Whatever my workout of the day is, I always make sure that it includes abdominal work. There are a couple of reasons for this:
- I want to minimize my middle! If there’s one thing I really dislike, it’s my midriff hanging over my waistband. To me, it’s sloppy. And, to me, it’s uncomfortable.
- More importantly, I want my core to be as strong as possible to support my back. Back pain is debilitating, and I don’t want to experience it again! Having back pain makes everything harder. Even work done while sitting is harder! Sitting is painful, and while lying down might be easy, you’ve got to get up sometime!
So, I always incorporate ab work into my workouts. If it’s not part of a video I’m doing, I’ll do some on my own.
Crunches are effective, done the right way, but they can be tedious. And form must be spot-on! So I try to look for variations in ab exercises.
The plank is a great all-around exercise. It targets the core, the arms, and the legs. And there are a zillion variations that you can do.
I also try to practice my balance every day. (Have you gotten my free download yet? A Week of Balance! – get yours up and to the right!)
So, here’s a plank variation combining abs and balance. Just lift your opposite arm and leg and hold. Make sure your stomach is in, your back is flat, your hand is directly under your shoulder and you have equal weight on your hand and foot.
If that’s hard, start on your knees. You can also start by just lifting your leg or your arm, not both. As before, make sure your stomach is in, your back is flat and your hand directly under your shoulder. (And, of course, it always helps when your dog helps! That’s Booker’s rear end in the photo.)