Thursday, June 5, 2008

Here are the new workout moves that will target your midsection and your upper body.
I read a couple of questions regarding your tummy and how to get it tight again; it is possible but it takes time. Your body doesn't fully recover from having a baby for a long time! Just remember it took your body 9 months to get that way. For anyone that knew me while I was pregnant it looked like I swallowed a basketball. My abdominal muscles were literally stretched apart so far that you could see where they split down the middle of my tummy. It took 8 or 9 months after having Cohen before they tightened back up. So for you new moms the only thing you need to worry about doing is eating well and EVERY 3 HOURS, this will help you lose the baby weight that is covering up your abs so when your muscles recover you will be able to see that six pack again :) In the meantime, if you want to do some exercises here are my very favorites!!

Airplanes

These are the old and faithful crunches that our moms did with us. Put your baby on your shins, hold on to their arms while you straighten out your legs; then bend your knees bringing your baby closer to you, crunch up, and kiss their forehead. Repeat 3 sets of 15-20

Slow Sit-Ups

To perform this exercise simply lie on the floor and reach up to the ceiling with your arms straight, slowly roll up on vertebrae at a time until you are sitting up as tall as you can. Return to the floor rolling slowly down one vertebrae at a time again. Do 10-15 reps and repeat 3 times.

Ab-Blaster Super-Set

Lie with your legs apart in a V and your hands cupped behind your ears. Lift one leg off of the floor and keep it there throughout the whole exercise. Crunch your opposite elbow toward the leg that is raised, making sure you come up high enough to get your shoulder blade off the floor. Repeat 10 times on each leg. Immediately following this exercise, put one foot on your other knee.

With your hands cupped behind your head and your elbows pointing up to the ceiling, rock your knee up to your elbow lifting your hips off the floor. In this movement your head should stay on the mat and only your hips should move. Repeat 10 times on each leg.
REPEAT ENTIRE CYCLE 3 TIMES


Baby Kiss Push-Ups


Believe it or not this one works your abs as well as your chest and arms. There are two variations, pick the one that suits you best. Start with your hands a bit wider than shoulder width apart, they should be directly in line with your shoulders/chest, not out in front of you. While keeping your head in line with your spine, drop down and give your baby a kiss. Then push back up until your arms are totally straight. Repeat as many as you can (hopefully at least 15) 3 times

If you kept a food journal like we talked about earlier in the week, please post a comment with your unhealthy favorites so I can help you come up with alternatives you will actually like.

3 comments:

Dave and Briste said...

You Rock Alanna! Thanks for getting us off of our behinds and getting us in shape and eating healthy! You are awesome!

Lizzy said...

um....chocolate. my current plan is to have 2 squares of dark chocolate during my day or to drizzle 1 tsp of hot fudge over fresh berries. but sometimes i just want to eat good chocolate.

i'm always craving sweet breakfast items. what are some healthy but sweet options.

Anthony and Kristie said...

My unhealthy favorite is to snack on those animal cookies that are pink or white with sprinkles. I live for those things. Any ideas for me?