One of the areas woman complain most about are those hard to train abs. When it comes to abs, you must learn to be patient. You can sit there and crunch all you want and say you are working your abs, but you won’t see any changes unless you are really squeezing those muscles. If you wake up the next day and you go to cough and your stomach doesn’t hurt, you didn’t train abs!

To get started, try focusing on two different abdominal exercises each day, making sure to change them in the following workout. Do anywhere from 20 to 50 reps, for a total of six to nine sets each workout. Don’t forget to stretch; it will help alleviate some of the muscle fatigue you feel the next day.

The workout

Around the world

This exercise is the best! It targets your mid-section, obliques, and serratus.

Lying on your back, with your hands under your butt, raise your legs six inches off of the floor. Rotate your legs in an arc up to the right, swinging the legs until they are pointed directly at the ceiling. Continue the arc down to the left until you arrive back at starting position. For the next rep, complete the circle in the opposite direction.

Tip: “If you’re strong enough, you can do these hanging from a bar-bring your legs up to your face(allowing your lower back to round, if you need to).”

Running crunches(obliques)

If you do this exercise at a steady pace you can actually break a sweat. Keep your abs contracted, bend your knees, and lift your legs to a 90-degree angle. Next, use your abdominals to lift your shoulders off the floor. In a smooth, controlled movement, alternate the right elbow to the left knee and the left elbow to the right knee. Move to the count of “one-two”, squeezing your obliques with each switch.

Full-boy sit-ups

This exercise involves a lot more strength. The secret is to keep you feet planted on the ground during the whole movement.

Lying flat on your back, with your legs extended, cross your ankles. Perform a full situp without raising your heel off the floor. Reach foreword with your hands at the top to get a good stretch. Although these can be a great, intense alternative to crunches, you should probably give them a pass if you have any back problems.

Tip: Cross your legs so they stay tight, which will allow you to come up easier. Stay as tight as you can in your lower body to really focus on pulling with the abs.

The key to max fat loss is to not rest between reps

As you start your post natal exercise program and workout routines, you’ll be confronted with 3 huge lies about exercise. These are the things I keep hearing from people who don’t know what they’re talking about. I wouldn’t care as much if these lies didn’t act as hurdles for so many well meaning moms as they start on the road to fitness success.

I’m sure there are more than 3 lies you’re going to hear, but these are “The Big Three” causing the most trouble. I’m not going to engage in the debate over low-fat versus low-carb versus high protein. I’ll save that for another day. These are the things we can all agree on and move forward toward our fitness goals.

1. More is better.
   Even God rested one day a week. It’s probably a good idea you did the same thing. You might want to even consider resting 3 or 4 days each week. Working out is only one half of the fitness equation. The other is resting. Your body regenerates and rebuilds when it’s resting. That’s when your muscles are restored and grow back even stronger. If you’ve been working out 7 days a week, 365 days a year, try this and see if you don’t make even bigger gains than before. You’ll be surprised. Less is more. Workout to live, do live to workout.
2. I don’t want to look like a guy.
   You won’t! Even if you try with every ounce of energy in your body, you’ll never look like a guy. Moms are always apprehensive when I suggest lifting weights. The instant answer is always “Eeek! It’s so gross when women look like men.” I agree, it is gross, but it won’t happen and here’s why. You don’t have enough testosterone in your body to look like that. If you see a women with all sorts of muscles bulging all over the place, you can almost always bet she’s been artificially enhancing your bodies ability to build muscle.
3. Reducing fat in specific areas.
   If you do crunches all day long you’ll build the muscles in your abs, but you won’t reduce the fat directly from your belly. It just doesn’t happen. When you burn fat, your body takes it from all over, not just your stomach. It’s impossible to tell your body where you’d like it to burn the fat. This doesn’t mean you can’t do some spot shaping or toning through specific workout routines.

Can we finally put these exercise myths to bed? It’s extremely frustrating to try spot reducing and not get the results. It’s frustrating to try to get in your best shape and shy away from the weight room and there’s nothing more frustrating to workout 7 days a week and not see the results equal the effort. No more lies!

Too many times, I’ve allowed my pregnancy to put a hold on my workout routines.  You don’t want to let that happen to you but you know you can’t continue in the same way you have before you were pregnant.

Here are some thing you can do the make sure your exercising safely for you and your baby.

Don’t do this.
There’s a lot you can do when you’re pregnant, but a few things you don’t want to do.  No running.  If you’re used to running, try walking further than you’re used to running.  No horseback riding, scuba diving, sprinting, downhill skiiing, or any contact sports.

Try these.
Some safe exercises during pregancy include speed walking, light jogging up to 2 miles a day, cycling on dry pavement, cross-country skiing, and swimming in nice luke-warm water.

Lighten up a bit.
When it comes to resistance training, simply lighten up a bit.  You NEVER want to lift anything very heavy.  Remember, if you’re asked to be a spotter, you have the potential of lifting, so don’t do it.

Loosen up a bit.
Make sure you’re wearing loose clothing that doesn’t pinch or bind.  You’re already uncomfortable enough.

Slow it down a bit.
Start your warm-up slowly and make sure you’re finishing everything up nice and slow too.  Never ever push yourself too far.  Less is more when you’re pregnant.

Don’t heat up too much.
When your body tempurature goes up, you’ll be sending blood to the surface of your skin to cool down.  This takes blood away from your uterus.  You should never go in a sauna, hot tub or steam room when you’re pregnant.  The rule is,  you don’t want to raise your body temperature more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit or 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Drink Drink Drink.
It’s even more vital than ever to keep yourself hydrated.  Make sure you’re starting your workout with all the water your body needs.  The moment you start to get thirsty, answer your bodies call with water.  No need for sports drinks, there’s nothing better than water.

Being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to your body.  Keeping fit will make your pregnancy better, child-birth easier, and recovery quicker.

It goes without saying, you’re going to be the best at the things you love. This applies to work, school and even fitness. If you don’t love working out, you’re going to do them half-heartedly and not see the gains you were hoping to see. This will only compound your frustration and dislike of exercise.

So, here are 6 steps to help you fall in love with exercise. Go down the list and check off the items that apply. The ones that don’t apply are probably the ones that are holding you back. As with most things, there’s the 80/20 rule. 80% of your frustrations are coming from 20% of your activities. Let’s take a look:

• Stay hydrated and cool.
  When you’re sweating, your body is becoming dehydrated. That’s where all that moisture beading up on your skin is coming from. So, make sure you’re drinking plenty of water during your workout. When you feel thirsty, have a drink of water. Don’t make your body wait. Before your workout make sure you’re getting plenty of fluids into your tank. Try to drink at least a quart of water before you even begin.
• Conquer insomnia with exercise.
  Try exercising around 5pm at night. This is a perfect time to help you get a good nights sleep. Too soon and you’ll be pooped long before your day is done. Too late and your body will be too hyped to sleep.
• Aerobics for at least 20-30 minutes.
  Studies show the amount of fat your body burns increases dramatically after 20 minutes of aerobic exercise in your target heart zone (70-90% of your max heart rate). If you’re exhausted 15 minutes into your workout, slow down, but keep your heart rate above 70% of max. Most people who are worn out too soon, are pushing themselves too hard. Slow down and increase the time. The benefits of this will show up in more rapid weight loss and that keeps us all motivated.
• Mix it up to keep your interest.
  Don’t get caught in an exercise rut. If you’re usually running, try roller blades or even speed walking. If you’re aerobics class is getting dull, spend some time on the tennis courts. When you mix up your workout routines, you not only decrease boredom, you also increase the effectiveness of your workouts.
• Take a fitness vacation.
  Almost everyone who goes on vacation ends up putting on 5-10 lbs or extra weight while they’re away. Turn this whole concept on it’s head by booking a fitness vacation. You’ll still go to exotic places and have time for relaxing by the pool, but you’ll also kick start your post natal exercise plan. They’re even family friendly spas which will teach you (and your kids) to eat right and make exercise fun.
• Heat things up OR cool them down.
  Working out in colder climates will burn more calories because your body expends energy just keeping things warm. But, don’t worry if you live in a warmer climate. Working out in a warm and humid environment requires your body to expend extra energy keeping you cool. Try to break things up be getting out of your normal environment. If you live in Florida, plan a vacation to Aspen for some skiing. If you live in Minnesota, plan a snorkeling trip to the Florida Keys.

There you go, 6 simple things you can do to get from exercise boredom to exercise excitement. It’s no secret, physical fitness for moms, dads or anyone is about lifestyle. When exercise becomes a normal part of your lifestyle, it becomes something you love. How many people sit down each night and struggle to find something interesting to watch on TV because wathing TV is what they do every night. It’s their lifestyle. You’ll even endure a boring program if it’s part of your lifestyle.

Entering the gym for the first time can be intimidating. Machines you’ve never seen, people who are already physically fit, and all of them talking a language you’ve never heard. Let’s take a minute and go through some terms your might hear in the gym. Learn these and you’ll be sounding like a world class body builder long before you look like one.

Set: A group of exercises. For example, you would do a set of 6 push-ups.

Rep: Each time you lift a weight and return it to the starting position, you’re completing one rep. Most sets are made up of several reps. You might hear someone say, 3 sets of 15 reps. That means you’re going to do 15 complete movements, stop briefly and do it again, stop briefly and then do 15 again. Did that make sense?

Fartlek: This one always makes my husband laugh. He finds excuses to use it in every day conversation. it’s also known as interval training. If you’re running at a nice even pace and then briefly kick up the effort and return to your original pace, you’re doing interval training or Fartleks.

Aerobic: When you’re body is consuming oxygen and converting it into energy, you’re doing aerobic exercise. This usually involves taking your heart rate to between 60% and 80% of it’s max. It’s best to engage in aerobic exercise for at least 20 - 30 minutes.

Anaerobic: This means “without oxygen”. If you’re doing weight training, you’re not really relying on the oxygen consumption to fuel your energy. That’s anaerobic. It works when you’re pushing yourself extremely hard as well. If you’re sprinting and taking your heart rate between 80% and 90% of it’s max, you’re engaging in anaerobic exercise. Basically, you’re breathing in and out so fast, your body doesn’t have time to absorb the oxygen.

Max Heart Rate: There’s a rough calculation you can do to figure out your ‘max heart rate’. It’s not the most accurate, but it will get you really close. 220 - your age. So, if you’re 30, you’re max heart rate would be 220 - 30 = 190. You can also wear a heart rate monitor and push yourself as hard as you can and record the maximum heart rate recorded. Be careful, don’t push too hard and hurt yourself.

Flexion: This is when you move your arm, leg or other body part from it’s normal position to it’s “flexed” position. For example, flexing your biceps.

Extension: Moving your body part back to it’s normal position (see Flexion above).

Working to failure: Continuing to do reps (see above) until you can’t successfully do any more.

Circuit training: Workout routines that involve little or no rest periods. This is a way of turning your weight training into an aerobic workout.

Resistance training: Normally called weight training. It’s anything that involves creating resistance in your movements. This is usually accomplished by using weights. If you’re trying to curl your arms up and put a weight in each hand, you’re providing resistance.

Rest period: This is the time between sets. If you’re rest periods are too long or too short, you’ll not have the success you are looking for.

Spotter: These are people who stand with you when lifting weights in the event you can’t complete the movement. It’s a safety precaution and one you shouldn’t take lightly if you’re called on to be a spotter. Spotters will also act as motivational coaching encouraging you to do one more rep.

That’s it for now. If there are any terms I overlooked, please leave them in the comments area and I’ll add them to this list.

Most muscle injuries in the gym come from 1) doing an exercise improperly or 2) not stretching your muscle. Don’t let an injury put a halt to all your hard work reaching your postal natal exercise goals. It’s the one thing motivation can’t overcome. For that reason, stop right now and really assess what you’ve been doing up until now to properly stretch.

If you’re like the rest of us, you need some direction in adding stretching to your workout routines. Here are 8 simple tips to maximize the impact stretching will have on your body.

• Stretch every day.
  Even on the days you don’t plan to exercise, take some time to stretch all of your major muscle groups. These are the days when your muscles are in recovery and you really need to make sure they regenerate properly.
• Stretch when your muscle are warm.
  Warm muscles are pliable muscles. When you try stretching cold muscles you’re asking for an injury. Don’t do it.
• Make sure your stretching every muscle group.
  Chest, shoulders, lower back extensors, hip flexors, rotators, quads, hamstrings and calves. They all need a little bit of attention. Even the ones that stretch as well. Give them extra attention.
• Don’t force it.
  You never want to truly force your muscles to stretch. Developing a flexible body takes time. Don’t try to force your body into a position it’s not ready for yet.
• Don’t bounce.
  Make your stretching slow and methodical. You don’t want to use your body weight to force your muscles to stretch. That’s what bouncing does and it’s not good. Nice, easy and smooth will get you further than jerky and bouncy.
• Keep it to your natural range of motion.
  If you don’t normally move your body in the way you’re stretching it, it’s probably not a good stretch. Keep it within what’s normal.
• Breath!
  Your body needs oxygen and when it’s stressed it needs it more, not less. When you hold your breath, your body tends to naturally panic and tense up. That’s the opposite of what you want.
• Keep the weird stuff to the circus guys.
  Don’t try wrapping your legs around your head. That’s an unnatural position and one you don’t need to put your body into. A lot of the people you see getting into these strange contortions are double-jointed. Don’t try it.

Hopefully, with these simple tips you’ll find stretching something you enjoy and look forward to doing every day. It will pay off in a leaner looking and more agile body. Good luck.