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The basics

You’ve warmed up – now you’re ready to do your first curl. However, before you begin, there are a few basics you need to familiarize yourself with. Begin by getting into the correct basic position (shown in Chapter 1: At Rest Position), then go on to study the Top Tips for Doing the Curl (Chapter 1: Top tips for doing the curl) and How to Breathe (Chapter 1: How to Breathe).

At Rest Position

Some people call this position neutral. It is the position in which your body is aligned correctly to do curls and the basic position that should be maintained throughout the exercises (unless instructed otherwise).

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor and hip-width apart. Your knees must be a reasonable distance from your buttocks, so you feel comfortable and relaxed.

2. Keep your shoulders relaxed and down and, with elbows at right angles to your head, rest your head in your unclasped hands.

3. Press your pelvis into the floor as far as possible.

4. Now push up gently, feeling your pelvis tilt away from the floor so that there’s a gap between the floor and your lower back. If you could see yourself in proffile, you would be able to see this gap. (It’s sufficient to allow someone to slide their hands and arms right through to the other side.) This is the arched position or low-back curve.

5. Gently rock back and forth between the flat back and the arched position until you can feel your body settling some where between the two. Your pelvis should now be in a comfortable, balanced position. It is important to practise this and adjust the position of your body until you get it right.

Top tips for doing the curl

These guidelines will help you get the most out of your ab routine.

1. Move in a smooth, controlled manner. If you find yourself jerking or getting into the wrong position, stop, focus and start again.

2. Let your abs do the work, not your neck. The curl must come from your stomach region. A common mistake is to interlock fingers or clasp hands behind your neck and haul your head up. Instead, support your head by using your hands as a cradle.

3. During curls where the head is not supported, tuck your chin in a little, allowing the neck muscles to do their work.

4. Avoid the S-bend. Keep head, neck and shoulders aligned in a natural position. Don’t look up at the ceiling.

5. To protect your spine and stabilize your pelvis, imagine that you’re lengthening your back towards the floor when lifting.

6. Try not to rise more than 30–45 degrees from the floor. More, and you’ll be working your hip flexor muscles.

7. Exhale as you lift. Try to pull your tummy in towards your spine and up into your ribs.

8. Use a hand to check the position of your abs – don’t allow your tummy to stick out.

9. When doing curls with twists or rotations, first lean forward a little to bring the ribcage towards your pelvis. Then lead with your shoulder and keep the elbows back.

How to Breathe

Everyone can breathe, can’t they? Actually no! At least, not well enough to gain the optimum from exercise. Learning to breathe correctly during tummy exercises has to be learned and practised. It’s important to get it right before you begin because correct breathing has a direct effect on whether you can hold your tummy in and up during the lifting stage of the curl.

You will notice that when we inhale – try it now – the tummy naturally tends to stick out and as we exhale it goes back in. For curls, where the aim is to flatten the tummy and strengthen the abs, we must be able to use and control this breathing pattern to our advantage.

The key to curling is to breathe out during each lift and pull the tummy further in and up

1. Lie on the floor in the basic At Rest position. Instead of having your hands under your head, spread your fingers across your tummy with your thumbs approximately at the bottom of your ribcage (diaphragm) and your middle fingers pointing towards, but not touching, your belly button. Your shoulders should be down on the floor and relaxed. Take a deep breath in.

2. Now breathe out. As you exhale, note the direction your tummy moves. It should flatten slightly.

3. Breathe in. Notice that your belly goes out, or sticks up.

4. Continue breathing in and out, but now exaggerate the pattern so that you can tell the difference. As you exhale, concentrate. Use your abdominal muscles to press your stomach down even further. As you inhale, make your stomach stick out more.

Continue practising this until you are very aware of how your breathing works in relation to your tummy. The purpose of curling is to utilize the movement of your abs during exhalation.

Now that you feel comfortable with your body’s posture and position while doing curls, practise the first curl using this breathing technique.

Ab Breathing

Begin

With elbows resting on the ground at about mid-chest position, place your splayed fingers across your tummy. You will probably feel the top of your pelvic girdle with the heel of your hands and your thumbs will be level with the bottom of your diaphragm. Take a deep breath and feel your abs tightening as you prepare to lift.

Next

Exhale, while pulling your tummy muscles in and upwards. At the same time, slowly curl your spine forward, lifting your shoulders and ribcage. You will feel your mid and lower back lengthening towards the floor, to stabilize your pelvis and protect your spine. Remember to keep your head, neck and shoulders in their basic natural alignment – don’t jerk your head forward. Continue to lift while your stomach remains flat – you will feel this with your fingers. As soon as your stomach starts to curl, stop. Return to the At Rest position and repeat.

Continue doing as many repetitions as you can manage, until you are perfectly comfortable with it. You will notice that it is the simultaneous exhalation and pulling in and up of the tummy muscles that naturally starts the curl.

Tip:

Don’t move on to the Stage 2 exercises until the ab-breathing technique becomes second nature to you. You’ll find that after a while you will automatically breathe out and pull your tummy in and up at the start of each lift. Once you reach this point, you won’t need to concentrate. Correct breathing will be automatic as you move nicely into the basic curl.

Do you want fab abs?

If so, try my trademark string waistband. I make all my clients wear a piece of string around their waist when exercising. It is tied when the tummy muscles are tight. If the muscles then slack off, the tightening string reminds the wearer to pull them back in again.

The Stage 1 Routine

Now you are ready to move on to your first curl – the Ab Curl. At first, do the minimum number of repetitions suggested. If you feel tired, or that you can’t continue, try just a couple more before stopping. It doesn’t hurt to push yourself just a little and it won’t be long before you start to get stronger and are able to do the maximum number of reps suggested for each exercise. Ideally, you want to be able to complete at least two successive sets of 8–16 reps nice and smoothly, without resting.

IMPORTANT

You might feel a little stiffness or tiredness to start with, but you shouldn’t feel pain or real discomfort during any particular curl. If you do, stop at once. Try again later with some easier exercises to build up your strength before getting back to the one where you felt discomfort. If the pain persists, see your doctor.

Ab Curl

Tip:

If you feel your stomach protruding during the curl, stop. Make a conscious effort to pull it in and up and then continue with the exercise. The purpose of a curl is to train your stomach to be flat.

Begin

Get into the At Rest, or basic, position. Lie flat on your back on the floor. Raise your knees, place your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart and at a comfortable distance from your buttocks. Ensure your pelvis is in the correct position and is neither too flat nor too raised (Chapter 1: At Rest Position). With elbows on the floor at right angles to your head, cradle your head in your hands – i.e. avoid clasping or interlocking your fingers behind your neck. Inhale deeply and prepare to lift.