Six packs for women

Let’s face it; it’s not everyone who can have a washboard stomach with a well-defined six-pack to boot. However, we can all dream about it, and even if we can’t get the user-defined six-pack along with the hard-as-nails washboard stomach, at least we can get something close to it.

Of course, this will entail a lot of hard work from you, mainly, if like I was, you’re starting with belly fat that stubbornly refuses to budge no matter what you do.

Six packs challenge

The truth of the matter is that even if you have little to no belly fat, you will need to work a little bit to arrive at, if not a washboard stomach, then something approximating that.

And if you’re thinking that this all sounds like too much trouble and that you would rather be doing something else right now, just think about your joy when you’re finally able to fit into that itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny bikini you were lusting after last summer or the fact that you can now take your shirt off in the height of the summer madness without fear of scaring the neighbors!

I won’t lie to you; it’s not going to be a cakewalk, but then again, if it was easy, everyone would have a flat and toned stomach, and then who would there be to appreciate your stunning physique?

Before we go any further, though, I would just like to say that I am not a nutritionist, or a sports or fitness coach, or any other such thing.

I’m simply an average person like you, a person who has had my fair share of struggles and who has come out of them with a renewed sense of self and a core of confidence that is not easily shaken.

And is all this because I now have a firm and flat stomach? That I am now able to walk down the street with my head held high, no longer ashamed of my figure (or lack thereof)?

The simple answer to these questions is No. None of that is the real reason why I am now a changed person; it just enhances my feelings and helps me to face the world.

You and your body

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll freely acknowledge that there will always be some part of our bodies that we love to hate – and it won’t matter whether we have the ideal body or not.

It’s human nature to be dissatisfied with some part or other of ourselves, and whether it’s our legs, thighs, our not-so-flat stomachs, or even our overall appearance we are most of us, not content with our bodies.

Now, at this point I could go into a discourse on the ins and outs of being satisfied and happy with what we have and how best to go about achieving this, but, since we’re here to find out how you can get firmer flatter abs, I’ll refrain myself!

However, before we go further, I would just like to point out that being happy with oneself, and being comfortable in your own skin, will go a long way towards helping you to get that body that you so crave.

How does that work then? Well, it’s very simple. Because you are happy and satisfied with yourself – the way that you look and who you are – you will be less likely to see all the flaws – both the existent ones as well as the non-existent ones.

This means that when you finally hit your target of getting six-pack abs or merely a firmer flatter stomach, you will be less likely to see all the wrongs with it, not to mention how much further you might still have to go.

Be happy in and of yourself, and you will find yourself leading a more contented life. You will also find that it is even easier for you to maintain your weight and your new firm flat stomach more quickly.

Firmer, Flatter Abs

Now that we have gotten over the fact that we all have parts of our bodies that we love to hate, maybe we can do something about it. This is it, the time to get to down to the nitty-gritty of this book. This is where we begin our journey to getting the flattest abs that we possibly can.

To begin with, it is first advisable that you read through this book and other books like this, to get a good understanding of what you are going to be doing. The next thing that you need to do is ideally to get a physical done before you proceed on your course. For more on that, see the next section, entitled “Talk with your doctor.”

To achieve firmer flatter abs, you can be assured that there are a few things that you will need to do, and some of it I’m afraid, entails your sacrificing some part of your life to achieve your goals.

In short, you will find that you need to let go of most of your junk food snacking (if not all!); you will need to dedicate yourself to achieving your goal of flatter abs, (which is hard in and of itself); and you will also find that you need to change your lifestyle to accommodate your new needs.

That said, I would also just like to say that it will be quite easy indeed to think at this point that you don’t want to go through with this, that it was all a good idea while it lasted, but now it’s time to get back to real life.

Well, I’m telling you here and now that you shouldn’t give up on your dreams and your goals.

But if I hadn’t said that, if I had instead tried to paint a rosy picture about how much you need to put in, to getting your flatter abs, I would be doing you a great disservice.

Why do you ask? Only because it would be ever so easy for me to allow you to believe that everything will be hunky-dory and that you will easily lose the weight and gain the muscle definition that you want without having to go too out of your way to get what you want.

The disservice that I would be doing you would then come later on down the line when you found that the going wasn’t so easy and that you had to work harder than you thought you did and when you discovered that you had to sacrifice more than you were willing to in the first place.

Which would mean that you would then be more inclined to drop the entire thing as being too much trouble, and then where would that leave you?

So, to achieve firmer flatter abs or a well-defined six-pack, you will need to work at it, and you will need to sweat for it, and you will need to make some necessary changes in your life.

But now that you know about them beforehand, now that you know what you can expect, and now that you know that you will have to make some changes in your lifestyle, you will be better prepared and better able to handle everything that comes your way.

And if you want to, you will also find that you will be able to incorporate these things slowly into your routine so that you are not bombarded at once by everything.

This, I found, is a good a way to go if you’re not really the exercising or sticking-to-routine kind of person.

Get a physical exam

Especially if you are looking to get well-defined abs and a firmer flatter stomach, you will find that you need to do quite a few high-intensity workouts, such as cardio exercise.

As this is the case, you will be better served getting a routine physical exam. This can help you to rule out any underlying health problems which might feasibly stop or prevent you from accomplishing all your ab training goals.

So, yes, it might be time-consuming, but you will find that you are most definitely better off for knowing in advance precisely what you can do and what you cannot do regards your ab training.

Having a routine physical exam done can also help you to formulate a better exercise plan that will make the best use of your present health. As you get healthier and fitter over time, you will then be able to ramp up your fitness schedule to take advantage of this fact.

You should also talk with your doctor about how often you will need to get routine physical exams done, to make sure that you are keeping fighting fit and trim in a healthy way.

It takes time and effort

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you can be assured that you won’t get firmer flatter abs in a day either. In fact, you can probably rest assured that you won’t get it in a week or two, either.

Like I keep on saying, you will need to work, and work hard, to get firmer, flatter abs, and to that end, you will find that you need to keep at it for some time. Don’t give up halfway through your efforts because of a flagging determination, stick with it and you will find that you are better off for it.

If getting a well-defined six-pack was ever going to be easy, then the truth of the matter is that most of us would already have one by now. But the combination of hard work, time, effort, and dedication, means that most of us will not get past week one in our efforts.

This is why you need to understand and accept for yourself that it will take time to get your abs looking just the way you want them to. It’s only when you do this that you will be able to continue on your way to losing that stomach bulge along with the sagging middle and getting your own set of well-defined abs.

If you fall off – get back on!

Just like the story about Adam and Eve, the temptation will rear its head, and you will find yourself tempted beyond belief to go for things that will lead you away from your exercise regimen.

It doesn’t matter what apple you find dangling in front of your face however, nor does it matter whether or not you took a bite of that apple or even whether you succumbed to gluttony and finished it ultimately.

What matters is what you did after you went for that ever-tempting apple, and how you dealt with matters afterward. Everyone will fall or fail at least once during their lifetimes at something or other, and the main thing is how you handled the aftereffects of this that counts.

For instance, if you gave in to temptation, ideally, you should put that out of your head. There’s nothing you can do about it now; the deed is done. Move forward and renew your efforts to get better-looking abs.

The one thing that you shouldn’t do if you give in to temptation is to moan and groan about it and generally give in to despair about it. Though, if you fall off and give in to temptation, then don’t give in and keep going back for more of the same. You need to get right back on and keep heading towards that goal.

I would like to tell you something that I was told once when I was close to going completely off course, and staying that way.

And for those of you who, like I was, are skeptical about that little theory, let me ask you a question: Crunches are all the rage just now to work your abs, so you probably have heard about them at least, but why are you doing crunches in the first place? What’s so powerful about crunches that they will help you to define your abs?

And more to the point, if crunches are so powerful, then why on earth do you need to do any other exercise? Why do all these people who have well defined six packs or eight packs workout regularly on things different crunches as well?

If you know the answer to those questions, then can you see the validity of my point? If you didn’t know them, and I’m assuming that some of you don’t know them, you would think that performing a few sets of ab crunches would do the trick for you and that you would get a six-pack in no time at all.

This is just not the case because, for one thing, you can’t spot reduce any part of you that you are not fond of, and for another thing performing only one type of exercise that targets only specific area will not help you to get better abs.

In fact, you will probably not see much in the way of improvement throughout your exercises. If you didn’t know this, then you would continue to do those crunches at a high number of reps, in the hopes that you would get flatter abs.

Knowledge is power, and in this case, the knowledge of why you are doing what you’re doing, and the knowledge of what you need to do to get flat abs, and how to go about it properly, will get you to all the right places.

Some exercises you can do

 

All of these exercises should be taken as guidelines only. If you are serious about going through with them, then please do take the time necessary to consult with a fitness expert and/ or your physician.

You will also want to take things slowly the first few times that you do these exercises, especially if you have not been exercising for some time, at a gentle pace to begin with. This is especially important for your health and safety.

So if you are going to go through with these exercises, then take them slowly, at a lower number of reps than you usually would, and work your way up to something more respectable.

To that end, doing only about 10-12 reps of each set[1], and doing each set for a max of about two times, is probably the way forward for you. Then, as you progress further along, you will find that you can increase the number of reps you do as well as the number of sets you do.

One thing you should keep in mind, however, is that at a certain point, doing more and more reps and more and more sets isn’t going to do anything for you or your abs.

When you come to a time when you can do about 20 reps and about 3-4 sets at a time, you should quit while you’re ahead. The extra workout you think you’re getting by doing more reps and more sets, isn’t going to do anything for you.

Another thing that you will want to keep in mind, and I do mention this elsewhere in the book, is that you shouldn’t work your ab muscles more than 3-4 times a week.

You need to give your muscles time to rest between workout sessions, and trying to work them to the max (i.e., seven days a week) isn’t going to help you get your six-pack any faster.

I believe that I mentioned this earlier as well. The exercises which I have given below might all be ab training exercises, but without a complementary diet, and a proper exercise routine, which makes the most of your ab muscles, you will find that it takes longer for you to get your washboard flat stomach.

These are exercises that can be done in the comfort of your own home, but I believe that it always helps if you can add to these, with either weight training exercises or cardio exercises or both.

With a proper training routine, you’ll find that you will get your washboard stomach faster than without these. To that end, one of the things which you should consider is getting a proper fitness routine worked out so that you can more easily reach your goals of getting flatter abs.

I would also like to note that all of the exercises which I have given below are primarily floor exercises, with only a few exercises that are using an exercise ball.

As such, although I have said that you should lie down on the floor, for your ease of comfort, you should use a floor mat or a mat-like object to cushion from the floor.

The plank

This is a reasonably simple exercise to perform, although you will need to practice at it to get it right. The idea behind this exercise is that you are building up your muscle endurance and stabilizing those muscles which you need to most.

What you need to do: The first thing that you need to do is to get into a position as if you are going to do pushups. You know the one where your body is outstretched like a plank, supported by your hands and your feet only.

Or, if you don’t know how to do pushups and therefore don’t know what the position is, try this.

First lie on the floor, face down, you should be flat as a plank. Bring your hands towards your shoulders, bending your arms at the elbows.

Firmly plant your hands on the ground next to your shoulders, or just underneath if this is comfortable for you, and place your feet so that only your toes are touching the ground.

When you are in this position, take a deep breath and push upwards using your hands and your feet as leverage to get your body up in the air, still as straight as a plank.

Your weight should now be mainly on your hands, with your feet primarily acting as stabilizers.

The trick to this exercise is that you don’t go down and then come back up again like for the pushups. Instead, you need to hold in your stomach tightly and keep your back as straight for as long as possible.

Breathe in and out evenly, making sure that you remember actually to do so!

(And if you want, this exercise can also be done with an exercise ball.)

Variation on the plank

Instead of getting into the classic pushup position for this exercise, beginners can also use a variation on the plank, where instead of having all your weight on your hands, you have your weight on your forearms.

What you need to do: And the way to do this is to lie face down on the floor, bring your arms up near your head so that your forearms are lying next to your head, and bracing your weight on these lift yourself up

You should be in a plank position but a much less strenuous one this time, where you can now work your way up to getting into the normal plank posture.

The crunch

This is the typical exercise that many people do to get washboard abs, but you have to understand that doing a crunch by itself won’t help you to achieve your goal; neither will doing high reps of these, do you any good either.

The trick is to do a normal number of reps and sets, but to make sure that you have proper form and technique while you’re doing it, then team it up with other exercises, which will help to make the most of the fact that you have performed crunches.

So the first thing that you need to do is to stop doing those high number of reps of crunches every morning and get into a good workout routine.

I would also like to say that this is the first, most basic version of the crunch. As you will see for yourself when you go further down the list of exercises, there are many variations on the crunch which you can do, and all of which can help you to achieve your goal.

What you need to do: Lay on the floor with your legs bent at the knees, your feet flat on the floor. Bring your legs up as far as they will go, making sure to keep your feet in front of you at all times. Your feet shouldn’t be behind, or underneath, your buttocks.

If you have the ideal place to do this, like a near a couch or something similar along those lines, maneuver yourself so that your feet are placed inside the gap between the couch and the floor.

Ideally, this should be as far as your feet can go, and the bottom of your couch, etc., should also be close to the floor.

This is so that when you start doing your crunches your feet have something to lock on to so that you gain more leverage to help keep you in one place.

Bring your arms up and in front of you, don’t place them behind your head as this will more than likely lead to you using your shoulders to pull you up into position rather than your ab muscles.

When you are ready, take a deep breath and raise your entire upper body, from the pelvis up, about 6-8 inches off the floor. You do not need to go any higher.

Hold in this position for a count of ten and then, on an inhale, slowly go back down.

Do this for about ten to twenty reps every time. More reps are not necessary, as I have mentioned before, but technique and form are.

The crunch with the exercise ball

This idea is similar to that of the standard crunch, but with the added effect of being able to put more pressure on your ab muscles to work harder.

What you need to do: Instead of lying flat on the floor, in this version of the crunch you are instead lying with your back on the exercise ball. Your feet should be planted firmly on the ground.

To get into this position, the easiest method is to sit on the ball with your feet planted firmly on the floor, then slowly roll the ball back, moving your feet as required until you are in a more or less horizontal posture, with the exercise ball positioned at the small of your back.

At this point, your thighs and upper body should be parallel with the floor, and your feet should be firmly on the ground. Make sure that you are feeling stable while you are on the ball; it’s also normal to have the legs planted slightly apart for this exercise as it gives you more stability.

To work the crunch, do as normal. Keeping your hands on your chest raise your torso – not your shoulders – about 6 inches above the horizontal. Hold your muscles in place for a count of ten and then slowly lower yourself back to your original position.

Ideally, to fully work your abdominal muscles, you need also to work the muscles supporting your back, and this can be done by performing your crunch, but having your starting point about 35-45 degrees below the horizontal.

In other words, you should really bend over backward about 35-45 degrees, then move upwards into your crunch.

Reverse crunch

This is a little different to the normal crunch (hence why it’s called a reverse crunch!), and you will need to put a little bit more effort into getting this done because it’s not as easy as it seems to perform this correctly.

What you need to do: Lie on the floor in the classic crunch position. If you want you can place your hands behind your head. For this exercise though, I prefer to have my hands along my sides, palms down.

For this crunch maneuver, you need to lift your knees in towards your chest until they are bent at a 90 degree angle, sort of like you’re seated in a chair with perfect posture.

You can then either cross your feet together to gain more leverage if you want or just leave them together.

When you are ready, begin your crunch by lifting your hips off the ground, extending your legs towards the ceiling.

Hold for a count of five, slowly lower your hips back down again, then repeat.

Remember not to use your legs to lift your hips up; you need to use your ab muscles to curl in your hips.

Pelvis lift

What you need to do: You need to be lying flat on the floor face up, with your palms flat on the floor next to you.

Your legs should be straight up in the air, either bent slightly or straight, but your feet should be facing the ceiling.

To perform the exercise, imagine that you are balancing a tray loaded with glasses on your feet, and raise your legs straight up towards the ceiling.

Your hips (pelvis) need to rise along with this. Raise your pelvis up as far as it can go, hold for a count of ten if you can and then slowly lower your legs back down towards the floor.

If you want you can even start this exercise in a crunch or sit-up position, as long as you first keep your legs extended in the air when you begin to exercise.

Do this for a set of ten reps if you can, or twenty if you can manage that.

The Bicycle

What you need to do: As ever, you will need to lie flat on the floor. Bend in your knees towards you, keeping your feet flat on the floor.

Place your hands behind your head keeping your elbows straight out, and bring your knees up so that your calves (your lower legs) are more or less parallel with the ground.

Begin this exercise by moving your legs in a motion that is similar to that of a person pedaling a bicycle.

When you bring your left knee inwards toward you, touch your right elbow to your left knee; and when your right knee comes in towards in the pedaling motion, touch your left elbow to it.

To do this, you will need to raise your body up from the ground slightly. This, in turn, will ensure that there is a twisting motion on your abs, while the effort of keeping your legs in the air will strengthen your abs.

Slow bicycle twist

This is a variation on the bicycle exercise, but with a twist, not literally, of course, just figuratively speaking.

What you need to do: You need to lie down on the floor stretched flat on your back. Make sure that your spine is not arched away from the floor as this can become uncomfortable for you during the exercise, and might even cause you a back injury.

Lace your fingers behind your head loosely, keeping your elbows pointing away from your head on either side.

Slowly bring up your left knee towards your chest, and at the same time, lift your upper body and slightly twist it from the waist to touch your right elbow to your left knee.

Lower your left leg and your torso back to the ground, and then perform the same thing with your right leg. Raise it so that your knee is coming towards your chest, and raising your torso once more off the ground, touch your left elbow this time with your right knee.

Remember not to use your neck muscles to perform this exercise as you could develop a neck strain, besides which you won’t be doing anything at all for your abs.

Repeat a max of 20-25 times a set before moving on to something else, and start with lower reps if you are only just beginning your ab training routine.

Russian twist

This is one exercise that you will find burns through you, especially with a higher set of reps and performed along with other ab exercises.

What you need to do: Lie down on the floor in the classic crunch position, with your knees drawn up, and your hands laced behind your head.

Slowly lift your upper body from the floor, twist from side to side. In this instance, your right elbow should go towards your left knee, and your left elbow should go towards your right knee.

In this instance, your knees are stationary, not like the Slow Bicycle movement we just went through in the earlier section.

Torso twist

This is if you will forgive the pun, a slight twist on the Russian twist!

What you need to do: You need to be in the same position as for the Russian twist, basically in the classic crunch position. Your knees drawn up, your feet planted flat firmly on the ground, and your hands laced behind your head.

Take a deep breath, and lift your upper body a few inches off the ground, making sure that you are not using your neck muscles to lift yourself.

Slowly move your body from the hip upwards, which is the portion that you lifted up, from side to side. Use your ab muscles to move your body sideways back and forth.

The trick to this exercise and what you might not realize necessarily at first is keeping your upper body clear off the ground while you are doing this. It’s effortless to do this exercise and end up with a carpet burn if you’re not doing it correctly!

Belly twist

This exercise is better for working your back muscles and should be done with care. I have also found that it is ideal if you do these in conjunction with crunches. So do a set of crunches first, then move to this one, and then back again to a set of crunches.

What you need to do: You need to be lying face down for this one, with your legs behind you if you have the ability to anchor your legs on something so that you don’t move around much when you’re performing this exercise.

Place your hands behind your head, lacing your fingers if you want to.

Take a deep breath, and lift your torso a few inches off the ground, and keeping your focus straight in front of you twist your body from side to side.

Do this for about 20 reps before stopping. Remember that your upper body should not be touching the ground when you do this exercise.

Hip twist

You will need a smaller exercise ball, or a round beach-ball sized ball to use in this exercise, which is also durable and not liable to burst in the middle of your exercise.

What you need to do: Lie down on the floor. Bring your knees up towards your chest and place the ball between your knees. This is why you need somewhat of a small ball so that it fits comfortably between the knees.

Next, spread your arms out sideways so that they are perpendicular to your body (think of wings which are outstretched). It’s also better if you keep your palms facing down on the floor.

Taking a deep breath, slowly bring your knees, keeping the ball firmly between them, sideways down to your right side. Your shoulders and back should be firmly in contact with the ground, and there should be no arching of the spinal cord.

To accomplish this exercise, you need to use your ab muscles to move your hips. You’re not moving your knees, although it does look that way, to begin with.

Vertical leg crunch

What you need to do: Lie on the floor, and this time instead of bending your legs and bringing them in to you, extend your legs straight up then cross them at the knees, not the feet, and hold that position.

Next, perform a crunch as you usually would, using your ab muscles to lift your shoulders up off the floor. You don’t need to go all the way into this as you would a sit up, so about 6-8 inches should do alright.

Hold this position for a count of three, let go, and slowly lower your shoulders back to the ground again.

Vertical crunch

What you need to do: You need to lie on the floor and place your hands behind your head, lacing your fingers if you want to. I prefer just having my fingers lightly touch the back of my head, as this ensures I won’t be pulling on my neck to lift me up.

Next, extend your legs straight up towards the ceiling. Do your basic crunch movement, lifting your shoulders off the floor a few inches using your ab muscles. But this time, you will also need to press your heels towards the ceiling.

So, you’re raising your shoulders off the floor your using abs, and at the same time you’re flexing your heels towards the ceiling, creating what appears to be a ‘U’ shape with your body.

Lower your shoulders and your heels back into a normal position and then repeat, remembering to keep your legs extended toward the ceiling all the time.

Long-arm crunch

What you need to do: Lie on the floor, keeping your body flat on the ground, and make sure that there is little to no curvature of your spine.

Then extend your arms up over your head, still keeping them on the floor, clasping your hands together so that your arms will now be touching your ears.

You can then either bend your legs into a crunch position, or you can keep them extended out, whichever you prefer.

When you’re ready, do a crunch, lifting your shoulders up off the floor. Hold the position for a count of three and then slowly lower yourself back down again.

Reach-for-the-sky crunch (on an exercise ball)

This is slightly different from the norm, and although it might seem a little tricky at first, you will soon get used to it.

What you need to do: Sit on the exercise ball with your feet planted firmly on the floor, about a shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower your upper body so you are parallel with the floor.

If this is too difficult a posture for you to maintain, or you find that back is becoming strained, position the exercise ball so that it is in the middle of your back, supporting you.

When you are in position and not about to fall off or roll around, raise your arms up high above your head so that your fingertips are pointing towards the sky (ceiling).

To do this exercise, you need to contract your ab muscles and lift your upper body up, so that your fingers are more or less reaching for the sky.

Remember to keep them as straight as possible, and perpendicular to your body. Hold this position for a count of five and then lower back down again.

If you can, to get the most out of this exercise, go back down below the horizontal so that you are bent slightly backward. This way, when you come back up again, you will find that you are exercising your muscles even more.

Leg raises

What you need to do: Lie on the floor, so that your feet are extended in one long straight line. Keep your hands alongside your body, palms facing downwards.

To begin this exercise, you will need first to remember to keep them raised throughout the reps that you are doing.

When you are ready to begin your exercise, slowly raise your legs, keeping them together and in a straight line, upwards until they are at about a 45-degree angle to your body.

Try and hold this position for a count of five, and then very slowly lower them back down again to their original starting position a few inches off the floor.

This exercise is using your ab muscles to keep your legs in the air, and you will find that as you progress through more reps, it gets harder and harder for you to keep your legs from touching the ground.

But this is what you must do, and you also need to make sure that your spine is not arching as you are lifting and lowering your legs.

This won’t be good for your spine, and if you feel yourself doing this, stop immediately, take a rest and try again.

Ideally, the first few times that you try this, you should concentrate on getting the form and the technique of the maneuver right, so that you don’t hurt yourself and so that you get the most out of this exercise.

Leg raise crunch

This is a slight variation on the leg raise exercise that we went through earlier, and can burn into your abs when you’re doing it correctly.

What you need to do: Get into position as if you are going to be doing a Leg Raise. Basically, lie flat on the floor, and keep your hands alongside your body palms facing down.

Just like in the Leg Raise, you will need to keep your feet a few inches off the floor at all times.

When you are ready to begin, raise your legs at a forty-five degree angle to your body as in the Leg Raise, and at the same time, also raise your shoulders off the floor a few inches performing a crunch.

After a few reps of this, you will feel the burn in your stomach.

Side hip-lift

This one can be a little difficult to manage the first time around, but perseverance will bring its own rewards, and you will find that if you just take the time, you will be able to do this exercise properly.

What you need to do: Get on the floor again, and this time, lie down on your side. It doesn’t matter which side you start with because you will then have to shift to the next side after the first set of reps.

So, if you’re lying on the right side, you need to be atop your right forearm. Brace your weight on this forearm. Your legs should also be atop one another, and your other hand should be behind your head.

Keeping your upper body as straight as possible, you need to lift your hips off the floor. That’s right your hips.

And as you’re lifting your hips your legs should still be together. Don’t use your legs to lift your hips off the floor, remember to use your abdominal muscles, so contract them for you to get your hips off the floor.

Slow leg drop

What you need to do: Lie on the floor with your legs extended towards the ceiling. Your hands should be behind your head fingers laced together.

When you are ready, slowly drop your legs – as one – towards the floor, but only a few inches. Don’t use your hips or any other part of your part to move your legs, other than that of the abdomen muscles.

This is the whole point of the exercise for you to strengthen your abdominal muscles, so, to get the maximum effect from this exercise, those are the muscles that you need to use.

If you want, you can also lower your legs further downwards, as long as you remember to keep your feet a few inches off the floor.

Scissor kick

What you need to do: Lie on the ground face up. Keep your arms either alongside your palms down or behind your head.

As in the Leg Raise exercise, raise your legs a few inches off the floor and hold in place for the duration of the exercise. Remember that your feet should not touch the ground when you are performing this routine.

Take a deep breath and move your legs in an up and down motion that resembles a scissor. In other words, raise your right leg up, then as this leg is going down, raise the left leg up.

Continue in this fashion using a smooth movement for your allotted amount of reps before moving on to another exercise altogether.