Tone your core with a 15-minute workout, three or four times a week.

6 Easy Exercises to Strengthen Your Core

By Lisa Whitmore

The Routine

Okay, perhaps you’re enough of a realist to know that you’ll never have a six-pack. But exercising your core is still important: Strong abdominal and back muscles are essential for doing everyday tasks, like lifting a 20-pound toddler and putting away groceries, not to mention preventing an achy back and maintaining good posture at your desk. Break out of (boring) crunch mode and work your middle with this Pilates-inspired routine, created by Kit Rich, a Los Angeles–based Pilates instructor. Complete the workout three to four times a week to make the most of your midsection.

Move 1: Knee Fold Tuck 

(A) Sit tall, hands on floor, knees bent, squeezing a playground ball between them. (B) Lift knees so shins are about parallel to the floor; extend arms. Pull knees toward shoulders, keeping upper body still. Bring knees back to starting position. Repeat 15 to 20 times.

Move 2: Climbing Rope

(A) Sit with legs extended, feet turned out in a V position, toes pointed. Contract core muscles and roll spine into a C-curve. (B) Lift arms and move them as if you were climbing a rope. Twist slightly with each reach. Do 20 reaches with each arm. 

Move 3: Side Balance Crunch

(A) Begin with left knee and left hand on the floor, right arm straight up. Extend right leg so your body forms a straight line. (B) Pull right knee toward torso and right elbow toward knee. Straighten arm and leg. Repeat 10 times, then switch sides.

Move 4: Circle Plank

Start in a plank position with abs tight. (A) Pull right knee in and circle it clockwise, then (B) counterclockwise. Keep the rest of your body stationary. Repeat five times, then switch legs.

Move 5: Sliding Pike

(A) Begin in a plank on an uncarpeted floor, hands under shoulders and a towel under feet. (B) With legs straight, raise hips and draw legs toward hands into a pike position—your feet should slide easily. Hold for one count, then return to start. Repeat 10 times.

Move 6: Oblique Reach

Sit with knees bent and feet on floor. (A) Straighten right leg. Roll spine into a C-curve. Place left hand behind head and extend right arm. (B) Twist body to the left, roll back a bit more (and hold for one count), then come up. Do five reps, then switch sides.

6 Easy Lower Abdominal Exercises

6 Easy Lower Abdominal Exercises

By Sharon Liao

Tone your lower abs with a 15-minute workout, three times a week.

The Routine

Sure, a more toned midsection can ease your bathing-suit anxiety. But it can also protect you from injury:
Research shows that a strong transversus abdominis—the muscle that wraps around the torso—stabilizes your back, which makes it easier to lift anything, whether it’s kids or grocery bags. To work this tricky-to-target area, try these moves created by Melissa Miller, the owner of M2 Personal Training, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Do the series two times through, three times a week.

Next: Move 1: Warm-Up: Ab Prep

Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Inhale and tuck your chin to your chest. Exhale and slowly curl just your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor as you lift your arms and reach toward your feet. Pause and breathe in. Slowly return to the starting position, breathing out as you go. Repeat eight times.

 
 Next: Move 2: Roll Up

(A) Lying on your back, stretch your arms and extend your legs so you form a straight line. Inhale, bring your arms overhead, and begin to curl your upper body off the floor. (B) Exhale when halfway up and continue rolling forward to reach your toes. Inhale and reverse the move, exhaling halfway down, to return to start. Repeat 10 times.
 

Next: Move 3: Leg Drop

 (A) Raise both legs toward the ceiling. Breathe in and tighten your abs. (B) Exhale and slowly lower your legs until they’re about four inches above the floor (or as low as you can go without lifting the small of your back). Pause and breathe in. Breathe out as you raise your legs to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.
 

Next: Move 4: Scissors

 Raise both legs toward the ceiling. Keeping them straight, lower your left leg until it’s about six inches off thefloor. Lift your head and shoulders off the floor and grasp the back of your right leg, gently pulling it toward you. Switch legs and repeat on other side. Quickly complete 10 reps (no pausing!).
 

Next: Move 5: Hip Lift

 Raise both legs toward the ceiling and extend your arms on the floor at your sides, palms down. Inhale and tighten your core muscles. Curl your hips toward your ribs as you exhale, lifting your hips off the floor and reaching your feet straight up. Breathe in as you slowly lower. Repeat 10 times.

 

Next: Move 6: Torso Twist

 A) Sit cross-legged and stretch your arms out in front of you, with your fingertips touching. Breathe in. (B) With your hips square and abs tight, breathe out as you slowly rotate your upper body about 45 degrees to the right. Return to the center and repeat on your left side. Complete 10 reps. 

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Resistance Bands Exercises for Men And Why You Need Them

 Resistance Bands Exercises for Men And Why You Need Them

explain why they are an excellent tool that you can have in your fitness arsenal and will show why resistance bands workouts for men may even be better than the traditional 'iron bar' training techniques.Are resistance band exercises for men any good? Simply put you better believe they are! This article will
Muscles are dumb:
At the end of the day, our muscles are dumb, end of story, our muscles don't know whether they are been trained using dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, plates, bands, ropes or any other piece of equipment. All our muscles can relate to is whether they are actually being stimulated in a workout. This is one reason why your training regime should include resistance bands exercises for men.
Full range of motion:
When you train with bands you can work the muscle in it's entirety, because of the elastic nature of resistance training you will be training your muscles fully and there will be constant tension in them throughout the positive and negative portion of each rep. This is not the case with traditional training.
Three planes of motion:
Another benefit of resistance bands exercises for men is you can workout in all three planes of motion, the sagital, transverse and the frontal plane. Being able to workout in all three planes of motion is a great way of training because you will be moving and exercising your body in a way in which it wants, and you will be working muscles in tandem.
Transitioning from one exercise to the next exercises is a breeze:
When you incorporate resistance bands exercises for men into your workout you can easily (and safely) transition from one exercise to another. You don't need to have a tonne of different equipment because with one simple continuous loop band you can do a host of exercises.
You can increase or decrease level of resistance with ease:
complete set of dumbbells or plates, a quick change of stance or positioning can easily and safely switch up the resistance to make the resistance band exercise you are doing easier of more difficult.Being able to increase or decrease the level of resistance or intensity of the exercise is another top benefit of resistance bands workouts for men. You won't to have a
Resistance bands exercises for men always recruit the trunk muscles:
Working with resistance bands means you can always incorporate your trunk or abs in each and every movement. You will have to stabilize with your core in every exercise because of the elasticity nature of the bands. This is excellent for building core strength without actually having to spend extra time focussing on building up your core muscles separately.
As you can see they are some great benefits of training using resistance bands exercises for men. They are other benefits also and there are tonnes of exercises you can do. Essentially any exercise you can do with other equipment you can do with bands. You really should have these fabulous pieces of kit in your arsenal.

Resistance Band Exercises - How To Use Them Right

Resistance Band Exercises - How To Use Them Right

All resistance band exercises share certain things in common. For example, in all of them, some part of the body like the feet or the back, or some inanimate object, like a door frame securing the doorway anchor that comes with many resistance band kits, are used to hold one part of the bands in place while the other parts of the bands are stretched and contracted to provide the resistance that produces their benefits.

Whichever resistance band exercises you choose to perform in your workouts, a few other essential items also remain the same:

Breathe - The need to breathe during a workout is essential to get the maximum value out of it. You'd be amazed how many people hold their breath while they're working out, though. You might even be one of these people and not even know it.

Drink Water - Working out utilizes water in the body, mostly in the form of sweating to keep you cool, and the only way to replenish that water is to drink more. Don't do it and you could overheat, feel weak and even dizzy, eventually growing too fatigued to continue.

Don't Overdo It - Nothing breaks a person's workout habit more than overdoing it. Trying too hard to go too far can leave you in pain and worse, cause harm to your body. Many times when this happens to people they never get up the motivation or interest to resume their workout, later regretting it of course. It's far better to stick with reasonably challenging resistance band workouts that slowly build up muscles over a steady length of time in a practical and sustainable fashion. Or to put it another way, it's better to under-do it and come back for more than to overdo it and never come back again.

Follow these three simple rules - breathe, drink water, don't overdo it - and whatever resistance band exercises you choose to perform, you'll get the maximum value out of them.