7 Tips on defining your abs
1. Do those ab carving moves!
Obviously this is a no-brainer! But remember, consistency is key, and of course adding resistance or weights makes them all the more effective.
A few of my favorite ab workouts are:
Side lifts
Seated or standing side to side box (best with resistance)
Seated or standing side crunches
Cross Punch Roll Up
Bicycle Crunches
Reverse crunch
Sit up
Jackknifes (standing and lying down)
Side planks
Ab pulse-ups
Leg presses
Mountain climbers
Hopefully in the future I will be able to post some of my routines with pictures for everyone.
(For now, you can google or youtube most of these – Ladies, check out Laura London’s Fitness videos!)
2. Strengthen your core in everything you do.
What I mean by this is whatever your workout regimen, try to choose exercises that are the most multi-functional. Many, like planks or the rock climber, or leg and butt moves, etc, engage the abdominal muscles to a greater extent than others.
3. Make that mind-body connection!
Don’t be a zombie when you move your body! Focus on the muscle groups you’re trying to work on. If it’s your abs, remember to squeeze those abs hard as you exhale and feel the contractions.
4. Do your cardio!
No matter how much your tone the muscles, if you’re not also getting rid of the fat around them, the definition is not going to show. Cardio is great for burning fat, it gets the heart rate up, increases energy, blood flow and improves mood. Just 15-20 mins can make a difference. And remember that while doing cardio, you can still target your abs.
5. Eat healthy fats.
Healthy fats are essential to our body’s nutrition. These are Unsaturated fats! They help promote healthy blood flow, lower bad cholesterol, improve joint function, reduce inflammation, promote healing and of course…contribute to weight loss, because the “good fats” are needed to help eliminate the bad ones.
Healthy fats include, your omega3 supplements like Fish oil and Flaxseed Oil.
Also, consuming foods like the wonderful Avocado, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Chia seeds, Hemp seeds, Nuts and wild caught, fatty fish, like Salmon.
6. Aim for a plant based diet.
I cannot advocate this enough! Plants give us all the nutrients we need to live healthy (yes, including complete proteins if you know the right foods to combine!). If you really want to nourish your body and watch the fat melt away, diet is the key. Even if you still eat a small portion of meat, the more plants you can get into your daily diet, the better! Remember, animal products are the ones with the highest amounts of the “bad” saturated fats that we wish to avoid!
7. Improve your posture.
This is last on the list, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. Your posture helps to train your internal organs and the muscles that hold them in. Yes, the abdominals!
Try standing straight and lifting your arms above your head, lift them as high as you can, stretch to reach the ceiling. As you do this, feel your torso lengthen and then tighten those muscles. Remember that feeling. As often as you can when you walk or sit, try to hold those muscles in and keep your body elongated. You’re training your muscles and strengthening your core just by doing this.
And of course though I mentioned it before, eating healthy is paramount! If your goal is your abs and losing fat around the middle, some more recommended reading is The Skinny Gut Diet, by Brenda Watson. It will give you the "skinny" on what foods help what hinders your goal of a slim tummy.
