OH! Magazine - Australian Version May 2018 | Page 10

( Fitness & Motivation )
MICHELLE
BRIDGES
STRENGTHEN YOUR CORE
WITHOUT A SINGLE
AB CRUNCH
Michelle Bridges shares her tips for a taut tum.
raining has come a long way since
the 80s, when I first started my
fitness career and ab crunches were all
the rage. Back then it was all about hands
behind your head, bend your knees and
squeeze your stomach into submission.
These days we can contour our cores
through many more effective and
interesting movement patterns. Here are
my top picks for a taut tum.
T
1. Planking
You can do these on their own, or as part
of your push ups, mountain climber or
burpee exercises. Focus on keeping your
tailbone tilted forward and lifting up
towards your tummy button, and your
front ribs sliding down towards your lifting
tailbone. You can do these from your toes
or knees and always remember ‘Technique
over Time’ - if your core collapses, you
need to stop and rest.
2. Squats
Squats seriously sculpt your six pack.
This is because in order to support your
squat weight, you need to stabilise your
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OH! MAGAZINE ( MAY 2018 )
mid-section by strongly bracing your
muscles. That bracing action occurs
when you switch on all your core muscles;
they should then stay on and firing
throughout the whole squat movement.
At the top of the squat movement, take a
deep breath in and imagine pushing from
your inside out, to activate your abs. Keep
that sense of pushing out throughout the
whole movement, and don’t breathe out
until you’ve completed your squat and
you’re standing upright again.
3. Deadlifts
While the main focus of a deadlift is your
posterior chain, without a carefully
controlled central core, you’re one lift
away from catastrophe! It’s vital that you
create intra-abdominal pressure by
switching on all your abdominal muscles
when performing deadlifts. Before you
bend down to take hold of your barbell,
tilt your tailbone forward and up, slide
your front ribs down, take a deep breath
in and push from your centre out. You’ll
feel your torso get taut like a drum, and
then you'll know you’re ready to rumble.
CONNECT WITH MICHELLE VIA:
Web: michellebridges.com.au
Facebook: Mishy.Bridges
Twitter: @mishbridges
Instagram: @mishbridges
4. Hollow Body Holds
You can do these as static holds or add a
rocking movement to advance the action.
Lie on the floor, on your back, with arms
squeezed tight to your sides or arms
extended overhead, with biceps hugging
ears. Keeping your legs long and squeezed
together, tilt your tailbone forward and
scoop it up towards your front bottom ribs
as they slide down towards your tummy
button. Tuck your chin down, breathe out
and lift your legs, shoulders and head off
the floor until your body is in a hollowed
out curve (like a bendy banana). Every
time that you breathe out, imagine
squeezing your tailbone and front ribs
closer towards each other. For an extra
challenge you can incorporate a forwards
and backwards rocking action while
you’re lifted off the ground.
For more exercises to get you tight, toned
and terrific, check out my online 12WBT
program, my books and my DVDs.