Cellulite and Abdominals

Many of us that are struggling to get rid of our cellulite are also trying to improve the appearance of our abdominal area.  The "abs" are one of the toughest areas to improve and may also have cellulite or loose skin on them.  While you may never have perfect looking abs, you can improve them and you should.  Many women, especially ones that have had children have weak abdominal muscles.  They also have weak lower backs.

The abdominal muscles and the lower back muscles work synergistically so you need to strengthen both muscle groups.  The abdominal and lower back muscles are a part of the muscle groups responsible for your posture.  One thing that you can do right now to improve these muscles is sit up straight.  Your pelvis should be in a neutral position with your backside slightly "tugged" under.  You also want to have your abdominal muscles gently pressed in so that you have the sensation of your belly button pressing into your spine.  Try to maintain this posture as often as possible.  

If you are presently involved in an exercise program and do exercises for your abdominals, keep this same "posture" (abs. slightly contracted and pressed into your spine) while doing your abdominal exercises.

One of the most basic exercises for the abdominal area is the abdominal crunch.  It's important for you to master this before moving on to more challenging exercises.  The following information is an explanation on how to do an abdominal crunch so that you will get the benefits of the exercise without hurting yourself.

Abdominal Crunch

1) Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.  Do your best to feel all of your vertebrae pressed flat against the floor. 

2) Most people fail at abdominal crunches or don't "feel them" because they don't isolate their abs.  You can avoid this by contracting your abs in and holding them in for a few seconds.  Release the abs the then do this again.  Remember to keep breathing while you do this.

3) Before you begin your crunch, you need to get used to the feeling of having the weight of your head resting in your hands.  Fan your hands out and put them at the lower part of your head including the top part of your neck.  Your elbows should be winged out slightly.  Lift your head up and let it become dead weight in your hands.  This is how your head should be through out the exercise so that there is no strain on your neck.

4) With your back pressed into the floor and your abdominal muscles contracted in towards your spine, lift your shoulder blades off the floor keeping your head and neck well supported.

5) Breath out as you lift up and hold for 3 seconds.  Breath in slightly as you lower and then repeat step 4 (lifting up) as your breath out again.

Repeat this until you work up to 20 repetitions.

Courtesy of http://www.conqueryourcellulite.com

Get a clear demonstration of the abdominal crunch and other abdominal exercises at:  http://www.thenotimefitnessvideos.com