Begin by lying flat on your back. You can use a mat for comfort. Put your palms face-down at your sides. Lift your legs off of the ground so that they are pointing straight up towards the ceiling. Your body should form an “L”. Concentrating on using your lower ab muscles, gently lift your hips off the floor, keeping your legs straight. Hold for a second, then lower your hips back to the floor. Use smooth, controlled movements - don’t bounce or jerk. Repeat. Do this exercise until you feel the telltale “burn”, or for 4 sets of 15 reps. To increase the intensity of this exercise, keep your arms off of the floor. You can hold them up above the ground or raise them above your head.
Hang beneath a chin-up bar or another sturdy horizontal bar. Use a medium-wide grip. Your body should point straight towards the ground, with your hips very slightly rolled back. Raise your legs, knees bent, until your thighs make a 90-degree (L-shaped) angle with your torso. Hold this shape for a second, then gently lower your legs back to their starting position. Avoid twisting, jerking, or swinging your feet for this exercise. Improper form can cause pain or even injury. Repeat the exercise until you feel the burn, or for about 3-4 sets of 10-20 reps. Variations on this exercise exist. To make the exercise easier, you can use a specially-designed vertical bench which includes pads to rest your arms on. For an added challenge, you can want to keep your legs straight as you raise them or even add a weight between your feet. However, use caution when making this exercise more difficult - too much weight too fast carries the risk of a hernia. [3] X Research source
Begin by lying on your back with your legs raised in a “tabletop” position - your legs raised with knees bent. In other words, your thighs should form a 90 degree angle with the ground and your shins should form a 90 degree angle with your thighs. Spread your arms wide with your palms touching the ground. This provides a wide base to help you balance. Keeping your upper back still, use your lower abs to lift your hips off the floor. Your knees should come towards your chest. Hold this position for a second, then lower your hips back towards the ground gently. Repeat until you feel the burn, or for several sets of 12-20 reps. This exercise can be made more difficult by holding a small dumbbell between your feet. However, as always, use caution when performing ab exercises with extra weight to avoid injury.
Begin by laying flat on your back. With both hands at your side, gently and carefully raise both your legs and your torso about 45 degrees off the floor. Your body should form a “V” with your hips touching the floor. Keep your legs straight and maintain strong, balanced posture. Brace your ab muscles and uses your arms for balance. Some people find it easier to balance if they extend their arms parallel to the floor, pointing in the direction of their legs. However, if you do this, don’t use your arms to support your legs at all. Hold this position. Hold this position until you feel the burn, usually about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Repeat as needed. You can also do this exercise while seated in a chair. Scoot forward to the edge of the chair, then put your legs together. Lean back and grab onto the chair while you lift your legs up. Keeping your legs straight, bring your feet up toward the ceiling so they’re 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) above the floor. [4] X Expert Source Monica MorrisCertified Personal Trainer Expert Interview. 18 November 2019.
Side crunches. These easy exercises modify the basic crunch so that it hits both your obliques and your central ab muscles. Bridges. These exercises are great for strengthening the lower back without straining it. A great choice for people with lower back pain. Lunges. Don’t forget that your hips and legs are part of your core! Lunges are body weight exercises, that, in addition to strengthening your thighs, glutes, hips, and back, can improve your sense of balance. Yoga poses. Yoga is a highly effective, yet relaxing way to improve your core strength. It also has numerous side-benefits, including increased flexibility and balance.
There are countless weight-loss diets offered both online and in print. Some are healthy and sensible, others are amateurish and unrealistic, and still others are unhealthy. Most good weight-loss diets will recommend a diet based on some combination of the following advice:[6] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world’s leading hospitals Go to source Eat few sugary, fatty foods. Eliminate desserts from your diet, except for rare indulgences. Eat lean, filling protein. Chicken breasts are a great choice, as are certain types of fish and leaner cuts of red meat. Low-fat dairy, nuts, and seeds are also good choices. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. These nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods are essential for maintaining your body’s health. Eat sensible amounts of carbohydrates. Whenever possible, opt for healthier, more-filling whole-wheat varieties of bread and nutritious starch products. Your weight-loss diet shouldn’t be based on starvation or purging. Everyone needs to eat to a certain degree each day. Depriving your body of the food it needs will leave you tired and irritable and dull your senses. You’ll be less able to perform the muscle-building exercises you’ll need to build your V cut muscles and you may even experience muscle loss. In truly severe cases, you can even seriously endanger your health.
Running is one of the simplest, yet most intense and effective forms of cardio exercise. Balance running at high rates with jogging and walking to boost your metabolism. Rest at least a day between hard runs, but try to do some minor exercise on days off - for example, walk for half an hour.
If you do opt for resistance exercise, perform a healthy, balanced regimen of weightlifting and body weight-type exercises. Proceed slowly - never jump straight to high-weight exercises, or you risk serious injury.
Daily commute/transportation. Rather than driving to work, consider walking, running, or biking. Investigate public transportation options, which will require you to walk to and from the stop. Work. If your job requires you to sit at a desk all day, look for opportunities to get out of the chair. Consider investing in a standing or walking desk, or, if you can, just place your computer on top of a box or two to create a “poor man’s” standing desk. Switching up your desk routine is also a great idea for preventing back pain. [11] X Trustworthy Source National Health Service (UK) Public healthcare system of the UK Go to source Home relaxation. Rather than relaxing on the couch in front of the TV at home, keep moving on an elliptical trainer or do some simple exercises (like jumping jacks or lunges) on the floor.
