No More Sit-ups!
Coach Brian shows you effective ways to work out your abdominal muscles!
You’ll Learn:
- The “Smart” way to train your stomach muscles
- How to do a plank
- Key exercises to sculpt and shape your waist
- Which stretches to do after your workout
help! where did the video go?
I just get “Error loading player:
No playable sources found”
Hi Pennie,
Usually the issue can be resolved by try the following steps:
Try using a different web browser such as Google Chrome
(recommended), Safari or Internet Explorer this usually helps
solve the problem.
Clear your browsing history/cookies or You can clear your
history/cache by clicking on CTRL+F5 (on your keyboard).
Janine
The Gabriel Method Team
Hi Brian,
Great video, love the abdo exercises, certainly beats my sit ups where I inadvertently tense my neck muscles coming up (even I’m not supposed to), in my efforts to boot those lazy abdos into gear.
I have been a bit slack on my exercise lately, fighting of the fatigue and muscle pain, so I am looking forward to getting back into it.
Regards, Anita
Great Anita thanks. Let me know how you go ….. start today with a tabata session, and release some positive chemistry.
Hi Elika,
thanks for your post, pretty cool I’m an inspiration – thanks!!
I’d worry about hurting your back with these exercises…can you tell me when the herniated disk occurred, then I can give you better advice.
In the meantime, you can strengthen abs easily by drawing your abdominal region (pulling navel in and up) in and holding for as long as you can.
Do this very often, and start ‘switching on’ your abdominals as a normal part of your posture
Oh…and do some squats in the water too, great for glute strength which can help your back.
Thanks a lot for the reply and the advices Brian!
My story with the herniated disks is a bit complicated. (I apologize for the long post)
I’m 25yrs now.In May 2010 I started having a strange pain in my left leg (you probably know that’s very typical) but I had no idea what was causing it, so I thought it was from not warming up before doing some cardio.A very busy and stressful month after that the pain became so bad that I couldn’t even walk 50 meters.I got a CT scan of the lower back, and everybody was so surprised and shocked to see that I had 2 huge herniated disks which were pressuring the nerve roots (causing the pain). One disk was about 90% into the canal and the next was about 70%…so they just told me there was no other chance than surgery… I was already barely able to walk and after 1 month in bed I decided to have it. The surgery went all well (Thank God!) but my doctor told me that I will always have remaining discomfort there. I also had a slow recovery and for 3-4 months after, I still had trouble walking with my left leg… Eventually it got better and better…. But after all that shock and stress and trauma and being sedentary I gained a lot of weight (about 21-22kilos). I have always been obese -as long as I can remember (heavy insulin resistance since a child)… and the only time I lost successfully (steadily and reasonably) weight was in 2009-2010 – with proper eating plan and mostly walking, I went from 103 kilos down to 85. This was right before all this thing with my back happened. Before this I never ever knew I had a problem and I never knew how to take proper care of my back…
I’ve been also told that I have kind of degenerative spine disease which slowly makes my situation worse, and after having a second scan recently – it turned out I have a new (much smaller) hernia on a next level (after the surgery).
I am doing my best to take care of myself (supplements for the joints, collagen, no heavy lifting of anything, posture, stretches, massages), but my biggest problem is the excess weight. I hate to say it but I have a huge belly…. After losing weight and now having it gained all back – my belly has become so big …and I can feel how it affects my back (and not only) and I want to change this. I won’t give up, but I’ve come to realize – I need help from someone who knows better. ANY ADVICE is so much appreciated! In my country (Bulgaria) it’s really hard to find competent specialists who would know how to help me properly… so one way or another – here I am at the Gabriel Method.
Thank you again for your time and reading all of the above.
Regards, Elika
Hello Brian! Really nice video!
Just one question – how often do you recommend doing this workout for the abs during a week for example? I am currently only able to go swimming (due to some problems with herniated disk in lower back and after a surgery there 2 years ago). The water seems to be my alternative since the excess weight ads a lot pressure on my joints (also knees and ankles). I go swimming 3 times a week, and I try to have at least 1 day of rest between them, so I was wondering IF and WHEN I could add some mild exercise to strengthen the abs?
Thanks a lot for your time and work! You’re an inspiration, just as Jon is!
Please email us at help@thegabrielmethod.com and our team will do the best to help you in your concerns.
Have a nice day!
Hi Norah,
when you do the above exercises the duration is based on your level of strength. You may find you can only hold the position for a few seconds, that’s fine. I’d suggest aim for 60 seconds but it’s ok to have breaks along the way.
For eg. you may do 6 times 10 seconds, and work towards doing
1 time for 60 seconds.
The side oblique exercises are great for the muscles of the waist.
So far I’m not going so good but I found the video will be extremely helpful to me and the question from bpura I can really relate to as even when I was correct weight I’ve never had a waistline so I will get on this regime but need to know what is the recommended time to do it for rgds Norah Lim
Doesn’t this work to make a woman’s waist larger, giving the straight up and down figure? Just wondering…
Good question but it will do the opposite in fact, drawing in your waist. The stronger your abdominal muscles the better, they take the load off your back and make for a stronger, narrower waist too.