Should you work your core on the floor? Or is upright the right way?

August 21, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

Sick of doing Russian scissor kicks, crunches, and planks?

Exhausted from plopping your body on land to land yourself amazing abs…

…and still feeling like something’s missing from your midsection routine?


(*Aside* from a drill instructor?)

Well, you might be right. Partially.

It might be time to stop robbing your abdominals of potential awesomery. Time you took a stand – literally. With a standing ab workout. Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot to be said for your typical floor routine. But what many trainers will suggest, is the epic exercise yes-and of supplementing your more horizontal core regimen with a dose of vertical burn – ’cause both are great ways to get the look and strength level you desire.

See, when you’re ground bound (whether that’s sideways, sunny side up, bun-y side up), gravity does something kinda cool: The muscles inside the walls of your tummy react to these activities with maximum intensity. Why? Because they have to exert extra effort to pry your body’s weight from gravity’s nearby pull. And, of course, the more ways and directions you’re making your abdominal brawn work, the more muscles you’re strengthening and sexifying. That’s why basic planks, side ones, and face up stuff (crunches, kicks, hip-ups) are popular go-to’s and have been for eons:

And that might make ya think that once you hop to your feet, your core won’t fire with as much fortitude as on the floor. While that’s not entirely untrue (it doesn’t fire with quite the same strength upright), that doesn’t make it useless. Contrarily, there’s a definite benefit to working your washboard to be from an upright posiche. From here, you’re directing your abs to work parallel to gravity. And that equals a badazz workout for the body part that’s actually your abs’closest companion: your back. That might seem irrelevant, but I assure you it’s anything but. ’cause, when it comes to your dorsal side and core’s front muscles, it’s crucial for both sides of that corporeal coin to remain strong. Otherwise they won’t work well in IRL outside-the-gym situations – doing simple stuff like sitting down or rising from your rump. When you’ve got poor posterior side strength, the front follows suit. And vice versa.


(In fact, your back *is* part of your core. Without the strength of one, the other suffers.
And not just in that it gets flabby or makes standing harder – but from downright pain.)

What’s more, the nice thing about standing exercises as that, often, some of the best ones won’t just focus on making the center of your body hot looking. A good routine incorporates your legs, back (as we mentioned above), and – in some cases – even your arms. Get the right combo with the right, sprightly pace… and it could even add a dash of cardio to your strength training souffle.

In fact, here’s one DIY video whose moves I’ve pilfered an injected into my own ab crafting practice:

Before I had my own dumbbells, I improvised when I mimicked that vid with an old Anatomy & Phys textbook. (If you’ve ever taken that class, you’ll know why that book more than suffices for a heavy shoe-in.) Think of something similarly dense around your house you can nab for your ab blasting accessory.

Then… there’s this vid:

What I dig about these moves is three-fold.

Apart from the fact that you’re working multiple body parts, you’re also improving your balance anytime you switch to one leg and execute a movement that’s challenging to your other limb. The kicker (pun intended), though, is what happens when you do those alternate arm and leg kicks. Working opposite sides of your body simultaneously isn’t just a great core honer; it’s also a fantastic means of brain regulation in that it aids in synching up each side of your brain to help you think clearer.

And, finally, if you’re not sweating sufficiently, there’s this tush and tummy toning Tabata routine:

This is great not only in that it also works your butt. (Although, who doesn’t want the side effect of a toned tuchus while turning their paunch rock solid?) But, all that hard work has a hidden prize in that these intense intervals don’t just tone – they also raise your BMR. And that means more burn (than basic cardio) for longer after you’re done with all the bun and belly burning.

So, if your midsection’s fitness lineup is fraught, try supplementing your rug routine with some of the above upright tummy numbers. Granted, if you’re even a quarter as busy as I keep, you probably don’t have time to do all’ve these in one day. But that’s actually good. You wouldn’t want to anyway. Because mixing up your routine and rotating each’ve these badboys is the best way to go anyway.

Just don’t forget to throw your tried and true floor-obics in there some days, too.

#abdominal strength#abdominal toning#abdominals#tummy tightening

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