Abs-solutely sore

- #exercise #health

A friend of mine has a big event coming up in April and wants to look his best. We often see each other at the gym in the morning, so we decided to work out together to keep us motivated. It’s worked out great. However, I’m sore all the time these days. I think I just went a whole week of going to the gym every day. I’ve had different muscle groups sore every day of the week. I usually go light on a few muscle groups – like back or legs. Having someone else there makes sure that I hit everything equally hard.

And the best part of having a workout partner is having two person abs exercises. I’ve pulled out a few abs exercises that trainer used to have me do. I find that what I don’t like about most abs exercises is that you have to push yourself to get the most out of the time. Having a two-person exercise with someone that’s a little mean-spirited and competitive actually makes it easier to do abs.

So here are two exercises:

The exerciser sits on a decline bench (knees are at the top) and sits up

The trainer stands behind the person and hands the exerciser a medicine ball on the left side

The exerciser, holding the medicine ball, twists and hands the medicine ball back to the trainer on the right side

The trainer then hands the ball back to the exerciser on the left side

Repeat

This one is really good for oblique muscles. The twisting motion combined with the medicine ball makes it a great workout. Be sure to switch sides on the next set (right to left).

The other one is really diabolical:

The exerciser lays down on a mat

The trainer stands over the exercisers head or chest

The exerciser, keeping legs totally straight throughout the exercise, raises their legs

As soon as the legs are perpendicular to the floor, the trainer pushes the legs out and down forcefully

The exerciser, has to stop their legs from hitting the floor, and so need to use their abs to put on the brakes

As soon as the legs are up again, the trainer pushes them down

Repeat until the screaming starts

It’s not so much painful as it is infuriating because it’s so easy for the trainer to push the legs down. I guarantee you will be sore the next day from doing these.

blog comments powered by Disqus