Thursday 5 June 2014

STOP Your 30 day ab challenge NOW!

There are pros and cons to your 30 day ab challenge.

Let's cover the pros, few that there are, first.  Firstly, a 30 day challenge of any sort that you actually stick to, will change your mindset in a positive way.  It will teach you staying power and it will boost your self esteem and perhaps ultimately inspire you to do some proper exercise.

And here are the cons.

The 30 day ab challenge, I suspect, will have a lot of mums as followers.

Over 60% of those mums will have diastasis recti.  This is where the abdominal muscles stretch during pregnancy so much so that they separate.  Fewer than 30% of you will have abdominal muscles that went back together after your pregnancy, the rest of you will still have that separation.

Crunches are THE worst thing you can do if you have diastasis recti!  The WORST thing!  Doing crunches creates doming of these muscles and increases the separation.  Doing a 30 day ab challenge that includes crunches will NOT result in a slimmer, more toned tummy.  Quite the opposite!
And, to be honest, crunches just aren't the most effective way of getting a flat stomach or strong abs.

Secondly, situps, performed without an ab mat that supports your lower back, if you have never done exercise before, is a recipe for lower back disaster.  Don't do them!

Thirdly, once you can do a 60 second plank, you don't get any benefit from doing them for longer.  You need to start doing dynamic ab moves.

This 30 day ab challenge is a waste of your time and potentially dangerous and definitely counter-productive if you are looking for a flatter tummy and stronger abs.

This is what you need to do to get a flat tummy and strong abs.

Here is your 30 day ab challenge that actually delivers safe, effective results.  Guaranteed.

Morning and night (so do this 2 x a day):


1     Stop eating and drinking crap! Just stop it! No sugar.  No processed food.  Just real nutrition!
2     Day 1 do 10 jump squats.  Add 2 more each day.
3     Day 1 do 10 dead bugs, add 2 more each day.
4     Do an equal number of back extensions as dead bugs.

BOOM!


Add in pressups - as many as you can do on day 1; add 1 more each day and you will be setting off the alarms at the airport, this summer!
If you can't do full pressups, don't do knee pressups - you'll never get strong enough to do real pressups doing knee pressups.  Do the lowering phase of a press up to the floor - chest and hips hit the floor at the same time - then come back up on your knees into a straight arm plank and lower again.


After 30 days, buy a decent fitness book, get a Personal Trainer or join some classes and begin making exercise a part of your daily routine.  Relying on those lone 30 days before bikini weather each year is not going to give you the body of a Greek deity!






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