I remember when I first started working out, I thought I would never get my stomach down. I looked a little bit like a post-pregnant woman. The only problem is that I've never been pregnant. It was quite sad and discouraging for me to look at myself and see how I let my body go.
Finally I decided to target my abs...shortly after I realized I just wasn't "into" crunches. I mean I hated them! I know its someone out there saying, "well do them any way"...well that's easier said than done. My problem is that I am the type of person that has to actually "like" the exercises I'm doing. I realized right away that if I don't like doing something, whether its good for you or not, I won't make it a consistent habit. I knew I NEEDED to find an abdominal workout that would really be fun, different and that I could actually do on a consistent level.
My first introduction to working out my abdominals was not on purpose. I inadvertently learned how to do this while doing yoga. Yes Yoga! Yoga was a great introduction to targeting those abs. Those standard planking, side planking, and boat pose positions...all target your midsection. Those positions are great for the entire core! However, they also target the midsection, which is the strongest part of your core. It's just an added bonus that your arms and legs gain strength while performing those positions too. Doing yoga, really showed me that working out can be relaxing and not so "hard core" and strenuous all the time.
I also discovered a few other exercises, simply from watching men at basketball practice. I was out walking/running on a bike path at the beach, one day. Ironically, at a certain point on the path it leads to a basketball court. So as I was catching my breath and taking a break, while sitting on a bench...I watched some guys prepare for their basketball game. I thought the exercises they did were awesome. I immediately noticed how similar some of those core planking moves looked to the ones I learned in yoga. But there were a couple of other moves that were new to me. I literally got up right from where I was sitting and tried them. I felt them in my abdomen immediately and knew those exercises were keepers!
Now I know its difficult to do these exercises without specific examples of what I'm talking about. So here are a few youtube videos, just to show you how these exercises are performed. Try them with the videos. You'll be surprised at how you can work your abdominals and your entire core in about 10 mins!
Happy Ab (Core) Exercising!
*The youtube videos posted within this article is for the intent and purposes of showing various ways of targeting the abdominal section with a variation of exercises. Veg Vivaciously is not affiliated with the people and/or organizations represented in the videos.*
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