Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance Writer
MANY NEW mothers have a physical challenge of regaining their pre-pregnancy figure. Michelle Brown, mother of an eight-month-old daughter, is no exception.
Exercising excessively before being a mother, Brown knows that to reclaim her figure she has to hit the gym. "The abdominal muscles become weak after pregnancy and if I don't exercise then my body will loosen up," says Brown, who started fat crunching with personal trainer, David Etienne, four weeks ago.
Here are a few valuable tummy-tightening exercise techniques as demonstrated by Brown and Etienne.
Etienne recommends at least 20 repetitions for each technique.
LEG RAISES:
Puts pressure and tension on lower abdominal muscles.
SIT-UPS:
Pressure on the upper to mid-range abdominal muscles.
SIDE BENDS:
Tightening the oblique at the sides. If you don't have dumb-bells like the ones Brown is using, Etienne says they can be substituted with any weight that you can hold comfortably. He suggests that if you have two hammers for each hand they can work.
THE TWIST:
These are also for oblique. When standing the body will flex but, Etienne notes, by sitting the exercise becomes more rigid and the twist is just at the waist. Tip: Keep legs together.
CRUNCHES:
This is not a full up-down, like when legs are stretched out, however, it works on the upper abdominal and gives a more tense contraction than
sit-ups.
FLEXING CRUNCH:
This is similar to the sit-up. However, it extends the body lower down giving an extra-stretch of the abdominal muscles. Working on the lower to upper abdominal and back to the lower abdominal areas. Have someone sit on your legs for support or find an object to pin the legs.
VARIATIONS OF LEG RAISES:
This exercise works on the lower abdomen. When doing leg raises place a dumb-bell between the legs to increase the intensity on the abdominal. Tip: Place hands underneath buttocks to reduce pressure on the lower spine. When raising legs, the hands will assist in reducing the pressure, allowing mothers to be able to do more of the leg raises, says Etienne.
