Full Body: Losing the Pooch

There are so many names for that area between the groin and the belly button. Pooch, Bunt, Kangaroo Pouch, etc.  For women who have previously born a child, it can be puffy and one of the toughest areas to target.

But could the way you're walking be preventing those lower abdominal muscles from strengthening --  creating a nice vacation home for fat? Two common forms of posture for standing and walking, is hips tucked in or booty hanging out. That would be the first picture and the fourth picture.
 


When you walk and stand in the number one position, hips tucked in, your lower abdominal muscles engage and tone in a smaller straight alignment to the sacrum of the spine. Over time, these muscles will tone and squeeze out the fat between the layers of muscles.

Now go to the booty out picture in number 4. By sticking your butt out, you are not tightening you core muscles, you are actually puffing them out. The muscles can build and form in almost a convex curve as opposed to a straight tight fiber bundle. The fat then adheres and follows the shape --  allowing for a more bulbous front then most of us would like.

So once again, the easiest way to a better shape over time... is posture. Tuck those hips in and soon you will continue to do so without effort.  It's not an overnight correction. It will take months. But walking with your butt hanging out is like undoing all those crunches and sit ups you do every day.

Muscle Bonus:  If you want to tone that lower abdomen faster, here's an exercise for you... heels to the heavens.


After this position, comes the crunch. Leaving the middle spine on the floor, bring the shoulders and chest up slightly and get your talbone up off the floor in short bursts.  A modification for this would be leaving the shoulders back and arms on the ground and just raising the legs and the tailbone.  Hence raising your heels to the heavens.

Fitness Tips: Abs Part 2

Here's the second ab video with Jessica to Mambo #5. Remember to alternate this and video number 1 every other day. And that's how you strengthen your core and get a great ab workout for under 5 minutes a day

Fitness Tip: Abs part 1

I didn't even know I had abs before I started going to the gym. I just figured I had a donut gut. Then after one week of cardio blast, my body let me know, even under layers of fat, I indeed had abs... and they hurt! Like I said last week, you don't need 500 crunches a day. A 5 min alternating every other day routine, should be plenty. Unless you want a 6 pack abs-- if I ever manage to get one of those, I'll let you know how.

In the meantime, here is my Zumba instructors ab workout that she alternates with.  It's only one song, but it WILL kick your butt. Stick with it, and see results. I'll try and get the other song for next week

Thank you Jessica for letting me post this.

Fitness Tip: Quality not Quantity

Have you ever seen those people that do like 200 stomach crunches a day? But their crunches are super fast and only come up part way.

Well guess what. If you did one songs worth of ab exercises, at rhythmic pace, you'd get a much better workout. First off, when you take your time, you create resistance and use strength of muscle as opposed to momentum. Secondly, if you use about 3 different ab exercises in one song, you can exercise upper, lower, and side abs.

Next week, I will post my favorite ab workout that's helped me have a really strong core. For now just remember that it doesn't matter how many repetitions you do, if your form is off. You won't be working the right muscles or getting the most out of your time and sweat.