Saturday, February 2, 2013

My Ab Exercise Routine

I'm going to start work soon! It's going to be a lifestyle change for me because pretty much my whole adult life has been spent in school and only half of that was spent working part time. So to do a full-time job should be interesting. This probably means I can't be working out at 130am to late night TV.  I've been slacking on working out for a couple days as it gets closer to my nursing exam (less than a week to go!). I've been trying to modify my workouts to fit into a 30 minute time frame. It's long enough to be considered a workout and short enough that I won't feel discouraged to do it. Also, I really want to add some cardio to my workouts but haven't made the effort. Maybe I will join a spin class when I start working.

Anyway, I incorporated some new ab exercises into my routine. I like it because my abs are feeling the crunch (haha, get it?).

I think this is about 10 minutes each set and I do 3 sets. If I'm in the mood, I add more reps with each set. Also... I do these randomly. While I'm waiting for my dog to eat, I do an ab exercise. I slap on a face mask and while I wait for 10 mins, I do a set of ab exercises. I added links if my descriptions don't make sense.

Set
-Plank- 1 minute (I do mine with my forearms resting on the ground)
-Arm pull over straight leg crunch- 10x with a 5lb weight; Lie on your back with your arms outstretched holding the weight. Raise your arms and legs at the same time till they are parallel then return to the lying position. If you want to challenge yourself, don't let your heels touch the ground.
-Mountain Climber - 10x/knee-  start in a pushup position. Draw your left knee to your chest. Return. Drawn right knee to your chest. Return. Alternate back and forth.
-Plank Oblique-10x/side- start in a push up position. Draw your left knee to your left elbow. Return. Draw your right knee to your elbow. Return. Alternate back and forth
-Standing Oblique Crunch- 20x/side. Stand with feet apart. Hold hands at head, draw right knee up and drawn right elbow down towards knee. Return. Repeat on left side. Alternate back and forth.
-Bicycle crunch- 10x/side. Lying down. Hands behind head. Raise legs 30-45 degrees. Draw right knee and left elbow till they meet, alternate with opposite side. I like to do this slowly so I feel more of the burn.

My new yoga mat turned out to be a good investment. It was around $16 from Winners. I don't remember the brand. I also have my exercise mat rolled up in there.


2 comments:

  1. Yikes, late night workout. Hopefully you don’t sleep right after, or that would be a lot of painful mornings for you. That aside, your training routine is pretty well-balanced, and easy to do regularly. You just have to adjust as to when to do it, either before going to work or right after. You don’t really need to join a spin class, but if you think it’s more convenient for you, then go for it. Whatever works, right? :)

    Kristine Remsen

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