A tucked-up stomach is not only one of the generally accepted standards of beauty, but also an indicator of the health of both your digestive system and the whole organism. A regular exercise for the abdominal muscles helps to achieve a flat stomach. At home, they can be as effective as in the gym.
How and what to download
Under the generic name "abs muscles" actually hides several layers of muscle tissue enveloping the body from the lower ribs to the pelvis. As a rule, starting the pursuit of cubes with the help of the press swing familiar from school, with the help of raising the body or legs in the supine position, we work only on the outer layer of these muscles - we will call them upper straight and upper oblique. In fact, a full pumping of the press is only possible provided that the deep abdominal muscles are also involved.
What are deep abdominal muscles, and how to find them? Try to cough or laugh - you will immediately feel your belly button pulling toward your spine. This is due to the internal muscles of the press. Their study will make the center of the body strong and form the optimal volume of the abdominal cavity.
The importance of working out the deep muscles of the abdomen does not reduce the need for pumping and the external muscles, too. It is important only to do this technically competently, having mastered the correct exercises for the press at home, not creating unnecessary tension in the lower back and neck.
Where to begin
If you have never rocked the press, or if your back is weakened, you need to start from a prone position to ensure reliable fixation of the body. To get started, just try to pull your knees up to your stomach and feel how your stomach is pulled to your back under the weight of your legs. Press both knees, then one at a time, stretching the second leg up and forward. This exercise helps to turn the abdominal muscles into work, relaxes the ever-strained lower back and activates digestion - if you feel that it is already three hours after eating, and lunch is still lying in your stomach with a stone, then make this a simple motion.
Body raises
The first exercise, from which everyone usually starts to swing the press, is the usual lifting of the body in the supine position, the knees are bent. An important condition for this exercise is that the lower back should not be off the floor. Pay attention to how your shoulder girdle behaves, whether it is very tense - it happens that instead of the press, the neck is included in the work. In order to make this exercise for the press effective at home, you need to switch all the tension into the muscles of the press and pull the navel to the spine. Remember the feeling of deep abdominal muscles and make them work.
Legs can remain both in the starting position and straighten. Try also to bend your legs at an angle of 90 degrees and leave your calves parallel to the floor. In this position, you can not only raise the body, but also bring the legs apart.
Leg raises
Another option for a simple abdominal exercise at home is to lift your legs. In this case, the lower back still remains to lie on the floor. If you try to lower your legs completely to the floor from an upright position, your lower back will most likely begin to come off the surface. Therefore, use the option in which the legs fall as close to the floor as possible, but the lower back still does not come off. Lock this position for a few seconds.
You can also raise and lower one leg - the second remains vertical or bent at an angle of 90 degrees.
Strap
A common myth is that in order to pump up the stomach you need to perform only exercises to strengthen the press. At home, things often do not go beyond the above lifts of the legs and body. In fact, any complex exercise that involves the maximum amount of muscle in the body will be simultaneously an exercise for the press - because the center of the body accumulates the maximum amount of strength. If you know how to direct the force and make the right muscles work, then you do a great service to your body - the muscles work with the most optimal energy consumption.
To make the explanation clearer, consider the well-known exercise called “Planck” or the upper stop. To an unprepared person, it seems that this exercise is designed to act on the hands - just standing in the initial position, the upper focus, we begin to push up.
In fact, a technically correctly executed bar includes exactly the press and becomes one of the most effective exercises for the press at home:
- shoulders are located above the palms and laid back;
- feet are stretched, heels push behind an invisible wall;
- the stomach is tightened, the lower back does not sag, the tailbone reaches for the heels;
- from the top of the head to the tailbone, the whole body is elongated.
Here you should remember about the deep muscles of the press and try to use them as much as possible - pull the navel inward and try to move the load from the lower back to the stomach. If your wrists hurt, stand on your forearms. If, on the contrary, you want to further complicate this exercise for the press at home, then you can try the following options:
- stretch forward one hand without losing balance, then repeat on the other;
- stretch one leg, then also repeat on the other;
- stand on fists;
- rise on your fingers;
- try different arm settings - wider or narrower;
- lower yourself into a low focus - as if you are going to push out - and stay in that position.
In each of the options do not forget about the work of the abdominal muscles. If it’s hard for you to stand, do a few short-time approaches.
Twisting
Of the other exercises for the press at home, you can perform lying twisting - this option is as safe as possible for the back. In twists, we work out the oblique muscles of the press, making them stronger and more flexible.
The technique for performing twisting is as follows:
- Starting position - lying on your back, the pelvis is slightly shifted to the right side.
- The left leg is elongated, the right leg is bent at the knee, and its foot is set on the thigh of the left - we tilt the right knee to the left side.
- We track how the shoulder girdle behaves - both shoulders and both shoulder blades lie on the floor. We look up or to the right to compensate for twisting in the lumbar.
- To strengthen the twist, the left hand can be put on the right thigh, as an option - to straighten the right leg and stretch it further horizontally, while making sure that there is no unnecessary tension in the lower back. All work is exclusively in the muscles of the press.
- Return to neutral and repeat with the left foot (this time the pelvis will be slightly shifted to the left side).
Despite the fact that twisting is one of the most effective exercises for the press, at home it is not always possible to control the position of the body. Some yoga instructors do not allow twisting people with diseases of the spine. In any case, a good option would be to first find a teacher and attend a training session to understand the correct technique. And it is advisable to make a rule, before starting any exercise, consult a good doctor.
A boat
The boat “sailed” out of yoga into the world of fitness and gained popularity among everyone who wants to create a flat stomach with the help of exercises for the press at home. Since the exercise is considered difficult even for yoga, it is recommended to master it in several stages:
- Starting position - sitting on the floor, the back is straightened, the legs in front of you are bent at the knees, the arms behind create additional support for the back. Try to sit on the sciatic bones, not on the sacrum.
- turn on the stomach, stretch the crown up and lift one leg. Stretch it as high as possible.
- Repeat on the other leg, still tracking the work of the abdomen and the position of the lower back.
- Repeat on both legs.
- Hands in all approaches at the initial stage of mastering the exercises remain behind, so as to prevent failures in the lower back. Then you can complicate the exercise by pulling them up - make sure that your back remains level.
Performing the “Boat” correctly, you will notice that it is both an affordable exercise for the press at home, and well pumps up the thigh muscles.
Proper nutrition
A well-built exercise program for the press at home is not all that is needed to find a flat stomach. You will also have to take care of nutrition, otherwise your accumulated fat of your cubes simply will not be visible:
- exclude sweets or at least leave it in the first half of the day;
- less flour - leave only products from wholemeal flour;
- exclude offal and semi-finished products;
- eat more fruits and vegetables to provide vitamins and fiber;
- drink enough clean water;
- tea and coffee is not water, but you can forget about sugar in drinks forever.
Lifestyle
A tightened press is not only about nutrition and exercise. For the perfect press at home, you need to completely rebuild your lifestyle. After all, a flat stomach is just one of the elements of a good figure and health. In order to improve the overall figure and consolidate the results of exercises for the press at home, you will need to move more, get enough sleep and reduce stress.