Tip #6: Easy Six-Pack Abs
I have been doing one hundred ab workouts a day since I was a teenager. As a result, I have a six-pack without having to sweat over abs sessions at the gym. Those who know my approach to body strengthening know I am a lazy person when it comes to getting in shape.
How long do one hundred ab workouts take to perform? Depending on the move and the speed with which you do them, it will take you anywhere between ninety seconds to three minutes. Hardly un-squeezable! You don’t really need to warm up before such a short session. Therefore, you can decide when to do them without having to rearrange your day around this very, very short session.
Suggestions per day:
- Twenty straight crunches (your hand supporting your head, not lifting it)
- Twenty straight crunches with a stop of one second at mid-raise
- Forty bicycle moves alternating right elbow/left knee and left elbow/right knee
- Twenty seconds in the V-Pilates position: you rest on your bottom in a balanced position with your legs straightened out and your arms reaching out straight and parallel to your legs
This sequence allows for deep abs (V-Pilates), superficial abs (crunches), and obliques (bicycle) to be worked on every single day.
Tip #7: Short Is Good
As part of My Private Coach weight loss approach, mini-workouts (or MetaBoost, as I call them) can do wonders for those who don’t feel like sweating for hours in a gym.
“Something is really better than nothing. If I come in and I can work out vigorously for thirty minutes, I would consider giving it a try,” said Dr. William L. Haskell, an exercise researcher and professor of medicine at Stanford University. The express workouts typically require only one set of eight to twelve repetitions instead of the two or three sets of eight to sixteen repetitions that physiologists recommend for an optimum workout (Associated Press, 12/15/2003). Still, these MetaBoost workouts should come in addition to the daily sixty recommended minutes of accumulated exercise.
Tip #8: 10,000 Steps a Day Keep the Doctor Away
Invest in a pedometer and make sure you are getting these famous 10,000 steps I have been brainwashing you for the past weeks! 10,000 steps start when you wake up. Wear your pedometer on your waist at all times. 10,000 = three miles = approximately three hundred calories (a little bit less than a bagel).
Take advantage of all opportunities to walk: choose your lunch place ten minutes further, get off the bus one stop before, take a five-minute break every hour or so, and go on an around-the-block walk. Everything counts towards this daily goal. You will not lose weight (this is not enough, really), but you will prevent new pounds from accumulating and you will improve your general health. No sweating required!
Tip #9: Invisible Chair Day
Each time you get to be by yourself, sit against a wall without a chair and hold the position for one minute. Try to do this three times a day. This counts as a strength exercise and will help shape nice thighs. Feel free to apply this tip on other days as well!
Tip #10: How to Get a Really Flat Stomach with no Abs Work
Each time you walk, think about sucking in your stomach (lower and upper part). This will work deep abdominal muscles that no crunch work can reach. This will help you get a really flat stomach. No sweating required!
Photo courtesy of My Private Coach
Updated September 25, 2008
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