July Abs Challenge: The Main Event

We will start our little abdominal lesson with the main part of your abs i.e. the muscles right under your rib cage and on top of your belly button; the part that we all wish were a 6 pack - or something close to it.

A great exercise to work this part of your stomach is the class crunch. I linked you to the wikipedia article because it is actually pretty good and has a nice picture of how you start and finish a crunch. Instructions: With your knees bent you put your feet flat on the floor, fingers behind your ears, and eyes up to the ceiling then lift your shoulder blades and upper back toward the ceiling with your abs. Exhale on the way up, and inhale on the way down.
Common Mistakes: It is important that the hands behind your head only serve to support it, not to help pull you up. Also, don't use momentum on the way up and down - just take it nice and slow and use your stomach muscles to control your body.
Modifications: There are lots of ways to modify a crunch. You can vary the tempo and range of motion to contract the muscles more or less often. If you lift up and over with your shoulder to each side you will be getting a good inner oblique exercise, and if you let you knees fall to one side you will work the outer oblique (I will go over these parts of the abdominal later). Also, if your are preggo, or if you just want to mix it up, crunches may feel better while lying on a big exercise ball.
My routine: In my normal routine I start our with basic crunches. Since I am used to aerobics, I do everything based on an 8 count. So I do 8 slow crunches to begin (really focusing on my breath) then I do 16 pulses (speeding up the exercise, double time). This is one set, and I repeat it for 4 total sets.

Another effective exercise for the middle of your abs is a plank. The link will take you to another very helpful article that explains how to do the exercise.
Common Mistakes: Don't let your butt sit up high in the air, or sag too low to the ground. You want your body to be completely flat, hence the name of the exercise. Also, don't hold your breath! Be sure to breathe in and out regularly as you hold your body up.
Modifications: If planks are too difficult at first try to let your knees rest on the ground rather than holding yourself up on your toes. Once you get good at them you can add some movement to your plank by letting your hips drop side to side, or by pushing your body weight front toward your shoulders and back toward your toes. 
My routine: I always do a warm up plank, holding it still for 32 counts. Take a rest. Then hold a still plank for 8, drop hips side to side for 16, hold still for 8, move front and back for 16, and then hold still for 8 to finish.

There are lots, and lots and lots of ways to work the main part of your abs. The crunch and plank are just a couple to get you started and they are so easy to do at home and incorporate into your routine. Hope you got some good instruction/some new ideas, and stay tuned for the inner and outer obliques.