The single most important exercise you can do (ever) is the plank. Every client that I have, no matter what age or condition, does some variation of this exercise. It is the best exercise to strengthen the abdominal muscles. Everyone wants to focus on crunches, but crunches are not that important. They are also not good to do if you have diastasis recti (the separation of the abs that sometimes occurs during pregnancy). When you think of your abdominal muscles, you are probably thinking about the muscles that you associate with having a six-pack. The plank strengthens the layer of abdominal muscles underneath those that are responsible for giving you good posture, protecting your internal organs, controling incontinence, pushing out a baby, giving you good balance, etc.
To do the plank:
1) Start on all fours with your forearms on the floor, elbows directly under the shoulders.
2) Engage your abs. This means to act as though you are pulling your belly button in towards your spine.
3) Extend one leg all the way out and then the other. This can be a very difficult position to hold. Feel free to bring both knees to the ground without changing any other body position-keeping your shoulders above your elbows. If your back starts to hurt, this is normal. That will go away with time. Bring your knees to the floor.
4) Hold for as long as you can. Take a break and repeat one or two more times.
**Make sure you are breathing the entire time!
Set a goal to hold the position for 30 seconds. After you have mastered that, work your way up to 45 seconds and then 60 seconds.
This is a great exercise! If you don't make time for any other exercise during the day, make time for this one. It will only take about 5 minutes out of your day (max).
The full version looks like this:
But this is something to work towards. Don't worry about doing that now.
(pictures courtesy of babyfit.com and all-about-abs.com)
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