Exercises to tone your tummy
The Crunch:
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your hands lightly behind your head for support. Using your abdominal muscles lift your shoulders a few inches off the ground, pause briefly and return to start position. Complete at least one set of 10-12 reps. Rest for a minute then repeat.
The Plank:
The crunch is the single best exercise for toning the abdominal wall. However there is a tendency to find that it doesn’t flatten the stomach as much as we’d like. To do that as well as the crunch you must perform the plank.
Lie flat on your stomach and place your hands on either side of your chest – as if ready to perform a press up – although you should tuck your elbows into your sides. Keeping your back perfectly flat, push yourself up onto your knees – so that your upper body is off the floor, with your hands and knees acting as support. Keeping your back flat, pull in your tummy button as high as possible – as if to suck it in close to the spine. Aim to maintain a normal breathing pattern and hold this position for 10 – 60 seconds. Rest, lie flat then repeat twice.
Paying attention to your posture can also help tone your stomach. Poor posture and slumping as you walk can make even a flat tummy look saggy. Good posture has nothing to do with the old school rigidity of pulling in your stomach and puffing your chest out. Good posture is about keeping your body upright and stomach firm by using the muscles that run along your back and spine and legs to lift you up.
If bloating makes your tummy feel saggy check out the beat the bloat tips in next month’s issue.