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Learn How to Perform an Unusual New Abdominal Exercise
By: Rick DeToma
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Learn How to Perform an Unusual New Abdominal Exercise
İRick DeToma
I was stretching after my workout at a local gym the other day and saw this person doing a new abdominal exercise. I just had to tell you about it. This exercise is a bit complex so I'll do my best to provide the details so you'll understand what I was witnessing.
Here's a humorous look at a new abdominal exercise:
First select a stability ball that is too small for your height. Next, lay back on the ball like you would to perform a traditional crunch except, instead of having your lower back supported by the ball, slide your hips down so your butt is just a few inches off the floor. This is the starting position.
Now clasp your hands behind your head and wrench your neck as far forward as you can. Be sure to hold your breath from this point out. Now in a rhythmic fashion, wrench your head towards your chest and try not to let your butt hit floor! Return to the start position.
Crank out a seemingly endless stream of these. To add to the challenge of this incredible move, now start swinging your shoulders from left to right. Don't worry about trying to bring the opposite shoulder to the opposing knee. It appears not to matter.
After a few of these your face should be beet red and you should feel like you've strained your neck and not your abs.
Obviously I am being funny and sarcastic to make a point, but this is what a guy was actually doing as his version of a simple stability ball abdominal crunch.
Instead of attempting to keep his back centered on the ball and resting his head in his hands, and letting his abs do the work, he was finding every way possible to avoid it.
Moral of the story, form is key. If you don't know the correct way to perform an exercise then get the help of a qualified personal trainer or conditioning specialist.
About the Author
Rick DeToma is a fitness coach, and trainer who specializes in home workouts. Contact Rick for a no obligation telephone fitness assessment at:
www.tailored-fitness-home-workouts.com/contact.html
Get more tips like these and a bonus too, by subscribing to Tailored Fitness News at
http//www.tailored-fitness-home-workouts.com/newsletter.html
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The Power of Stretching - Dave Snape
Your
muscles ache from a good stretch. This is quite
normal and is part of the process. Stretching has
seemingly been with us and particularly with athletes
since the beginning of time.
A very key point to good stretching is to hold the
stretch for at least seventeen seconds. This is a
pearl of wisdom gleaned from a ballet teacher a few
years back. She said that any stretch under 17
seconds was just not effective.
The 17 second rule is exceeded in the high intensity
Bikram's yoga where stretches are held for about 30
seconds. Don't forget the high level of heat that is
used in Bikram's to extract that last little bit of
stretch out of your muscles. An interesting twist
that
is not necessary to gain benefits from stretching.
But,
it can't hurt, right?
So what kind of benefits can you expect from
stretching? That's an easy one. Have you ever seen
the
movie, Blood Sport? Did you know that Frank Dux could
truly stretch his body to the extreme. The actor that
played him was quite elastic as well.
Great elasticity is also something you might see in
well trained Spetsnaz (Russian) agents. They often
work
out with Russian kettlebells too. They are for
superior
strength gains and the ability to withstand ballistic
shocks.
Why are stretching and flexibility considered
important
to these people? Stretching gives one the ability to
have explosive power available at one's fingertips
without the need to warm up. Of course most of us are
not martial artists or agents. But, you'll be happy
to
know there are plenty of other benefits.
Let me give you an example. After learning to sit in
the full lotus position for long periods of time, my
ankles became very flexible. One day I was walking
along and my left foot fell into a pothole. This
mishap
pushed my ankle sideways to about 90 degrees from
it's
normal position.
Amazingly, this didn't even hurt, not one bit. If my
ankle hadn't been so flexible, I may have suffered a
sprained ankle. At the very least, it would have hurt
for days.
Key point: stretching helps you to avoid injuries.
Not only that but if you do have a muscle, tendon or
ligament injury it should heal faster, theoretically
speaking.
Stretching actually grows the ligaments, tendons and
muscles being stretched. They really grow longer over
time.
Check with your physician before undertaking any type
of exercise, including stretching.
Here is some good
instructional material on stretching:
http://tinyurl.com/6c6kq
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Dave Snape
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