cindersays

This is the last day of Irresistible Abs Week!

You’ve learned some simplistic ab anatomy. 

You’ve learned the brilliance of the pelvic tilt.

You’ve learned how to do pelvic tilts lying down, standing up and sitting. Lots of options!

Today I will tell you a bit about crunches.  I call a crunch what you might do as you lie on the floor and lift your head and upper back. This movement shortens those vertical ab muscles in the direction from the top towards the bottom. (Pelvic tilts move from the bottom towards the top.) I’m not a big believer in crunches. The direction they move us is not always useful for good posture and functioning, and people usually do too many in not great form. So for now concentrate on pelvic tilts, think of them as reverse crunches.

If you like crunches and want to continue to do them, focus on keeping your upper back and neck in neutral or “straight”. Do not actually curl, use the weight of your upper body as resistance during the movement. Make sure your abs are the primary mover. If you try this on the floor see if you can lift your head and shoulders using nothing but your abs. This is small concentrated movement. Did you know that just lifting your head can make those muscles fire?

If you’d like to learn some tools so you can do these exercises, come to my free class, sign up at http://cinderernst.com/

Here’s to strength and stamina so you can do what you love!

Cinder

If you’re loving these Irresistible Abs, you’ll love the easy to exercise stuff you’d learn if you come to my free virtual event, sign up here–http://cinderernst.com/ 

From yesterdays blog you have a feel for doing a pelvic tilt lying down. If you haven’t tried it yet, try it now. Take the instructions with you, lie down and follow the directions. Knowing how to do a pelvic tilt and doing it can change your life! http://cindersays.com/2012/03/27/strong-abs-starting-right-now/ Next we’re going to see how to do this standing and then sitting. If/when you back hurts it can often be helped in the moment by doing a pelvic tilt. This may not be true for chronic severe back pain, but for everyday aches and pains I let back pain be my signal to do a pelvic tilt. And I do it sitting, standing or lying down, where ever I may be.

Standing pelvic tilt. I have a client who does these every morning in the elevator on the way up to her office. Stand with your upper back against the wall, feet about a foot from the wall shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. You may notice that the curve of your low back creates that space that you noticed lying down. So push your back into the wall. Try it with your butt; try it without your butt. Notice what you are feeling in your back while you do this. I like to think “motion is lotion” while I do this as pelvic tilts warm up the low back area.

 Sitting pelvic tilt. Same idea as standing or lying. Try it first sitting upright in a chair without leaning against the back. Now notice the curve of your low back and then push your back into the curve. It’s trickier sitting so add your butt in to really get the feel of it. Also when you do these sitting, keep your chest lifted the whole time. “Tits up ladies” is what I used to say to my aerobics class, ha. You don’t want your chest to cave forward during the tilt. 

Tilt away today, let me know how is it going? Are you doing em?

For more useful and fun information on Easy to Exercise sign up here–http://cinderernst.com/

Cinder

Here we are half way through Irresistible Abs Week…well my week ends on Thursday so Tuesday counts as half way, ha.

So far we’ve covered how to talk about your abdominal muscles, we learned the distinction between your stomach, your abs, and your belly. Review here:http://cindersays.com/2012/03/24/6-pack-abs/

And we’ve learned a little user friendly anatomy of the region, not for scientists but perfect for our purpose. When you can visualize the muscle you are working you add an element of concentration to the movement. Review here:http://cindersays.com/2012/03/26/the-1-best-abdominal-exercise/ 

Today we are going to try the pelvic tilt. The easiest way to get the form right on a pelvic tilt is to try it lying down. So read through this instruction, then print it or put in on a portable device, then take it to the bed or floor and try it out. Pelvic tilts only work if you do them, ha. 

Now lie down, bed or floor. Arms at your sides, knees bent, feet on the floor. In a relaxed or neutral position most people will have a space between the floor and their low backs (the arch we talked about in ). But don’t worry if you don’t because there are no hard and fast rules for bodies. 

Pelvic tilt: push your back flat onto the surface you are lying on. If you are on a bed then the surface will move as you push. If you are on the floor or on a bench or table then when you push your back into the surface you will have a clear sensation of doing so. This is what I call a pelvic tilt. (Different practitioners will have different names for exercises.) Try 10 of these, say the number as you push your back down. 

When you push you back down (pelvic tilt) your abs shorten and your back muscles lengthen. This makes your abs stronger and your back muscles loosen up a bit. Also motion is lotion so the rocking motion of a pelvic tilt can bring relief to a stiff back. Put a picture of this in your head, it will help you do the movement. 

Let me know how this goes for you. If you have any questions post them here and I’ll get back to you. 

This is all you’ll ever need to have strong abdominals!

Here’s to living your life, right now!

Cinder

In my experience 25 years of personal fitness training, the most important abdominal (ab) exercise is the pelvic tilt. This simple move is the basis for doing all other ab exercises, and it has the most benefits and the least amount of risks. My clients know that I always choose the safest and most effective exercises, so they don’t get injured.

Results from pelvic tilting: Increases your ab strength, increases mobility in your lower back, often lessens low back pain right away, makes standard lower body stretching safer and more effective, can be done lying, sitting or standing so it’s versatile and can be used almost anywhere to relieve low back pain, does not aggravate neck pain, does not aggravate shoulder or upper back pain,  for advanced exercisers learning to incorporate the pelvic tilt into any ab exercise will increase the benefit and decrease the risk.

Let’s visualize your abdominal muscles; this will help when you try the pelvic tilt. Your ab muscles go from the top of your hip bones to the bottom of your rib cage. This is not exact anatomy but it will help illustrate the motion. The muscle striations go vertically (again not exact but useful for now). Imagine these muscles are the front of your spine. Think of the arch in your back and how those muscles would be stretched to accommodate the curve of your lower back. The pelvic tilt decreases the curve in your lower spine. The ab muscles (front of spine) shorten which makes the lower back muscles lengthen as you kind of “un arch” you back. That’s the idea of it.

Think about this part of your body as you go about your day, notice what happens when you bring your awareness there.

This is Irresistible Abs Week, in the next blog we will try the pelvic tilt together!

If you enjoy this information, you might like my free teleclass coming up on March 31,

3 Surprising Secrets to Sexy after 50…and they’re not Victoria’s secrets!

get more info here: http://cinderernst.com/

Here’s to your good health, right now!

Cinder

Have you ever tried to do enough crunches so you could lose your belly? How about watched an infomercial about this? It’s never gonna happen. You cannot spot reduce.

If you could spot reduce people who chew gum would have skinny faces. You can apply this spot reduce myth to any sort of exercise you do in hopes of making that part of you smaller (hips, thighs, upper arms), it will not work. We won’t even talk here about the energy wasted wishing you could make something smaller. 

I taught senior aerobics for many years. Invariably a few students (women students only by the way) would come and ask me how they could get rid of their stomachs, while pointing to usually not a lot of belly fat. I would answer with a question, how long have you been worrying about your belly? They would answer seriously…decades. Then I would say well stop it already. Do your ab strengthening, continue your aerobics and get on with living your life. The question from the book “Overcoming Overeating” that has stuck with me these 25 years is “what would women be doing if we stopped hating our bodies”? 

So let’s get the words right: Your stomach is an organ that digests food and you don’t want to get rid of your stomach. Your abdominal muscles (abs) are the muscles at the front of your back, they support your spine. You want strong abs because strength helps you do the things you love.  Your belly is the fat on top of the abs, don’t spend a lot of time worrying about it. 

Stay tuned…this week is Irresistible Abs Week, and you don’t need a 6 pack to get em!

Cinder 

Earlier this week I posted about a goal one of my clients is working toward. http://cindersays.com/2012/03/13/something-fun/ ‎

The goal is a fun 3.5 mile hike with her daughter that includes some elevation and some walking on sand.

Here’s what I recommend if you want to get your feet and legs ready for a bit of sand walking, and you don’t have a beach nearby. This can be fun! Blow up an air mattress part way and walk, dance or stand on it. Actually anything soft will do, couch cushions or a pool raft. You get the idea. Have some fun with this. You can stand on it when you do the dishes or brush your teeth. You might even try balancing on one foot at a time (be sure to put your other foot back down if you think you are going to fall). Make a game of it with your kids, or your honey.

You will notice all the little muscles in your feet/ankles working. This type of exercise will not only make walking on the beach easier, it will make your ankles stronger in general.

Small steps for sweet reasons, woo hoo!

Thanks and love, Cinder

Did you know that weight loss, getting to the gym or exercising every day are not goals? They are processes. We won’t talk here about why even as a process, weight loss is questionable. When I was younger and I thought weight loss was a goal that I never achieved, it made me hate goals.  Now I have a whole different and cool way to look at goals!

Here’s an example of how to make a really cool goal, I got this question from a client: I would really like to take Eva on a hike to anno Neuva to see the seals.  I am told it is about 3.5 miles (round trip) on sand with some elevation…Do you think I could make it…its in April.? 

This client had a knee replacement last fall (doing well), she works full time and is a single mom to a 15 year old, she’s a large person with a good fitness level, and she’s got some other joint issues. I see right away that she could do this and I will support her. 

The Goal is: I walk 3.5 miles on April __2012 with Eva to see the seals.

Next connect it to a sweet reason: To be a loving and fun parent

On the days you don’t want to do what you said you would do about this, you can remember the sweet reason and do it anyway with some ease and joy. This means you don’t have to barrel through, you can be graceful

Stay turned for our next steps.

Do you have a goal you’d like to put into your game of life?

Thanks and love, Cinder

I got a GREAT response to an email that I sent out yesterday. I was scared about sending it because I was putting myself out to someone I admire to see about a professional partnership. 

It took all my focus in that moment to compose and hit send. My brain was saying all kinds of stuff, can you imagine?

“Who do you think you are? He’ll never want to do anything with you. What do you know anyway? Just do it tomorrow”…and on and on.

I know to expect this from my brain. And I don’t let it take me out. I don’t argue with it. I just keep my eye on the prize.

The prize for me is wanting to reach the people that are waiting for me. Here’s what I mean by that. I have great programs for folks who are tired of feeling tired, sluggish and unattractive in their bodies. I help them gain strength and stamina to live the life they were meant to live. And I do that with a gentle, joyous fitness approach with no judgement on their size or shape. 

If I want to reach “my” people, then I have to put myself out there, It’s good to have a proud moment.

What is your latest PROUD moment?

Thanks and love, Cinder