Journey so far !

Well my journey started on the 30th September 2009, with my first game of squash for over six months and previous to that I hadn’t played squash for over 6 years.  This is what happens when your busy at work and have a young family.  Well it is what you use as an excuse.  In fact there is no real excuse, since if I had really wanted to play squash, go swimming and generally keep fit, I am sure that I could have found the time.

Anyway, I kicked myself up the backside on 30th Sept and decided to take the plunge to play squash with my new found squash partner – thank you www.gumtree.com.  So this was the start of my journey back in to the world of fitness and as ever, once I start this journey I get really engrossed and then look at what I can do to improve and positively look forward to every element of my fitness regime.

So, after a few games of squash, I decided that I shouldn’t really be solely using this as a mechanism to fit.  So this is where the swimming comes in.  Initially I could only manage a couple of lengths, however, I have built up over the weeks to 20 lengths then 30 lengths and finally 40 lengths.  I then jumped from 40 lengths to 64 lengths, since I was keen to be able to swim a mile.  So I am now able to swim a mile of the pool in around 45 minutes.  Not bad considering that I only started swimming on 2nd November and only swim once a week.

I also only started to concentrate on the ABS / CORE muscles or indeed Six Pack around the end of October.  So not long really and I am already starting to develop the six pack.

As I posted on twitter the other day, I have lost over a stone in weight since I started out on my fitness / six pack journey – not bad for such a short space of time.

I put it down to making sure that I exercise when I plan, carry out cardiovascular work, ensure I have a rest day between six pack exercises.  Eat sensibly, healthily and don’t pig out on snacks in an evening.  Rather than reaching for the packet of crisps, do what I did only last night and eat raw carrott instead.  I’m also eating a lot more fruit, drinking plenty water and have considerably cut down on my portion sizes.

So I wonder what my “Journey so far !” update will be in another 9 weeks time.  What will I weigh, how will my six pack have developed and how many lengths will I be swimming ??!!

Specific Six Pack exercises

I’ve built up slowly to the number of repetitions of these exercises that I now do every other day.  It is important that you carry out these exercises every other day, since by taking a days break in between it allows the muscles that you’ve broken down to rebuild, only this time they will rebuild stronger.

Ok, so there are currently 5 different exercises that perform and based on my current number of reps, they take me between 20 and 25 minutes.

1. Knees to Chest / Reverse Crunch

For this exercise you lie on your back on the floor and place your arms at your sides, wih your plms facing the floor.  Rest your head on the mat and tighten your abdominal muscles.

Position your legs together with your knees bent at 90 degree angles.  Lift up your legs until your thighs are perpendicular to the floor.

Keeping your lower back on the floor, slowly lift your buttocks a few inches off the floor so your legs lift up and lift slightly back towards your head.

Pause for a moment and then slowly lower your buttocks back to the starting position.

2. Bridge

Lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent.  Position your feet flat on the floor, roughly shoulder width apart.

Place your arms at your sides with your palms facing down.  Tighten your abdominal muscles.

Slowly lift your buttocks off the mat by pushing through your heels until your body and thighs form a straight line.

Hold the position for about 10 seconds and then slowly lower your buttocks back to the mat.

3. Knees side to side / oblique exercise

Lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent.  Position your feet flat on the floor, next to each other.

Place your arms on your chest.  Tighten your abdominal muscles.

Slowly lower your legs to the left and then back to the center and then down to the right.  Make sure that you are using your abdominals to raise your legs back up to the center from either side.  Your arms should remain on your chest, so that you cannot use your arms or your shoulders to assist you.

4. Bicycle Legs

Lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent.  Position your feet flat on the floor, roughly shoulder width apart.

Place your arms at your sides with your palms facing down.  Tighten your abdominal muscles so you feel your back being pushed in to the floor. 

Slowly lift raise both of your legs off the floor and get them in to a position as if you were riding a bike.  You should then effectively ride the bike, the slower you do this exercise the more effective it is in terms of developing your six pack.

Ok, so that’s it.  These are the only specific exercises that I perform which are aimed at developing my abdominal muscles and that elusive six pack.  So not too difficult to perform and you should start to see the benefit within a matter of weeks.

Remember, you have to also perform some cardiovascular exercise along with these exercises, since this will help to burn the fat surrounding your abdominals.  The more the better !  I swim once a week and play squash twice a week.  I also walk as often as I can !

If you need any help with the exercises then let me know and I will be happy to help.