Spring is approaching, and we will be donning swim suits soon! It’s time to think about toning your body.
The Gut Buster, also known as the Ab Roller, was marketing as a way to do lower ab exercises. You were to lay on the ground, neck on the rest bar, hands on the side handles, and roll with the Gut Buster or Ab Roller. These worked terribly! They promised to support your neck and always ended up hurting my husband’s and my neck. We bought the Gut Buster off of a television ad. Too bad it didn’t help tone our abs and ended up costing us money to go to a chiropractor. I tried to use this gently to see if I could somehow get the Gut Buster to actually work. Finally, I sent this lower ab exercise piece of trash to the curb.
For beneficial lower ab exercises that have worked for me, see the following recommendations:
Leg lifts-Laying on the floor on your back and lifting your legs. I would do about twenty five leg lifts on each leg to start. Every few days add five more leg lifts. Start to lay on your side and lift your legs to tone your legs and love handles twenty five times.
While laying on your back, the leg lifts help to tone your abs well. You can feel the burn the more leg lifts you do. The slower you raise and lower your leg, the more pain and gain you will receive! I lost inches doing this while cutting down portions of food. I ate healthier by making better choices in food such as sherbet instead of fattening ice cream. Drink a lot of water instead of empty calories in soda pop.
NordicTrack– If you own a NordicTrack Ski Machine I am sure you can attest that this works wonderful for your abs! It is a lot of hard work. Be prepared to sweat!
You “ski” on the NordicTrack using both your arms and legs. Your arms sway back and forth as your legs do the skiing. The NordicTrack has a nice smooth glide so as not to jar your back. For people with back problems the NordicTrack is a must. Once your back is feeling better, use the NordicTrack (after getting permission from your doctor) to build up your lower stomach muscles. My husband had back problems a lot. After using the NordicTrack he rarely has back problems anymore. His abs are trim, too! Before using the NordicTrack I always do leg lunges. Also, calf stretches. After getting off of the NordicTrack I like to walk around for about three minutes. This will help you not feel stiff after skiing.
Crunches– Lay flat on your back, hands behind your head, knees bent, and slowly lift your head off of the ground about eight inches. I start out with twenty five crunches and work my way up to three hundred crunches per day. You do not have to do all of your crunches in one sitting. Break them down to some immediately in the morning. When you get home from work finish the crunches off.
Good old walking- Helped me tone up and lose weight. By adding at least thirty minutes of fast-paced walking to your day in combination with the leg lifts and crunches, you will be burning up calories! By burning up calories you will see the inches start to fall off. You will start to see your body tone up. A feeling of well-being.
Get outside and walk with your children and/or dog. Make it a family event. Go take a hike in a hilly area to really work your muscles. Mix up the places you walk so it will not get boring. If you have a treadmill, get moving while listening to music! I noticed if I watched my favorite television show or a movie, I did not walk as quick. If watching television works for you then do it. Whatever works best for you to get involved in exercising.
Swimming– Doing swim aerobics helped me to tone my abs. I never took a class. I did my own exercises against the water resistance. Again, the leg lifts in the water. While standing, lift one leg in front of you ten times, lift leg to the side ten times, and lift leg behind you ten times. Alternate legs. Repeat five times.
If you are by a pier or the side of a strong swimming pool hang on to the side at position yourself at arm’s length away. Lift both of your legs up at the same time. Curl your knees up to your stomach. You can feel the burn in your abs. Repeat ten times. Take a break. Repeat ten times for more lower ab exercises. Have fun swimming and come back to this exercise two more times.
I did learn from a fitness trainer if you want rock hard abs such as the notorious “six pack”, in addition to exercising you have to change your way of eating. The rules for that were too hard for me! For others it may be fine, but I am happy with a toned stomach that looks good in clothes. It does not have to be a six pack. I have to get back to doing all of these exercises right along with you!
