Tone Your Tummy

Toned trim abs help you look great and feel great. Your abdominal muscles wrap around your torso from back to front, supporting your back and organs while also pulling your waistline in like a natural internal corset.

Crunches are not the most effective way to work your abs, and in fact can cause your abdominal muscles to build up and out, instead of pulling in. This simple criss-cross exercise is an extremely effective way to work abdominal strength, tone, and endurance.

Lie supine on your back on a mat or blanket, with your knees bent, feet on the mat hip distance apart, and hands under your head. Bring both knees up and into a tabletop position with abs in, tailbone down, and thighs squeezing together. On an exhale, curl your upper body up to the bottom tips of your shoulder blades making sure to keep a space between chin and chest. Feel your ribs pull in towards your waistline and hips. Breathe as you need to.

Without moving your hips at all, rotate your head and ribs to the right, reaching towards your right knee. Come back to center and reverse to the left. Stop in the center each time and make sure you stay up in your abs with your hips down and steady. Do 3-6 in each direction and rest. Repeat 1-2 times, every other day and you will be ready for swimsuit season in no time!

Lynda Lippin, Award-winning Pilates and Fitness Trainer, Lynda Lippin Fitness Sanity

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Swimsuit Ready Challenge

This exercise is part of our Swimsuit Ready Challenge (April 2-30, 2012). Do this exercise and comment below “I did this!” to be entered to win our $100 and $50 giveaways. You may enter up to one time per day through April 30th.

Also – be sure to share this on Facebook, Pinterest and other sites to let your friends cheer you on or – better yet – join in on the challenge so they can hang out on the beach with you this summer!