While going to physical therapy I learned that your core strength is very important. I was learning that while walking, running, and doing any kind of exercising you need to keep your abs tight. It goes right along with what I was reading the other day in Family Circle magazine about how to lose 10 pounds fast.
Experts have found that if you stand up straight when you walk, you’ll burn more calories, flatten your belly and look thinner. And really thats the goal, isn’t it? To look thinner and flatten your belly?
The simple trick to helping yourself become an ab-conscious walker is:
Before going out for a fitness walk, place a belt around the thinnest part of your waist(not through any belt loops). Make it snug, but not too tight. As you move, pull your abs up and your shoulders back so that the belt begins to feel almost loose. Wear the belt every time you go walking and in about 3 weeks you’ll automatically start tightening your abs.
Heres the workout plan designed by Brooke Siler –
- 2 Minutes – Walk with your hands clasped on top of your head. This causes the heart to pump blood upward, increasing the cardio benefit and jump-starting the calorie burn.
- 5 Minutes – Focus on your belt and the ab-conscious walking described above.
- 2 Minutes – Make an effort to push harder off of your back foot and feel how that changes the dynamic of your gait.
- 5 Minutes – Continue ab-conscious walking at a brisk pace.
- 3 Minutes – Pump your arms, keeping elbows in (no chicken arms) and your fists moving in an arc from chin to hip level.
- 5 Minutes – Return to a brisk ab-conscious walk.
- 3 Minutes – Add large arm circles to engage your obliques and further elongate the waist. Circle forward and then backward.
- 3 Minutes – Try one more burst of the ab-conscious brisk walking.
- 2 Minutes – Slow it down to reduce your heart rate.