This morning has been amusing to say the least. Zoe came into our bed late last night to cuddle. Josh woke us up to say he was leaving for work. She was in utter refusal to be bothered lol. As soon as we heard his car leave, Zoe pops up grabs my face and says “Come on mama it is time for breakfast and monsters!” I thought she wanted to watch Monsters Inc. She let me know how wrong I was lol She wanted to watch Little Monsters. You know the movie from the late 80′s with Ben Savage? She started watching it yesterday and I guess really like it. I turned it on while I started breakfast. She immediately let me know that Monsters aren’t real and it was just a movie lol. I loved this movie when I was a kid!

While she enjoyed her breakfast and the movie, I sat down this morning and figured up what the challenge will be for February. It will be #LoveMyAbs

We all know that Abs are made in the kitchen, but like every other part of your body you can’t tone it up if there are no muscles there So I want to make sure we have a strong core! There are so many benefits to having a strong core!

• A strong core is a prerequisite for a smooth functioning body
  
• Core muscles are primary requisite for stability
• It will reduces your chances of low back injury and backache which is getting so common, especially in women and athletes
• A strong core helps you in all your lifts especially your bigger lifts and better in exercises like squats and clean & press
• Core includes both abdominal muscles and lower back muscles. Training them both for balance and stability
• Improvement in posture
• Having a strong core is more appealing. You can lose body fat and build core muscles which hold the existing fat better this will make you appear skinnier

The #LoveMyAbs challenge will be one session of Tabatas that focus solely on our abdominals. In case you have missed my previous post about Tabatas, I will give you a quick run down.

Any exercise can be incorporated into the Tabata training. However the basic outline of the Tabata training method are as follows:
•     4 minutes long (whole Tabata Session)
•     20 seconds of intense training
•     10 seconds of rest
•     Total of 8 sessions or rounds each exercise being a round

You will need a Tabata timer. There are several apps you can download to your phone, but you can also find them online.

Okay this is what I have planned….

Start with Crunches Lie on your back hands behind your head and lift your upper back off the floor and crunch your abs. Do not lean your neck forward into the crunch , this can cause injury.

 

Toe Touchers Lie down with your back on the floor and your legs pointing straight up in the air or against the wall. Start by touching the floor behind your head with both hands, then touch your toes with both hand and repeat.

Rocky Sit Ups are just like regular sit ups except that you twist on the way up and punch to one side, changing sides every repetition.

Reverse Crunches. These are pretty self explanatory.

Mountain climbers You start in the position you would start a push up in then bring your knees to your chest

Cross Body Mountain Climbers Same starting position as last time, but instead of bringing your knees straight up to your chest, you will cross them over your chest.

Hip lifts Lie flat on your back legs straight up in the air and lift only your hips

Last but not least forearm plank

With the exception of the plank, you want to go as hard as you can with each exercise. try to get as many reps out in the 20 seconds ad possible. In your mind focus on what part of your abs you are working.

I always get excited to start a new challenge! Hope you all have a fabulously fit day!!!!