Maintaining a slim figure is not the easiest task for some people. Especially when it comes to the abdomen, since it is usually the area where the most fat accumulates.
To achieve a flat abdomen, it is important to follow a diet and physical training plan focused on this purpose. Although there are currently various aesthetic products and treatments that can help achieve this, these alternatives are not miraculous.
One of the most common exercises to work this area of the body are the abdominals. However, they are not the only ones that exist to tone this area. One of the most recommended low-impact exercises by experts are the famous planks.
This exercise activates several muscles of the body and uses the same weight of the person, it focuses on the abdomen area, so it is ideal when you want to eliminate fat and mark muscles. It is a very intense and demanding exercise that requires a particular technique and posture that must be sustained for a while so that the body works.
To perform the plank, you must lie face down and support your body weight on your forearms and toes. The arms should be bent and below the shoulders. The shoulder blades should be squeezed and the spine extended so that the body is fully erect. The position should be held for 30 seconds, rest and perform about 6 repetitions.
Plank Variations
1. Planks on forearms with movements
- Get into the classic plank position: with your body face down, supported by your forearms.
- Then make a very light movement with the body forward and then back with the feet.
- It is important that when doing this exercise the buttocks and abdomen contract.
2. Star Side Plank
- Lie on your side, supporting your body on one forearm. One foot should be on top of the other and the hips should be as high as possible.
- Bring the leg that is up to the arm that is not resting on the ground.
- With this variant, the entire abdomen, the gluteus maximus, the arms, the waist and the quadriceps are worked.
3. Front plank with leg raise
Secret of the flat stomach
According to the trainer of the Victoria’s Secret models, the exercise routine that the models do to preserve their figure is, according to statements by Dede Lagree —one of the personal trainers of some of the models— It consists of three basic exercises, something that is also confirmed by studies published by The National Institute of Health.
These exercises are:
Griddle: This exercise is one of the basic movements to achieve a flat stomach and steel. It is essential to practice it at least three times a week.
Side Plank: this type of iron marks the obliques, that is, the lateral area of the abdomen. It is essential to practice it at least three times a week.
Recommendations: the person should be placed on their side with the arm and the lateral part of the foot on the floor. You must support the trunk making tension in the abdomen, after 30 seconds you can rest your hips on the ground for another 30 seconds and then repeat the movement. Then do the same with the opposite side.
Disc Hip Lift: This movement, in addition to marking the muscles of the abdomen and eliminating abdominal fat, also It is an excellent exercise to increase the buttocks and strengthen them.
Recommendations: The person should lie on their back with their legs bent. Next, you should place a weight plate on your abdomen, then lift your hips and then return them to the starting position. It is essential to repeat this movement 20 times for three days a week.