10 Tips to Get a Toned Stomach

10 Tips to Get a Toned Stomach : So you’ve decided that you want to go on a weight loss journey. You’ve got a closet full of cute fall clothes with your name on it that you can’t wear anymore. You’ve also got a cruise vacation coming up in a few months and you want to look good while you’re on it.

You’re going to want to work on your abs. You’re not sure how to get a toned stomach though. You’ve tried doing crunches every night but it doesn’t seem to be doing any good.

To help you with your workout regimen, here is a guide on what you can do to get a toned stomach fast.

Don’t Do Crunches

Crunches are about everyone’s go-to to lose weight. While they can be effective they only work a particular part of your body so they aren’t as good as other exercises that you could do.

You need to do full-body movements that work your entire body instead of only part of it. Doing a swivel board workout is a good example.
Kegels

If you’re not familiar with Kegels, it’s when you pretend to hold your urination midstream before and while you perform your abdominal workouts. This practice forces you to use your transverse abdominals.

Your transverse abdominals surround your core like a girdle to give you a tight midsection over time. Kegels are best paired with pelvic floor exercises.
Focus On the Exercise

When you’re working out, it’s easy to let your mind venture off to other things. If you feel yourself doing this, stop and bring your focus back to the exercise. If you’re spaced out you’re more likely to injure yourself.

Also, by keeping focus you open up a connection between your mind and body. When your mind is fully engaged with the exercise you’ll experience an increase in muscle activity.
Close Your Rib Cage

Another problem with crunches is that it’s easy to go through the motions. You don’t get much out of it if you don’t pay attention to your movement.

When and if you decide to do a set of crunches make sure that you close your rib cage. This will engage those transverse abdominals we were talking about more. It also helps you keep your back supported and ward off possible injury.
Avoid Holding Your Breath

If your core muscles don’t receive the oxygen they need they won’t be able to work correctly when you’re working out. To this end, make sure that you don’t hold your breath during exercise.

The rule of thumb here is to breath in during the easy parts of the workout and then exhale during the parts where you have to use the most force. For example, if you’re doing crunches you would inhale when you’re coming up and exhale when you’re going down.
Start Small

You want to push yourself a little during your exercise but you shouldn’t take on a workout that it’s way too advance for you. That will do way more harm than good. You may even seriously injure yourself.

If you’re a beginner then you need to start out small. Hold a plank for 20 seconds for example. You can move on to harder exercises as you learn more about proper form and strengthen your core.
Add a Little Weight

Dumbbells aren’t only good for strengthening your arms and legs. You can also use them to tone your abs. Every muscle needs to be challenged in order to get stronger.

So if your normal workout isn’t doing the trick for your abs or you have to do a ton of sets to feel anything, add a bit of weight in the mix.
Don’t Skip Your Warm-Up

Before you start working on your abs you need to do a warmup of some kind. Your abs are connected to your lower back so if you skip this step you may throw your back out on accident.

To prevent injury do a little jogging in place, march around, or do a few body rotations to get those muscles prepared for what is to come.
Plank

The best exercise to give you abs fast is the plank. It works your entire core and other upper body muscles with it. The same can’t be said about sit-ups and pushups.

Since you’re working out your entire upper body, you’ll see results fast. There are plenty of beginner plank exercises that you can do as well so it’s not too hard to get started.
Don’t Droop Your Head

One easy mistake to make is to droop your head down when you’re performing exercises. If you do this you’ll have a sore neck and you won’t see many positive results in the stomach region.

To avoid this mistake, picture a large piece of fruit such as a grapefruit under your chin. This may stop you from letting your chin touch your chest.

How to Get a Toned Stomach as Fast as Possible

How to get a toned stomach fast? It’s not too hard if you know how to get the most out of your exercise. Try other workouts besides crunches.

If you do have to do crunches in a pinch, don’t let your chin touch your chest, close your ribcage, and don’t hold your breath. Try incorporating some of these practices into your routine today. We promise it won’t be long before you see results.

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