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Posts tagged abs

Get Abs Like Jennifer Aniston With Sarah Dussault (by EverydayHealth)

This was posted 1 month ago and has 73 notes and Comments · Permalink

DVD Review: Crunch Free Xtreme Abs with Jackie Warner

Today’s DVD review is from my new intern, Laura!  Please give her a warm welcome by leaving a comment on her very first guest post here on SarahFit.com!

Hi readers, I’m the new intern, Laura! I’m a student at BC, a personal trainer, and a fitness enthusiast. I’m reviewing Jackie Warner’s Crunch Free Xtreme Abs DVD. The DVD has two separate routines that you only need a pair of light dumbbells for. I don’t keep dumbbells in my dorm so I used two empty water bottles filled with sand and gravel, but one of the girls demonstrating does modifications sans dumbbell.

I personally hate crunches and think there are more efficient ways to work your core, so I was excited to see what creative routines Jackie could come up with. Both workouts are about 15 minutes long; one is a standing crunch routine, the other a floor workout. Although the standing routine was fast-paced and used some of my favorite exercises like dumbbell swings and figure 8’s, I didn’t necessarily find it that challenging in terms of working my abs, but she puts you in a lot of lunge and squat positions that definitely started to make my legs a little tired.

I didn’t really feel like I had done that much after I finished though, so I was glad to get to the floor routine. The floor workout is exponentially more challenging! It’s basically 15 minutes straight of already fairly difficult exercises (planks, side planks, leg lifts, etc.), made harder. She does some supermans and bridge exercises for your lower back and glutes to so that your whole core area is engaged and not just your abdominals.

Overall, spending the 30 minutes to do both workouts in succession gives you a pretty decent workout, so I’ll grade this a B (C for the standing routine, A- for the floor routine). I’ll incorporate a lot of the floor exercises into my core workouts, but there are definitely better standing ab routines out there.  If you want something really challenging, I would start with Jackie’s floor routine, go straight into Sarah’s Standing Crunch-less Workout, and back into another round of the floor routine. I did this yesterday and my abs were EXHAUSTED by the end!

Question Of The Day: What ab move do you think is a waste of time and needs to be retired?

Don’t forget to check out some of my other favorite DVD reviews featuring great abs.

Original Article

This was posted 8 months ago and has 17 notes and Comments · Permalink

This is my new favorite ab routine to do at the gym!  I’ve been doing it almost daily and love it.  You can follow along with me in the video so grab a mat and let’s get started!

6 Ab Moves To Transform Your Midsection (by SarahsFabChannel)

This was posted 9 months ago and has 93 notes and Comments · Permalink

I Wasted 15 Minutes Of My Life Taking A Group Exercise Ab Class

While in New York, I always like to try new exercise classes.  I wanted to try Barry’s Bootcamp which mixes a cardio treadmill workout with intense bootcamp strength training moves.  However, since I’m down here for a total body assessment, Joe Dowdell (my trainer through CrushingTheCourse.com) asked me to “No! Please don’t!!!”  I think the intensity would mess with the results, or maybe it’s not a such a safe workout… I’ll find out soon enough.

So instead, I went to the Equinox and paid the $15 to access a different club.  I started my lean and strong workout  when I saw an ab class was about to start.  I figured, “What the heck?”  I went in, got a ball and set up my mat.

Let me begin this review that the class was packed!  The first 10 minutes were all crunches! My neck was killing me by exercise 5 - in a sequence of about 15.  I know that you cannot effectively workout for abs for 15 minutes straight but since I dedicate this blog to giving you insight into the fitness industry, I’m telling you, they have no received the memo!!!!  Ab classes are a waste of time.  The last 5 minutes were the most effective ab exercises featuring knee tucks using a sliding disk and pikes using the disk as well.  Those are some of my favorite exercises but the first 10 minute wrecked my neck and back that I couldn’t do them!  I like going to classes like this because I steal certain moves from the instructors to show you my favorites, but I do not recommend going to an ab class at your gym.  They are not necessarily and 10 minutes too long.

Do this ab workout at the end of your cardio of strength training workouts:

  • 60-second plank on forearms - rest 60 seconds -
  • 30-second side plank on each side - no rest in between sides but rest 60 seconds after both are done
  • 60-second plank on forearms - rest 60 seconds -
  • 30 second side plank on each side - no rest in between sides but rest 60 seconds after both are done
  • 12 reps Spiderman Plank - Plank position, bring right knee to right elbow, repeat on opposite side for 1 rep.
  • 15 leg raises with hands under butt pressing lower back into the mat
  • 12 reps Spiderman Plank - Plank position, bring right knee to right elbow, repeat on opposite side for 1 rep.
  • 15 leg raises with hands under butt pressing lower back into the mat

 Have you ever taken a group exercise class?  Do you love or hate group exercise ab classes?

Original Article

This was posted 9 months ago and has 56 notes and Comments · Permalink

Paddle Your Way To Marisa Miller’s Body?

In a new chapter of celebrity branded products, Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Marisa Miller announced last night on Conan that she has been designing her own line of stand up paddle boards.  A relatively new sport here in the states (or at least the east coast), paddle boarding is much like standing up on a surf board and using a single paddle to get around.

It requires a strong core and balance.  You can usually rent them these days at places that rent surf boards.  It seems like fun to me.  I love spending time at the beach and finding ways to be active while having fun are my favorite activities.  

Paddle boarding promises to burn between 500-700 calories per hour* (similar to a brisk walk or slow jog).  Other celebrity fans include Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna and Kate Hudson.  It provides a total body workout, using your upper body strength to propel the board forward against currents and wind,  challenges the lower body to maintain balance while slightly bending the knees, and engages the core switching the paddle from side to side to go straight forward.

I remember reading in Shape magazine that Miller enjoyed paddle boarding.  She was discovered after all by a famed photographer in California one day as a teenager while surfing.   For $1715, you can buy her paddle board!

I kinda like this idea about celebrities promoting healthy living products.  The only caution I would give is one that warns potential consumers that just because Marisa Miller uses a paddle board does not mean you will look like her if you use one.

Unless Miller goes on a cupcake, beer and pizza year long binge, she will probably still look as she does.

I receive many requests from fans asking about certain celebrity workouts, like Selena Gomez (who is naturally thin).  Yes, I put out workout videos like Lady Gaga’s Ab Workout and Scarlett Johannson’s Butt Workout but that is because their trainers share them with the world.  It’s not to say the workout will make your body part look like the celeb’s.  Often time, the celebrity has been photoshopped so often, their actual body parts are just an illusion of an artists imagination.

The truth is that, your genetics play the biggest part in how your body looks.  It doesn’t matter if you do 100 squats a day, if you have skinny dancer legs, you’re body is never going to give you large muscular thighs (unless you gain over 40 lbs) and even still most of your weight may go to your stomach.  Marketing a product with a promise to look like a certain person only sets people up for feeling bad about themselves.

I would probably buy Marisa’s paddle boards if I lived somewhere that was warm more than 3 months out of the year.  They look super cute.

Elizabeth has a paddle board and I just may have to use it sometime soon.  Have you ever paddle boarded?  If so, were you sore the next day?

*According to Shape Magazine

Original Article

This was posted 10 months ago and has 9 notes and Comments · Permalink

Butt And Oblique Exercise Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqXtTzUecZU

Butt and Obliques Exercise from Diet.com Video aka DietHealth on YouTube

This is a difficult squat variation that is called a One-Shoulder Loaded Squat.  You need a 10-20 lb dumbbell and some good balance.  Do this move 10-12 times on each side 3 times for 3 sets.  This move works your obliques, and lower body.  Enjoy!

Original Article

This was posted 1 year ago and has 10 notes and Comments · Permalink