Tag Archives: abs

Try out these quick holiday workouts so that you can burn it forward before those big meals!

Quick Holiday Workouts To Burn It Forward

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ATTENTION: We are now entering the Danger Zone! This is the time of year that the waist lines start to expand and people tend to throw in the towel early and seek refuge within a food coma until January. We want to give you some quick holiday workouts that you can do the morning before you have your holiday feast so you can burn it forward!

Quick Holiday Workout #1: 15 minute Interval Hill Climb

  • Minute One: 30 seconds Mountain Climbers/30 seconds Rest
  • Minute Two: 40 seconds Mountain Climbers/20 seconds Rest
  • Minute Three: 50 seconds Mountain Climbers/10 seconds Rest
  • Minute Four: 30 seconds Jack Knife Crunch/30 seconds Rest
  • Minute Five: 40 seconds Jack Knife Crunch/20 seconds Rest
  • Minute Six: 50 seconds Jack Knife Crunch/10 seconds Rest
  • Minute Seven: 30 seconds Push Ups/30 seconds Rest
  • Minute Eight: 40 seconds Push Ups/20 seconds Rest
  • Minute Nine: 50 seconds Push Ups/10 seconds Rest
  • Minute Ten: 30 seconds Jump Squats/30 seconds Rest
  • Minute Eleven: 40 seconds Jump Squats/20 seconds Rest
  • Minute Twelve: 50 seconds Jump Squats/10 seconds Rest
  • Minute Thirteen: 30 seconds Plank Rotation/30 seconds Rest
  • Minute Fourteen: 40 seconds Plank Rotation/20 seconds Rest
  • Minute Fifteen: 50 seconds Plank Rotation/10 seconds Rest
  • Then GO EAT……you will be the sweaty person at the table!

Quick Holiday Workout #2: Treadmill Ab Blast

  • Plank and Hold one minute
  • Run on treadmill one minute
  • Legs Up Crunch one minute
  • Run on treadmill one minute (increase speed)
  • Plank and Hold one minute
  • Run on treadmill one minute (increase speed)
  • Flipper kicks one minute
  • Run on treadmill one minute (increase speed)
  • Plank and Hold one minute
  • Full Sprint one minute
  • Plank and Hold for max time
  • Do a 2-5 minute walk on treadmill to cool down

Quick Holiday Workout #3: All Abs All The Time

  • Legs Up Crunch 10 reps
  • Seated Ab Twist 20 reps
  • Bicycle Crunch 30 reps
  • Knee In Crunch 40 reps
  • Flipper Kicks 50 reps
  • Arch Crunch 40 reps
  • Reach Across Crunch 30 reps
  • Plank Rotation 20 reps
  • Negative Crunch 10 reps

Check out this video to be sure you are doing all of these exercises correctly:

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to choose one or more of these quick workouts to do before each holiday feast so that you can get a jump on that calorie balance. As always, I like to remind people to keep their food in check as much as possible during this time of year. Remember that this is a holiDAY…..it isn’t a holiWEEK….so enjoy your day and then get right back to those healthy habits!

Three new exercises to improve your abs

Three New Exercises to Improve Your Abs

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When we do consultations with new clients the most common target area that they want to work on is their abs. They want to get rid of those love handles and trim up that gut! To improve your abs you have to be willing to put in a lot of hard work, but you also have to constantly throw in new challenges to stimulate further progress. Your abs will adapt to your exercise regimen quickly so we recommend that you try a few new tricks each week. We are going to teach you three new exercises that you can use to shock your abs and stimulate progress.

Watch this video first and then see the helpful tips below:

The Electric Chair: Using the rings is a great way to shock your abs and nothing is more shocking than the electric chair! As you can see in the video you want to have your elbows, hips, and knees bent to 90 degrees and then you hold tight. There are a couple of ways to work this into your routine. A nice way to start would be to do 5 sets of max hold time. Rest about 30-60 seconds in between each set. Once your elbows or hips fall out of that 90 degree position then the timer stops. Measure progress by how much time you can accumulate in the 5 sets. Another great way to use this movement is to set a total hold time and do as many sets as it takes to get there. So if you want to hold for a total of 5 minutes you would just stop the clock every time you come out of that 90 degree position. As an added bonus this movement will also rock your arms and upper back and improve your pull up power!

The Power Plank: This is a serious upgrade to the traditional plank. The key here is to try and rip up the floor by applying pressure as you crunch your elbows toward your toes. You will start to shake almost immediately and you will last about half as long as a traditional plank and hold. Try this one out for one set of max time at the end of your workout.

Booher Abs: Do NOT attempt this one if you have any neck issues! This is an exercise that I picked up from a local gymnastics coach named Michael Booher of Rising Star Gymnastics (check out their website HERE). I have been working on building up my hand stand hold power (another great exercise for your abs!) and Michael gave me this drill to do. The first time I did this my abs started to cramp up and I fell in love! This one is a lot tougher than you think. The key is to keep your legs as straight as possible and control the entire movement. You have to avoid the urge to kick your legs up with momentum with that top position. It is all controlled through your abs and core muscles. Start out slow with this one and build up. Do sets of 5-8 reps with 30-60 seconds of rest in between sets. Once your form breaks down it is time to call it a day on this one.

Try adding these exercises into your core training regimen over the next few weeks and be ready to see some progress with those abs!