Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something

Hoping to strengthen your core? Try these moves for the abs from Men’s Health.

1)   Long-lever stability ball crunch

Lie on a stability ball with your head, shoulders and back  in contact with the ball. Straighten your arms above your head until perpendicular to the floor (i.e., straight up in the air). Lift your shoulder blades off the ball and reach straight up toward the ceiling with your hands. Pause for a count of two, then slowly lower. Do three sets of 10-15 repetitions.

2)   Cable lift

Attach a rope or handle to a low-pulley cable machine, grasp with both hands and stand with your right side toward the weight stack in the machine. Bend your knees and push your hips back into a partial squat. Keeping your feet pointed forward and your arms straight, stand up as you rotate your shoulders to the left until your hands reach about nose level. Pause, then slowly return to the squat position. Do three sets of 10-15 repetitions on each side.

3)   Medicine-ball rotation pass

Stand with your right side toward a wall or a workout partner about 10 feet away from you. Hold a light medicine ball in front of your chest. Rotate your shoulders to the right as you toss the ball to your partner or against the wall. Pivot your left foot to the right but keep the right foot pointed forward. Do three sets of 10 in each direction.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 7:56 am and is filed under General Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.