Fitness with a Twist of Lyme: Home Abs!

Home Ab Workouts

Hello everyone! Recently I was asked by a friend to send her some workouts that she could do to help get a more toned stomach and get some muscle!

First off, I'd like to let you all know there is no quick way to get a slim, well muscle toned stomach, it takes time, dedication, and like all other workouts, clean eating!! I know there are a lot of ads out there that you will see "Abs in 30 days!" "Do these 3 things and you'll have abs in no time!" It's just not true, everyone's body works at a different rate. For instance, my arms tone faster than my legs whereas a friend of mine's arms are the last thing they can sculpt and yet her legs seem to come out of nowhere! Everyone's is different so don't get frustrated if you don't see results right away, you will get there just DO NOT GIVE UP!

So I'd like to help you all out by showing you mainly abdominal exercises that don't involve any equipment so that way you can easily do it at home during your busy schedule!

I'd like to start this off with a workout routine I like to do from my good friend Brian who put together some fairly popular ab workouts into one routine:

Ab Routine #1
*Each movement/position (8 total) are each done within 30 seconds making this routine a total of 4 minutes

The Crunch - Lie on the floor, knees bent but separated to the knees and feet are slightly more than hip width apart. Now lift your upper body up, shoulders packed and off the floor and abs contracted with arms forward and hands together in what I like to call The Superman with one hand on top of the other between your legs. Now crunch, but do not bring your upper body to the ground, shoulder blades must not touch the ground, this keeps your abs contracted at all times and you receive more out of your workout unlike a regular crunch. Do this for 30 seconds
Heel Touch - Now you are going to be keeping the same positioning as the crunch with shoulders packed and shoulder blades off the floor keeping the abs in constant contraction except put your arms to your side. The motion is easy, move your torso side to side so that you go back and forth touching your heels, right hand to right heel, left hand to left heel never going down but only moving side to side, This really works your external obliques! Do this for 30 seconds and just keep going side to side until the 30 seconds are up!
Flutter Kicks- Upper body off the floor the exact same way as 1 and 2, hands under buttocks and legs out straight off the floor slightly. Keep shoulders packed and off the floor so you are constantly contracting your abs. Now in this position slightly oppositely move your legs up and down but not too far apart, do not let the leg that is at the moment on the bottom touch the floor or fling the leg up high on top at the time far up, just a slight "flutter", you want to make sure you are in control and keep it a smooth motion. Do this for 30 seconds.
Modified Boat - Had no other name for this but it looks close like The Boat, a yoga pose. It is the same exact position as the flutter kicks except no flutter kicks. Keeping your legs straight out off the floor, upper body off the floor, shoulders packed and shoulder blades off the floor keeping abs contracted and your hands under your buttocks. Now hold this position for the full 30 seconds. The closer your legs are to the floor the harder it will be and the more you will work those abs!
Side Plank Hip Ups (counts as 2, done on each side) - Start on either right or left side it is up to you, you'll be doing both anyways! All you do is bring your hip down, contracting those abs, and then lift it back up to standard side plank but only let it slightly hover off the ground when bringing it down so you are once again constantly contracting your abs! Keep bring your hip up and down until the 30 seconds are up and then flip to the other side and do the exact same thing!
Spider Walk - In a push-up position, keeping legs either together or separated (together is a better, harder workout) and alternate bending legs and brings them out to the side as if to have the knee touch the elbow. Alternate and complete in 30 seconds
Front Plank - Complete this routine with a 30 second regular front plank. I prefer elbows on the floor. Keep back straight, now sinking back or butt up in the air, you want to keep your back strong, you are not only working your abs, you are also giving your arms, upper back, glutes and quads a good workout! So keep them strong!

Now take about a 30 second rest and do it all over again until you have done it 3-5 times!

One main thing, do NOT forget to breathe!! You are not helping yourself by holding your breath, your muscles need oxygen as much as your lungs do so give them what they want!

Other Ab Workouts

Of course there's the plank, front and both sides. It's great to get into planking, you aren't only working your abs but when done correctly you work biceps, chest, glutes (butt), quads (thighs), neck, back and calves!!

The key to planks is to do them regularly!! Do a plank every day so you can improve easier.

Do an initial plank to get yourself at a starting point, hold it as long as you can until fail (fail meaning falling down or getting out of correct form) That is your starting point. Do one every day and consistently move up your time. A good starting goal is to try and gain 15-30 seconds per week. It's a realist goal that with the dedication and consistency can be completed!

When I first stated physical therapy I could hardly hold for 15 seconds and now numerous times I have been able to hold for 10 minutes! So it IS possible!!

Plank Variation

I enjoy shaking things up with my planks to help holding them not get too boring:

Hold a front plank for 2 minutes then get to a side plank position and hold for 30 seconds then switch to the other side for 30 seconds and go back to the front side plank and continue holding for an other 2 minutes and do an other set of 30 second side planks and keep repeating until fatigued.

Do this every day and before you know it you will improve and get stronger! Sometimes what helps me when doing planks is flipping my timer so I can't see it and therefore are not watching the clock causing the time to go by faster and not give my brain a trigger that once it sees I get to a certain time it thinks that's as far as it can go and my body would then start to shake earlier than it would if I were not looking at the time. Just a simple little mind trick.

*In a front plank, the closer the legs are together the more difficult it becomes making it the more effective way to do a plank.

Exercise Ball

For those who have one, you can do a plank with and exercise ball. It keeps the pressure off the shoulders and from what I've noticed does work the abs more because I most definitely cannot hold this for 10 minutes!

You will be in a front plank position with your exercise ball under both your shins sort of at your ankles, closer to your feet the ball is the tougher it is! Use your timer to keep track of your time and go until you just can't anymore.

If strong enough, bend your legs bringing the ball in and buttocks up, making sure this motion is through the abs and make sure every time you flex and extend back you are using full control. Do about 3-4 sets of 15 reps

With your exercise ball now bring it under your arms so your forearms are resting on the ball and hold the plank like this. To make it more challenging move the ball with your arms up and down, side to side and/or in a circular motion alternating clockwise and anticlockwise keeping sure you do these in a smooth, strong and controlled fashion. Once again doing about 3-4 sets of 15 reps (up and down =1, side to side =1, one full circle = 1)

Now of course you want to be sure that you get your protein to help rebuild muscle you broke down while working them and get the carbs you need to complete the rest of your day after you complete a workout if you want to see results and work on clean eating! Abs are made in the kitchen! Muscle growth and fitness goals do not stop at the gym, they come with you during your daily life, the food you eat and the stress you face. So eat right, eat enough and eat according to your goals!

More about the right supplements and foods to eat when on a workout plan will come soon to this blog so hang tight!

*Keep track of your progress, this will not only let you know where you are at with these workouts but also let you see your progress and therefore keep you motivated and encouraged to keep up with it! :)

Keep up the amazing work everyone! Don't give up and don't slack! This isn't easy and won't happen over night. If you really want something you have to work your butt off for it, nothing good happens while in a hurry or in little to no time at all.

Front Plank