The Do You Work Out Zone

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Twisting movement: There are quite a few, but here’s one example.

Russian twists: sit down on the floor in a V position (so, knees bent, leaning slightly backward so that there is tension on the abs to keep your torso up). Depending on your ability either lift your feet off the ground remaining in the V position, or keep them on the ground while only your torso leans backward. All the while you should be holding a medicine ball or dumbbell in your hands so that once you’re in position you begin to twist your torso from one side to the other. You should not just be moving your arms, but your entire torso with your shoulders and head also following the ball/dumbbell as you twist, which is what is going to help you hit your obliques/tone your sides. Exercise should be felt in upper and lower portions of your abs, as well as in the obliques (sides of your abs). Also, be careful not to round your back/shoulders.



Some added ab exercises:

Plank: The plank is an isometric (meaning your body does not attempt to move any weight, but resists/remains stable and unmoving against it) exercise great for core strenght, and you're all probably using it already Basically, you begin by lying flat on the ground with your elbows bent (hands in front of you, elbows beneath your shoulders), and your legs out straight so only your toes are touching the ground. You then lift your body up so that it rests only on your forearms/elbows and toes. Your core (abs and lower back) remains tight, so that your lower back does not sink/arch/sag to the ground, your butt does not stick up into the air, and your entire posterior chain forms a straight line from your heels, up your legs, butt, back to the top of your head.



Situps: Folks have been shit-talking sit-ups lately, but I think there's a reason militaries around the world, including some of the best armies in the western world, continue to use them to condition their soldiers. The biggest thing is to make sure your back/neck does not curve too much as you perform them. Different for folks with pre-existing issues back issues.

If those are difficult try crunches on a Swiss ball. This helps because it allows you to crunch from a position in which your torso lies below your pelvis (like on a decline bench), which allows you to develop your abdominal muscles using a more functional range of motion (when using the abs in this kind of motion in daily life, one is more often come from a position where the upper body is extended behind the pelvis and moving forward, not from a neutral position and moving forward). Also, many people who are just getting active find it easier on the back.

Take a seat on the Swiss ball and make sure you've found your centre of balance alright. Slowly begin to walk your feet forward as you bring your back down to rest on the ball. Once it's done so, walk your feet backward so that your head/shoulders hang somewhat over the edge of the ball, but make sure that you're not in a position where your feet will leave the ground when you begin the exercise. Once you're in this position begin to perform your crunches at an even tempo (think 2 seconds up, 4 seconds down), making sure not to perform them to quickly. Also, to avoid cranking your neck forward, put your hands at your temples instead of behind your head.

Some things to keep in mind while weight training:

Time Under Tension/Tempo: when performing a given movement, try to think 2-3 seconds for the concentric phase, 4 seconds for the eccentric phase…which means no performing exercises at the speed of light Weight training requires a lot of mental concentration, so you should be thinking about the movement as well as the affected muscles as your doing the exercise...not about what you're having for dinner or what you're going to be doing over the weekend or what's on tv tonight

Breathing: exhale when the weight (whether the weight is a dumbbell, barbell or plate on a machine or your own body) leaves the ground, inhale as the weight comes back down. For example, during a back extension you would inhale while your approach the ground, and exhale as you come up. During a chest press, you would exhale as you push the weight away from your body, inhale as it comes back toward you.

About sets/reps: A lot of people are told low weight and high reps are the way to go in weight training, however, this kind of training only promotes muscle endurance, and not muscle strength or very much toning. It can reveal previously achieved toning when such a method is used during a few weeks of circuit training, but it doesn't do much to actually create the muscle/toning effect.

For beginners, however, 3 sets of 15 repetitions with light weights is recommended for the first 6-8 weeks of training in order to master the correct form without having to worry about injury due to heavy weight/incorrect form.

As you gain experience, and feel you've improved as far as muscle control/stability and strength, begin to increase the weight to something more challenging. By challenging, I mean a weight that you find it difficult to complete 12 repetitions with. If you can reach 15 reptitions or more, the weight is too light for toning and increasing strength.

Most people who are just looking to tone and increase their strength a little will want to work with 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions, increasing the weight when they can reach upward 12 repetitions fairly easily with good form. This also works for those who want to lose weight as well. Overall, the best thing to do is to do some reading on periodisation, which means that you might spend 8 weeks working within a 8-10 rep range with around 1 minute rest in between sets, followed by 6 weeks using a 15-20 repetitions while moving quickly through a series of 5-6 different exercises with little rest in between and so on (such a period is not good for muscle/strength building or toning, but for cardiovascular fitness, revealing muscle toning by reducing fat more rapidly, and muscular endurance).

Remember that, eventually, your body will adapt to a certain movement/exercise and you will have to change some factor of the exercise (increase weight, decrease base of support/stability, increase/decrease tempo, manipulate set/rep range etc.) in order to continue to see results.