Mistake #10 - Doing crunches

Crunches are bad for your spine and don't really target the muscles that you think they do.  Think about the movement of a crunch.  You flex your spine as you crunch up, this mimics the way you sit hunched over  your computer everyday.  It's a movement you do not need to repeat in an exercise, extending and working the back more will offset that flexed position and help your spine too.  Flexing your spine also puts you at a higher risk for injury, because as you crunch up, you are pinching the vertebrae thus causing a bulging action with the discs in your spine.  Think about how much pressure you are putting on your spine when you do 1 or 100 crunches.  


Performing a crunch is not an effective way to train your abdominals either. The abdominal muscles must be trained like any other muscle group. This means fewer repetitions with greater resistance and hence, higher intensity or isometrically. It is not an effective or smart way to strengthen the abs and or improve your appearance. Crunches on the floor puts undo stress on the spinal cord and only trains the upper abdominal muscles and the hip flexors. Take that same crunch movement and notice how many times you thump your spine to the ground and then stress and flex to bring yourself back up, often in very poor form.  Crunches are not a complete abdominal movement. Training at different angles and planes of motion will mimic the way we move throughout our day.  


Training the abs require a number of exercises to improve function and strength.  Your core covers you from your thighs to your diaphragm, from your front to your back and side to side.  Here are a couple exercises that are more effective and safer to train the abs at different angles and motions;

• Plank
• Side Plank
• Bird Dog
• Squat
• Woodchop
• Bridge
• Superwoman

By training the core as a whole you will decrease your risk of injury instead of adding to it.  If you need help please contact me.  
You can also purchase my Stabilize Your Core 12 week program that will strengthen your core and decrease your risk for back injury.

Mistake #9 - Believing you can spot reduce

There is so much education out there and people still believe they can reduce the fat in one particular place such as the; belly, butt, and thigh areas.  There is no such animal as “spot reducing” no matter what the magazines say.  Your body doesn't work that way and can't decide where you will lose the fat.  Trying to reduce the fat in one particular area can also put excessive stress on those muscles and joints you may be targeting by doing too much and not strengthening up the the other muscles.


You can spot train but that isn't an efficient way to workout either.  Spot training is what people generally do around spring time and the beginning of summer by trying to strengthen their abs so they look better in their summer clothes and during vacation.  Training your body regularly and as a whole will get much better results quicker, more efficiently and effectively.


Training more efficiently means doing a whole body workout, eating healthier and decreasing your body fat percentage.  When you decrease your body fat and increase your metabolism, you will start to see the fat decrease.  You can strengthen up the muscles but as long as you have body fat covering the area you will not see those muscles.  Do yourself a favor, stop trying to fix one part of you and work your whole body.  Stop wasting your time year after year with the magic pills, creams and quick fix ideas.  


If you have been trying to do this on your own for years, why not do it differently this year and hire a professional.  Get results and get healthy.