Article by my fitness trainer, Holly Rigsby

Get Ready to Target Your Core!

If you’ve been searching for the most effective Tummy Flattener – you’ve found the right place! As far as your workouts go, you need to use upper body and lower body exercises that work many muscles at once – but I can hear you saying, what about my abs?

I want to get rid of my “mommy belly”!

Sure, including Abs as part of your routine is beneficial for strength purposes, but remember – no amount of “abs exercises” will make your belly fat disappear. Doing hundreds of crunches a day will do nothing to flatten your tummy. Believe me, I know from experience! I used to do 100 crunches/day with NO results until I found these exercises!

You will get three times more out of your workout by concentrating on the largest muscles. The “Abs” that you want to work through crunches are small….you can burn triple the amount of calories by doing full body exercises that also include a core component.

Your CORE is your body’s pillar. It must be strong in order for the exercises you do to be most effective, delivering faster results. Some of the best “ab exercises” actually use your whole body! (work your abs, use more muscles, increase your metabolism….that’s the way to go!)

Here are 3 Top Belly Blaster Exercises:

The Plank

The plank seems to magically flatten your belly as you engage the deepest muscles of your core. Be sure to form straight line from the ears, through shoulders and hips, to heels. Your body should not arch or sag. Engage your legs and your glutes and hold for as long as you can. Also make sure to hold in your belly tight. Ideally you will work your way up to 3 sets of 60 second holds.

The Side Plank

Raise your body in a straight line so that your body hovers over the mat.  Keep your back straight and your hips up. Hold your abs tight. Pull your navel into your spine but breathe normally. Hold this position for the recommended amount of time.

The Belly Blaster

 

Keep your back straight and your hips up. Push off your forearms and raise your hips and glutes into the air and hold for 5-10 seconds. Lower your back to plank position so your body hovers just above the floor. Repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.

These are tips that I’m learning from my fitness coach Holly Rigsby. She also has even more advanced belly blasters with different variations of the above exercises. As an athlete, this is very helpful for me because I tend to plateau in my weight loss. I love that she has incremental workouts so be sure to check out more of her exercises that focuses on all of those mommy trouble spots at Fit Yummy Mummy.

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
Quick Mom Workouts