Starting out abdominal exercises?

I'm about to reintroduce crunches/ab work to my workout and it's been a long time - I had a baby a year ago and haven't 'fixed' my mid-section yet. But I've lost a few pounds here on peertrainer (yay!) and now feel ready to take on more exercise.

Can anyone advise me what exercises to do to start out with, and how many reps? I'm planning on doing a bit of work every day, but I don't want to overdo (or under-do) it. I'm really bad with abs. Any advice appreciated!

Sun. Jun 18, 11:02pm

Crunches are a great place to start. Remember proper form - keep your neck relaxed, eyes and chin up toward the ceiling. Relax your back to start, and then press your belly button toward the floor and lift your head and shoulders off the floor, like you are squashing a pea under the small of your back. Exhale as you lift, inhale as you lower. Try 3 sets of 15 to start.

For the lower abs, try laying on your back and doing bicycles with your legs. Also, a tougher move - lay on your back with legs straight up in the air, hands under your butt. Alternate lowering one leg almost touching the ground, then the other. As you get stronger, do both legs.

Here is a great site, these two exercises are pictured in the ab section:

Link

Monday, June 19, 2006, 9:12 AM

SUPER EASY AB WORK FOR MORNINGS

A really easy Ab exercise that I do for the abs is;

-lie on a bed with your butt at the edge of the bed and your legs over the side
-then using your abs to do the work
-slowly raise your legs off the floor till they are straight with the rest of your body and hold for 5 seconds min. (you can also bend your knees instead of straight legged, JUST MAKE SURE YOUR ABS ARE TIGHT WHEN YOU PULL UP otherwise you are probably not using your abs to do it which makes it pointless)
-do this 4 sets about 15-20 reps each set (or as many as you can)
I do this first thing when I wake up it gets the blood pumping for the day and you would be surprised how much livelier you feel even after the simplest of moves.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006, 10:30 AM

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