It should come as no surprise to you that in order to lose weight you must increase your exercise levels. Unfortunately for many people this seems to be the road less travelled and many conveniently forget that working up a sweat is a necessary element in any
Thankfully there are four easy exercises which you can do every day which will help burn up those fat cells. Additionally these exercises help to improve your posture and tidy up your abdominals in the least amount of time possible.
Ideally you should do these exercises six days a week giving your body one day off to rest and recuperate. The rest day helps your body benefit from the last six days exercise. Again, in an ideal world you would do these exercises in the morning but it doesn't matter if your routine doesn't allow this. It's just that various studies have shown that those who do their exercises in the morning are more likely to continue with regular exercise in the medium to long term.
It is essential that you warm up before doing these exercises and this need take no more than 3 to 5 minutes. Some warmup exercise is might include running on the spot, briskly walking up and down stairs, rolling your shoulders, squats and knee lifts, full body stretches and some side bends.
So without further ado let's get into the exercises. The first one is the bridge. This one works on your buttock muscles, strengthens your back and tones your abdominals. Simply lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Let your arms rest at your sides. Now lift your pelvis off the floor until your body creates a diagonal line from your shoulders to your knees. You should hold this for 10 seconds and then lower your whole body to the floor. You should repeat this entire exercise at least 10 times.
Exercise number two is the abdominal curl. This will work on your upper abdominals. Again lie on the floor with your knees bent and use a rolled up towel between the bottom of your feet just in front of your extended fingers. Now move your feet away from your bottom just until you feel your toes beginning to rise up off the floor. Now gently curl up from the breast bone and raise your fingers over the top of the towel to touch the floor on the other side. You should focus on tucking the ribs under as opposed to lifting up. Repeat this at least 17 times.
Exercise number three is toe touches. This will help you gain that flatter tummy. Yet again you will lie on your back with your knees raised up over your hips and your lower legs parallel with the floor. Now you will gently lower one leg down to the floor dropping your heel. Try to keep your spine in line as you lift your leg back over the chest. It should be repeated for the other leg. Focus on going slowly with this exercise and concentrate on the technique. You should repeat this at least 16 times for each leg.
The last exercise is abdominal cushion rolls. This will develop your core stability and work on your waist muscles. Lying on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat insert a small cushion in between your knees. Squeeze lightly on the pillow while you lower your knees to one side. Drawing the knees back in to a central position concentrate on contracting your abdominals down to the floor whilst tightening your waist. You can make this exercise harder but more effective by beginning with legs lifted off the floor and your knees over your chest. Gently lower your knees down to one side but do not touch the floor. Focus on your rib-hip connection while you draw your abdominals back in and concentrate on tightening around your waist muscles as you return to the flat position.
Doing these exercises every day will go a long way to toning up your body in general and providing the core strength you need to approach your
Remember the saying no pain no gain!
