Abs-solutely Fantabulous

Okay, so I fibbed a little about having a video for this month's abdominal strength challenge.  We shot some video  but when we finally sat down to edit it, it just looked awful because my form was terrible.  Some of you may have heard my neck has been hurting lately (Okay, I know ALL of you have been subjected to my whining).  Unfortunately, that hindered my ability to properly demonstrate the challenge I had in mind, so I had to think of something else I could properly demonstrate.  The great, fantastic, wonderful news is that my neck is doing mucho, mucho, mas mejor! (translation:  much, much, more better... grammer is my strong point in any language).  I've been to a few physical therapy sessions and I've really turned a corner on this whole ailment and now it's just a matter of time till the rest of the symptoms go away.  YAY! 

Anyhoo, sorry this has taken so long to get out, but there's still plenty of time to work on this challenge for the rest of the month.  Consider this the pre-curser to the original abdominal challenge I had planned.  This is a great exercise that ALL of us can and should be doing on a regular basis.  Don't pooh-pooh this as unimportant and not worth your time.  DO THIS!  It will prepare you nicely for next month's challenge which I will re-shoot with proper form.

May's Abdominal Strength Challenge:

Suck in your gut 10 x/day every other day.

Point Value: 1

How to perform:  Stand (or sit) up straight and pull your belly button in toward your spine.  Hold this for 5 seconds, relax and repeat.  The best cue I've heard for this is to pretend you are trying to zip up a pair of pants so tight that you have to suck in your gut in order to do it.  Or another cue that might work is tighten and brace your abs as though you are preparing for someone to punch you in the gut.

My true desire is that we'll all do this every day but you will get the point if you remember to do it at least 5 of the next 10 days.

This can easily be accomplished while you are doing some of your routine daily activities.  At the computer? Watching TV?  Sit up straight and suck in!  At the stove cooking ground beef?  Suck in!  Put on hold while on the phone?  Suck in!  Brushing your teeth?  Suck in!  (Before or after the other tooth-brushing activity, of course.  Heehee.  Click here if you want in on the joke).

Here are some pics to help:

Bad posture: poochy gut, rounded shoulders, head forward.



Zipping up the tight pants, belly button pulled in, shoulders back but not shrugged, chin tucked in.  Much more better.