The "Abs" Solution

*Again, my friend Amberly suggested I do a post about abs/core workouts.  She thinks of better topics than I do.  Thanks Girl.  

So.  Abs.  Love them and hate them, right?  Yeah, me too.  One of the things I wanted to change the most when I started working with my nutrition/fitness guru was of course, my abs.  Key word here was "wanted" to.  I didn't think it could actually be done.  They had been ravaged by pregnancy and honestly, I had pretty much accepted that they'd never look the way they once did.  My guru begged to differ.  I realized that I had nothing to lose by at least trying.  I mean, they couldn't exactly end up worse.  

I started really working on them twice a week.  REALLY working on them.  I was doing all sorts of stuff that I had never done before.  Stuff that was fun and new and made crunches seem like they were from the stone age.  I hadn't ever realized there were so many ways to strengthen your core!  I'm not going to lie.  It took a LONG time to start seeing results.  Like, months.  But the more I cleaned up my diet, the better they looked.  You guys, abs are made in the kitchen.  They are strengthened at the gym.  But they are made visible through your diet.  I know.  It's a harsh reality.  But you HAVE to have a clean diet if you want to be able to see your abs.  There do exist genetic freaks who for whatever reason are completely immune to this rule.  But most people, especially women who've had a few rug rats, just can't get there without a super duper clean diet, regardless of how many crunches and cork screws they do.  

At first, even after I had completed a few weeks of pretty intense workouts, I didn't notice any change.  Someone told me to start taking pictures of my abs every week.  Um, the LAST thing I wanted on my phone was pictures of my sad sad tummy.  But I took their advice and started snapping pictures of my mid-section every week (they are in my "confidential" file on my computer) .  After about 5 weeks, I was ready to admit defeat.  But then something crazy happened.  I took a picture on week 6 and put it next to the first picture I had taken several weeks earlier.  And you know what I saw?  Progress.  They were tighter and flatter than they had been 6 weeks before.  Abs are usually the last place you see a difference.  Women especially tend to hang on to  stubborn belly fat.  It's just how we're programmed.  But I'm telling you, If I can get my abs back in shape, ANYONE can.  I'm not just saying that.  Seriously, I have a super short torso and at one point in my first pregnancy, my belly measured 5 centimeters bigger than most women measure who are having TWINS(read: damage)! I'm the last person in the world who believed I could get my pre-pregnancy tummy back.  Well, mostly back (freaking stretch marks).  It takes time, patience, discipline and hard work.  But for me, it's been SO worth it.

I'm not into selfies, but for the sake of proving to you that you CAN get your abs back, here's the progress picture I took after about 9 weeks of squeaky clean eating and intense core work.  Never mind the messy bedroom in the background.

Here are some of my favorite core exercises.  Mix them up and create your own killer ab workouts.

cork screw

 russian twist (I use a medicine ball for this)

weighted situp

ab roll-outs

FAVORITE: spiderman pushups (they work your abs, trust me.)

HIIT - the Home Version

On days when I don't have time to lift, or when I'm just burned out and and need a break from it, I almost always fall back on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  One of my favorite ways to incorporate this when I only have, say, 20 minutes to workout, is to do a HIIT routine at home.  It's quick and simple and doesn't require much equipment (sometimes none at all).  It's also PERFECT for those days when I just want to sweat my ass off. 
HIIT burns a crazy amount of calories and has a similar after burn effect to weight training.  And the best part is that it rarely take more than 15-20 minutes.  So, get out of the I need to exercise for an hour a day mindset and try adding some HIIT to your life.  Here's one of my faves.  No equipment necessary!!!

Okay, that's supposed to say HIIT at home.  Please forgive.  I'm too lazy to re-do that in Photoshop.

Here's a visual to guide you through each one of the exercises.  Now you have no excuse.

BURPEES

PLANK HOLD

JUMP SQUATS

TRICEP DIPS

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

Just for Kicks, Try This: Core/Back Superset

Mah bestie met me at the gym this morning for a quick workout.  We cranked out 3 different supersets in under an hour.  Then I went home to my husband who was sitting on the couch with a bag of frozen peas on his crotch when I walked in.  It's going to be a long weekend.  But I got him some Mojo bars and some Nutter Butters to help ease the pain (I changed the u to and e - Nutter Betters!).  All in the name of remaining a family of 6.  What a guy. 

Next time you need a tough set to add to your routine, try this one.  A super set is two exercises performed in a row without stopping.  In our case, it was elevated cable pulls and inverted hip lifts on the stability ball.  We did 4 sets of 15 without stopping.  Except to take pictures with my iphone.  Just keeping our priorities in check.

Cable Pulls

The guy in the background?  Very focused today.  No distractions whatsoever.

Stability Ball Hip Lifts (core)

*Special thanks to my friend B for letting me take pictures of her buffness.  I doubt she knew what I was planning to do with them.  Shhhhh, don't tell.  Maybe she won't notice.

Have a fabulously fit weekend my friends.