Happy Workout Wednesday all ya’ll beautiful people!!!
Last week I gave you a promise that I’d come up with my own standing abs workout. But you know what happened? Everything I was coming up with was basically the same as the two YouTube workouts I gave you last week. I haven’t been inspired to create something drastically new. I guess you can’t improve on the best! But, I still want to help my girl Julia and anyone that has back issues or doing crunches on the floor… then it came to me… the MOST DECEPTIVE AB EXERCISE would be perfect!!!
Why is it deceptive?
I’m glad you asked, LOL! You’re just going to suck your stomach in, that’s it. Sounds easy right? Well, it’s not, especially when you get down on your hands and knees to do it like I want you to.
When you stand and suck your stomach in for a certain length of time, it’s generally called a Stomach Vacuum. BUT I’ve seen several names for doing it on all fours: Stomach Vacuum, Stomach Contractions, Abdominal Hollowing, Abdominal Stretch, etc. So I’m calling it, SUCK-IT-UP Abs!
Go ahead and try to suck your stomach in however and wherever you are right now. Yes, right now! Check your watch and see how long you can hold it. I’ll wait…
Crazy right? How long could you hold it? 10 seconds? 15? Bet you didn’t expect that! When you do it on your hands and knees, it’s even harder!
Ready to try it?
Get on your hands and knees on the carpet, or have a towel or yoga mat under your knees. Keep your head and neck flat and in a straight line. Don’t look up that makes you not in a straight line! Now suck your stomach in as hard as you can for as long as you can. Do NOT arch your back!!! Keep your spine neutral!
How long could you hold it?
Less time than when you weren’t on your hands and knees? Probably. I’m weird, I think it’s so cool to do something seemingly simple yet so difficult at the same time. It’s also cool that you can Suck-It-Up at any point during the day. It doesn’t need to be part of a bigger workout, no need to warmup, just drop to all fours when you’ve got a minute.
Now, is this exercise going to give you six-pack abs in a month, um, no. BUT it will help you build a strong core and create a muscle memory that will be helpful when lifting heavy weights and having one is essential! And a strong core is going to help with your back pain as well!!!
I haven’t Sucked-It-Up in a while. So I’ve decided to challenge myself to do this every day over the next two weeks. Want to join me?
Check in with my Baby Steps this Friday for more about why a strong core is essential to becoming a Fitmom!
Have a great one!
~emmy
