Belly fat.  Muffin top.  Rolls.  If you have it, you probably hate it.  And the number one thing people tell me that they want to do when starting a training program is to get rid of it.  I always hate to be the bearer of bad news but you cannot spot reduce.

This bears repeating.  You CANNOT spot reduce.  Whether it’s fat from your belly, thighs, tush or the bra-bulge.    The good news is that under extra body fat is muscle. And muscle is just waiting to come out and show itself.  You just need to help it out.

So when you clean up your diet and watch your calorie intake AND incorporate strengthening exercises you will start to see some muscle definition where there previously was not.

Contrary to what you may think, everyone does have a six pack.  But some people have to dig it out from under a ton of food in the fridge.   (Wow, that analogy was a stretch).

This long ramble brings me to our Challenge Workout for today.  It’s core.  All core.   And trust me, we’re not doing this simply for cosmetic reasons but a strong core will help you support and protect your lower back, legs, knees and provide a strong base for your upper body. (You can read more about the importance of core strength here.)  

Challenge Workout

• Spiderman Climbers  – 20 repetitions
• 5 Ct. Leg Drops – 20 repetitions
• Large Flutter – 20 repetitions
• Plank – 60 seconds

Perform this sequence two times through

How To Do the Exercises

Spiderman Climbers

• Get into a high plank position
• Lift your right foot off the ground, bend your knee and bring your knee to the outside of your right elbow – squeezing our right obliques as you do this
• Press leg back to start position
• Switch to your left leg
• Alternate for a total of 20 repetitions total (a right and a left leg equals 1 count)

MOD:  Hold a plank, do a bird dog or drop the repetitions to 10.

5 Ct. Leg Drops

• Lay flat on your back, with your hands under your tush
• Bring your feet straight up in the air, feet flexed so that toes are facing towards you, knees locked out
• Keeping legs glued together through entire exercise, contract your abs as you slowly (s-l-o-w-l-y) lower your legs as close to the ground as you can as you slowly (s-l-o-w-l-y) count down 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1
• When you get to 1, squeeze your legs together, tighten your abs and pull your legs back up to start – repeat 20 times

MOD:  Drop legs halfway to the ground before bringing them back up to top

Large Flutter

• Lay on your back and place your hands behind your head with your legs straight on the ground
• Keeping your knees, legs and ankles together, lift your feet straight up in the air
• With an open chest and your elbows out wide, lift your shoulders off the ground about 3 inches
• Keeping your legs together, slowly lower your legs until you feel the “bite” in your abs (the bite is where you feel tension in your abs but you can still keep your back flat – this spot will vary depending on your abdominal strength)
• From this position you will point your toes away from you and with a straight leg drop the right foot towards the ground, gently touching your heel to the ground and then bring that leg back up to meet the one still in the air.
• Now take the left foot and slowly drop it to the ground, gently touching your heel to the ground and bring it back up to meet the right leg.  That’s a one count.  Repeat on both legs for a total of 20.

MOD:  Keep legs bend and bring them only halfway to the ground before bringing them back up to the top

Plank

• Hold yourself in the “up” position of a pushup, hands under our slightly in front of your shoulders, fingers spread, apart, pointing forward
• Press your feet, knees and thighs together
• Draw your shoulders down away from your ears and engage your shoulder blades so they are slightly pulling toward each other
• Lift your belly up nice and tight, pulling your belly button toward your spine
• Focus on your belly button, pulling it up towards your spine
• Breathe

MOD:   Tough love time – try and gut it out for the full minute (but if you have to drop down, please substitute a bird-dog)

Now go run!

Keli 🙂