Thursday 10 December 2009

Day 87 :: Learning to Love Your Tormentor


Yesterday the unthinkable happened. At some point in my ab routine, I... can't believe I'm actually saying this... started to love the planks. Really.

Or, maybe it happened after the combined 10 abs sets to failure, when I caught my reflection in the kitchen window. My core was so pumped it looked like it was sculpted from modeling clay. Whoa!

As I'm still dividing my routine this week (jumps a.m., strength p.m.),
I threw in another few sets of planks after this morning's jumps. I even added a little intensity that I learned from an On Demand workout off of the cable system. Give it a try for even more abdominal power:
  1. Assume the plank position being sure to keep your body rigid, hips level and abs tucked tight throughout the exercise.
  2. Lift your right foot slightly and move it out about 6" to the right. Touch your toes on the floor.
  3. Lift your right foot again, and return to starting position.
  4. Now, do the same movement with your left foot. Lift, move out to the left, tap toes on floor, then return to the regular plank position.
  5. Repeat in sets of 10 for each foot, try doing them slow and fast to mix it up. The wider you go with your legs, the harder it gets. You can also keep your right foot out and then move your left out, too. So the movement is right out, left out, right in, left in, repeat. Intense!
So I'm looking at the crazy shoulder set in store for me later today. Whooo! Me thinks I'm going to have some sore delts tomorrow. Gotta love it!

P.S. THREE DAYS TO GO!

3 comments:

  1. Yep, those toe touches to the side will rock your illiacus like nothing else. Yoga will become a real breeze once your illio-psoas group is toned up.

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  2. I commend you! I'm pretty sure I stopped my planks at mental failure. Should probably use a timer tomorrow...

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  3. Modeling clay, Nice. Keep molding! I am not sure I am ready for the toe touches yet, but I am going to give it a try. Wow, that's gonna be intense.

    Abs are one of my tough pysch barriers. I have great muscle memory for my arms and chest, so it is easy to see results. I still have to do some abs work on faith until I can see my own version of modeling clay. Great workout!

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