We all want those flat six pack abs, yet who wants or even has time and energy to do endless amounts of crunches day after day to get those results?! Why not get in a core strengthening workout while working out on your favorite cardio machine?! Double Whammy!
While any cardio exercise machine that burns calories is going to help you to lose weight and fat blocking your abs from showing; yet if you learn to use these machines in the right way you can strengthen your core muscles even more and get you those flat abs results even faster!
Now whether your exercise equipment machine of choice is the stationary bike, the treadmill or the elliptical trainer; they all have certain moves to help you strengthen your core. Below are a few tips to help you achieve those flat six pack abs:
Stationary Bikes for Your Core
As we went over in yesterday’s post Benefits of the Stationary Bike for Your Cardio Workout, “when using an upright stationary bike you are using your core to maintain your posture, while your lower stomach will also feel the burn from assisting in the movement of your lower extremities.
In this article from LiveStrong.com, they stated that when you are repetitively pushing down the pedals with your legs it is activating your stomach muscles in the process. To force any even great contraction of your abs while on the stationary bike try increasing the resistance and standing up while pedaling.
Treadmills for Your Core
A YouTube video from SmoothFitness share there five tips to flatten your abs while on the treadmill, which you can check out all five tips here, yet we felt the most important tip they shared was to maintain your posture. If you use correct posture while walking or running on your treadmill then you are forcing the use of your core muscles to maintain this upright position. The video also stated that breathing properly and contracting your abdominal muscles when you exhale will help strengthen your core as well.
LiveStrong.com also shares a great tip in this article Does the Treadmill Work the Core?, they state that by increasing the incline on your treadmill your lower abdominal muscles are being engaged. When you run on a higher incline you are forcing yourself to lift your knees higher towards your abs, causing them to contract more. Using treadmills that already have a built incline, such as the NordicTrack Incline Trainer X9i that can reach up to a 40% incline, are going to help strengthen your core and burn even more calories as you incorporate more muscles into your workout!
Elliptical Trainers for Your Core
We’ve shared with you in a previous post, Elliptical Workouts for Your Specific Exercise Focus, that by letting go of the handles will challenge your sense of balance forcing you work and tighten your core muscles to stabilize your body while you continue to pedal. Make sure you are maintaining correct posture though, or it will not work.
Use these tips next time you are on any one of these machines to help strengthen you core and you’ll have those six pack abs in no time!
Any other tips or moves you use on these exercise machines to work your core muscles?
