Tummy exercises

Haven’t you been in the situation when after a good dinner you feel “twice bigger”? That of course, is never true in reality, and the fact that a person is actually working out unconsciously all the time, while sitting, standing, walking, and even eating, just adds up to it. You also work your belly muscles while doing press ups and most other upper body moves.

Basic Sit-ups

Basic sit-ups are very suitable if you haven’t been doing any king of work to tone your tummy. Lie on your back on the floor with your legs bent and your feet on the floor. Put your hands behind your head or upper part of your neck. Breathe in and while breathing out use your tummy muscles to lift your torso a few inches from the floor. Hold for a few seconds and go back to where you started. Do this exercise for no more than 20 times.

Reverse Sit-ups

Have your arms down by your sides as you lie down on the floor with your knees in over your chest bent at a 90 degree angle. Use your tummy muscles to gently pull your knees in towards your chest. Hold them for a few second and slowly move them back to the 90 degree angle position.

The Hover

Start the exercise from standing on all fours with your hands stretched all the way down under your shoulders. Come off your knees onto your toes slowly so that you would lean in the way that would concentrate all your weight in your hands and arms. While doing so your arms should be bent a little bit. Try to keep your body in a straight line making sure you don’t arch your back or drop your butt. If that’s too difficult, drop back onto your knees, but try to keep your weight in your hands, so that your tummy muscles will be working while holding you off the ground.

Leg-ups

Sit comfortably on a stability ball and stretch one leg out straight in front of you and keep the other foot on the floor. Use your lower stomach muscles to keep the balance in order not to fall off the ball. Stay this way for up to 20 seconds, and then switch the legs.

Rounded Sit-ups

Sit on the ball keeping both feet on the floor. Then contract your tummy muscles by leaning back gently. Hold the muscles contracted for a few seconds and lift your waist up in one move. Avoid arching your back, and if an exercise makes your back hurt, stop doing it immediately and move on to another exercise. If you feel fine, repeat the move for 15-20 keeping the muscles contracted for a longer each time.

Abdominal exercises

When one speaks about abdominal exercises one is probably thinking of the exercises specifically designed for toning the area between chest and hips. Abdominal is a more general term for tummy muscles, which practically takes a broader area than what we think of a tummy. However, human anatomy is created in a way that it’s very rare when only one group of muscles is working. Therefore if you want to get rid of your belly you will have to exercise your abdominal muscles for the sake of keeping proportions.

Abdominal crunch

Lie down on the ground with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Note that this is an abdominal crunch not a sit up, so keep your focus on your abdominal muscles instead of pulling yourself from your arms. Make sure your abdominal muscles are right, neck straight and chest up. Crunch your weight up and forward starting with your breastbone. Keep the lower part of your back flat on the ground throughout the course of the exercise. Lower your weight and stop leaning backwards right before your shoulders touch the ground. Reverse the motion back up. Repeat for 10-12 times, then make a break of about 60 seconds and repeat again.

Reverse abdominal crunch

Lie down on the floor with your legs straight and your hands underneath your bum. Keep your head and the lower part of the back on the ground while pulling your legs up and back to a 90 degrees angle from the floor. Make sure you don’t lock out your knees and stay focused on your abdominal muscles. Lower you legs and stop right before your feet touch the ground. Reverse the motion back up.

The plank

Lie down flat on your stomach and place your hands at either side of your chest with your elbows tuck into your sides (similarly to the position of press-ups.) Keep your back flat all the time while pushing yourself up onto your knees. While doing that your upper part of the body should be off the floor and your hands and knees should act as support. Pull in your belly button as high as possible but try to keep your back flat. Breathe normally and hold the abdominal muscles contracted in this position for 10-60 seconds. Take a short break and repeat the exercise twice.

Buttocks exercises

Butt, buttocks, bottom, buns, behind, bum, ass etc. is another area that tells a lot about your physical state and adds up to your good/bad looks. In order to make the size and shape of your butt closer to what you’d like it to be, it is again necessary lead a healthy way of living and have regular physical exercises.

You can make your bum work out always every time you get to sit. All you have to do is to scoot your butt a few inches forward away from the back of your seat and gently press your feet against the floor. Then constrict your butt muscles and hold for 5 minutes. Repeat the exercise for four times.

Deadlifts

Clasp your hands together in front of your coxa and stand with your feet wide apart and your toes pointing out. Bend forward from your hips and bend your knees at the same time. Keep your lower back straight. Then reach back between your back and get your buttocks stuck out. Bring your chest as close to your knees as possible. Straighten up quickly, extend your hips and knees fully, and throw your coxa forward while tightening your buns as hard as possible. Repeat the move for 15-20 times.

You can make this exercise even more intense if you happened to have a light barbell to hold on to. You don’t have to lift the barbell with your arms. All you have to do is let it hang down from your arms while you’re straightening the body upright.

Kneeling kickbacks

While standing on all fours stretch one leg straight back and touch the floor with your toe. Raise your leg as high as possible and concentrate on butt muscles. Lower it to the starting position and repeat. Switch the legs and do the same.

Pelvic lifts

Lie down on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Lift your pelvis and constrict the butt muscles. Lower your pelvis back to the floor, let your buttocks rest for a few seconds and repeat the move.

The squat

Stand with your feet in hip distance apart. Bend the knees and lower your buttocks to knee-level. Lift arms to shoulder height and stretch them to the sides as you lower into the squat. Constrict the butt muscles and hold for five seconds, then straighten your legs and return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise.

The stork

Concentrate your weight on your right leg and let the toes of your left foot rest lightly on the ground. Bend and straighten the right knee for 30 seconds. While staying in the squat lift your left foot off the floor and hold it for another 30 seconds. Switch the legs and repeat the move.

The butt isolator

Stand on all fours. Rest your elbows and your forearms on the ground and position your knees hip distance apart. Extend one leg by lifting it to hip level. Hold it for a few moments and lower back to the floor. Repeat for ten times and the switch the legs.