summer months where
most people dress on the lighter side.
To look your best, many people
focus on strengthening and tightening up their stomach muscles. If you
look even a little bit, you can find many stomach muscle exercises to
consider for your exercise program. So which exercises are best for you?
There are a couple of things to consider before choosing the actual
exercise program to strengthen and shape your midsection. The first
thing is you need to pick a program that you are really willing to
complete and stick with, since no exercise program will have any
long term benefit if it isn't maintained. The second thing to consider
is to choose a set of exercises that work all the various muscles
groups that form the abdomen - from the obliques to the upper and lower
abdominal muscles.
Stomach crunches have always been a popular and effective stomach exercise.
Regular crunches work the front stomach muscles while side crunches
work the obliques. Crunches are not perfect though and for some can
cause back and neck strain.
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A crunchless crunch exercise ...
is a lower abdominal core exercise where
the intent is pull the lower abdominal muscles at the belly button
inward toward your spine and hold for 10 seconds. This really works
those lower muscles that you probably did not even know where there.
This type of exercise is done while kneeling or when lying on your
stomach. This exercise also eliminates the back and neck strain you may
get with a normal crunch.
A long arm crunch ...
involves lying on your back and with knees bent and
feet flat. Put your arms straight back as if to reach over your head
and then contract your stomach muscles slowly and lift your arms head
and shoulders off the floor to about a 30 degree angle. Hold this
position for a few seconds and then slowly go back to your original
position. Rinse and repeat for a set.
The hip lift ...
involves lying on your back with arms at your sides and
palms up. Then lift your legs straight to about a 90 degree angle to
your torso and hold. Now contract your lower abdominal muscles at your
belly button to your spine. At the same time, lift your hips off the
floor to a height of 2-3 inches and hold there, your legs still being
held straight upward. after a few seconds lower your hips back to the
floor and then repeat the cycle for a set.
Another good stomach muscle exercise involves laying flat on your
stomach with legs straight and arms extended above your head. Now,
raise your body up with hands clasped together as if you were doing a
pushup. Hold this position for as long as you can stand it and repeat
as desired. This exercise strengthens your whole stomach.
The Pilates Workout ...
offers a good stomach muscles exercise because each Pilate exercise
focuses on strengthening the core of the body otherwise know as your
stomach muscles. Almost every movement in in Pilates will work the stomach muscles directly or indirectly so Pilates is a good choice to consider.
There are other stomach muscle exercises out there not mentioned here
that are good as well like the vertical leg crunch and the torso twist.
If you are serious about working and strengthening your abdominal
muscles you will find it advantageous to try several different stomach
muscle exercises to find which ones work best for you.