Basic Yogilates Exercises For Your Abs

Yogilates or Yogalates (an exercise combo of Yoga and Pilates moves) offers many health benefits. Aside from helping you achieve a calm state of mind, it can also increase your core strength and flexibility. And speaking of core strength, this form of exercise can help you achieve that envy-worthy stomach you have always wanted! Check out these three Yogilates moves that will make your abs look better than ever.

1.) Hammock

This exercise is great for toning your abdominal muscles as well as your arms, chest, shoulders and buttocks. Sit tall and bend your legs. Your feet should be positioned flat on the floor. Put your hands on the floor behind you at about a 45-degree angle and lean back. Keep your arms straight. Inhale as you slowly lift your hips up to the front of your body. Your knees and shoulders need to be aligned in one straight line.

As you lower your hips to the floor, straighten your legs out in front of you as you assume a sitting position. Now place your hands next to your thighs and lean forward. Pull your abs in toward your spine. Push down using your hands to lift your hips off the floor. Hold this position for a couple of seconds. Beginners may have a little rough time performing this exercise but keep practicing until you get comfortable with it.

2.) Double Leg Stretch

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This low-intensity exercise will help strengthen and tone your abs. It also engages the muscles in your lower back, legs and arms. To get into the starting position, you need to lie on your back, bend your legs (90-degree angle) and elevate your bent legs in the air. Your legs should be parallel with your body and your toes should point outwards. Lift your head and keep it just a bit higher than your chest. Extend your arms forward towards your legs.

Now inhale and stretch your legs out until they are completely straight at a 45-degree angle with your body, at the same time as you extend your arms back by your ears. You should be able to form a wide "U" shape with your body. Hold this position while pressing your ribs down toward the mat. Bring your legs and arms back to the starting position and repeat the move for 5 to 10 times.

3.) Side Twists

The side twist is great for working all abdominal muscles, particularly the oblique muscles. Lie on your back and extend your arms out at your sides. Bend your knees and position your feet flat on the floor. Lift your bent legs to form a right angle. Make sure you keep both legs together and your shoulders should press into the floor. Now twist and drop your legs to the left and down towards the floor. Bring your knees back to the center, twist and lower them to your right but do not bring them all the way to the floor. Return to the center and repeat 5 times per side. Move slowly and with control throughout the exercise.

Video - 10-Minute Core Abdominal Workout

This is a 10-minute all-out workout for your abs and core muscles, working all of the core muscles from several different angles to be sure nothing gets missed. Remember you don't have to do 15 reps for each exercise. If you can only do 5, that's fine - do 5 reps and rest until the next exercise. You'll be able to work your way up as you get stronger. Also be sure to be careful of your lower back, especially if you have back problems. During the sit-ups, just come half-way up in a crunch if you need to - you'll still get a great workout for your abs, and with less stress on your back. Most of the rest of these shouldn't be too hard on your back though.

As with any new exercise routine, be sure to check with your trainer or fitness professional before trying these.

Do this twice a week for 10 minutes, and enjoy your flat, toned mid-section!

Fitness - 10 Minute ab workout
Visit my Fitness Website: LauraLondonFitness.com Try my standing up AB Video and Kettle Bell abs to for a variety.

Work Your Abs With Core Fusion – Exhale Body Sculpt

Your core muscles are some of the most important muscles in your body. They are comprised of the muscles in your back and your stomach. When you have strong core muscles everything else you do comes easier.

What Are Your Core Muscles?

Transversus abdominis muscle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You know that your core muscles are the muscles in your back and stomach. However, they extend far beyond the basic “traps” or trapezius muscles and abdominals. Your core muscles include:

* Pelvic floor muscles
* Transversus abdominis
* Multifidus
* Internal and external obliques
* Rectus abdominis
* Longissimus thoracis
* Diaphragm
* Latissimus dorsi
* Gluteus maximus
* Trapezius.

The Importance of Strong Core Muscles
When you have strong core muscles you instantly have better posture. Better posture not only makes you look better, you actually feel better too. Your balance and stability are strengthened which makes it easier for you to perform both basic functions and also more challenging exercises.

Strong core muscles mean you’re less susceptible to injury. You may know that the single most common type of complaint or injury is back pain. The primary reason for this is weak core muscles. Most people sit all day this weakens the core muscles because they’re not engaged. Picture yourself right now sitting on the couch or at your desk. Do you have good posture? Probably not. When you strengthen your core muscles your posture automatically improves. However more importantly you also minimize the chance you’ll injure your back or suffer from back pain.

Strong core muscles also help you burn fat and calories. Your core muscles are a very large muscle group. When you focus on strengthening them you’re building muscle in your body. Muscle burns more fat and calories than fat does - hence, the more muscle you have, the more calories you're burning - even while at rest (sounds great huh?).

Finally, strong core muscles make you look great! You know what a great stomach and back look like, right? And your backside and hips are also part of your core. If you want rock hard abs and a good backside, strengthen your core!

Exhale Spa has a long history of providing top level fitness classes. Their core fusion class has always been one of their most popular classes. They’ve recorded the class so you can experience the results in the comfort and convenience of your own home. The Core Fusion – Exhale Body Sculpt DVD provides five focused workouts. Each workout is only ten minutes long which makes strengthening your core easily accessible and convenient. Even you have ten minutes a day, right?

There’s no special equipment to buy, and the video will cost you no more than a large cappuccino. The trainers, Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp, have more than fifty years of combined fitness training experience. If you don’t have an Exhale spa near you or you prefer the convenience and comfort of working out at home, consider the Core Fusion Exhale Body Sculpt DVD. You’ll gain strong muscles and a lean body - and have fun doing it!  And if you like this one, check out some of the other Core Fusion workouts - they are all designed to give you a great workout in a short amount of time that will fit into your schedule easily while giving you fast results.


   
   

Exercises to Flatten The Stomach

There are many times in a person's life when they really want to look their best. Perhaps it is for a high school reunion or for a wedding, and probably the most popular time for wanting to look good is during swimsuit season. Whether it's fitting into a slinky evening gown, or baring it all (or most of it) at the beach, gaining a flat stomach is something that many people strive for when trying to look great.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

People tend to think that a flatter stomach means better looks and most people want to look their best. A flat stomach does go beyond looks however; there are medical reasons why a flatter stomach is generally a healthy way to go. Medical evidence suggests that people that carry extra weight around the stomach tend to be more likely to develop serious medical conditions, including diabetes. The stomach is also the core of the body, this means that the stronger and healthier the core is, the less injury-prone the rest of the body will be. Consider a person with back problems, which is a common problem with many people. These people can benefit greatly from doing exercises to strengthen their abs and core muscles. This will help improve posture and relieve tension in the back as excess weight is removed from the center of the body.

Besides looks and health, another reason why exercises to flatten stomach muscles are popular is because they are easy to do. They can be done practically anywhere, in a gym, at home in front of the television or anywhere else. They also do not require expensive equipment to do. While there are plenty of machines and smaller pieces of equipment all geared for working the stomach muscles, they are not necessarily needed to get the same results. All a person needs is some room to lie down and the desire to improve their stomach. There are a wide variety of exercises that target this area of the body, so a person can choose which moves will work best for him or her.

Personal Trainer Ab Exercise (Photo credit: katieklimek)

Because this type of exercise is so popular, most workout programs, whether on a video watched at home, or in a live class at a health club, will include exercises to tone and flatten stomach muscles. Toning this part of the body can help with the strength and health of the body as a whole.

Obviously there are many reasons why people want to flatten their stomach and spend a lot of time doing exercises to accomplish this goal. Whether the reason is vanity or health, it is important to remember that as with all things, it will take time to get the desired results and a person must stick to whatever program they are comfortable with until they have the stomach they want. The good news is that stomach muscles respond very well to even a little exercise, with some exercise and a good healthy diet, most people can see results, provided there is no medical reason why they probably won't succeed.

Here are some of my favorite ways to have fun while getting great abs!