For a Whittled Middle, Commit These Four Rules to Memory:
1. Your spine is already flexed, don't make it worse.
If your day is spent hunched over a computer or a steering wheel, your spine is in a constantly flexed position (you're straightening up right now, aren't you?), leading to poor posture and a weak core. So why would you worsen the problem with spine-flexing exercises like crunches? The moves in this program help prevent or correct misaligned posture.
2. The terms core and abs are not interchangeable.
Crunches work your abs, but for the highest benefits, you need to work your entire core, which is made up of the four layers of the abs (rectus abdominis, external and internal obliques, and transverse abdominis), hip flexors, spine extensors, hip adductors (inner thigh muscles), hip abductors (including gluteus medius), and multifidus.
3. Move more and often.
Consider this stat: Each 10 percent rise in sedentary time is associated with a 3.1 centimeter larger waist circumference. (Ahh!) Researchers found that, of the waist measurements of people who got up most often were more thatn two inches smaller than those of people who got up the least.
4. It's not just about gym time.
A study found that while a group's average weight loss after a 12-week fitness program was about eight pounds, individual results ranged from a loss of 32 pounds to gains of almost four pounds. So although exercise is the key for shedding belly flab, weight control still comes down to calories. To drop weight, you simply have to burn off more of them than you take in.
Adapted from The New Rules of Lifting for Abs: A Myth-Busting Fitness Plan for Men and Women Who Want s Strong Core and a Pain-Free Back, by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove (Avery)
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/ab-workout-women
Posts
