Can't find your abs? Try out a new routine!

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

My number one complaint from clients --

“My arms and legs are getting buff, but my belly is still there” or “I’ve been working out so hard…where’s my flat stomach?” 

My response is usually somewhere along the lines of “Okay.  What exactly have you been eating?”  Having fab abs starts in the kitchen!!  Eating right, staying away from refined sugar, eating fresh, non-processed food and veggies,  and drinking enough water are a few things you have to add to your routine.  Once you’ve conquered that, you will start to see results.

When you come to the understanding that crunches aren’t going to get you far if your eating is not intact, then you can start analyzing your workouts.  If you’re getting bored with your same old ab routine, here are a few exercises that can be added or can replace the ones in your workout:

Ball Exchange

Lie flat on your back with a stability ball between your ankles.  Keeping your legs straight and lift them up (while holding the ball) and grab the ball with your hands.  While the ball is in your hands, extend your arms above your head while bringing your straightened legs an inch above the floor. 

Lifting your legs again, grab the ball from your hands with your ankles.  This is a difficult exercise and does some serious work on your lower abs, so start out with as many as you can do and work your way up.

Crunches

Ahhh good old crunches.  With your feet flat on the floor, knees bent and hands behind your head, lift your abdomen up toward the ceiling, keeping your elbows back. Then lower back down to the ground. 

After you do 20 repetitions, keeping them together, swing your knees to one side, and continue to lift your abs toward the ceiling.  When you finish 20 reps on one side you can finish up your crunches on the other. 

Alphabets

Lying on your back and keeping your legs straight, pretend as if your legs are a marker or pen and write out the alphabet with your legs, keeping your feet off the floor.  This is another difficult one, so try A-M first, rest, and then N-Z.

Sit Ups with Punches

With your feet flat on the floor and a weight in each hand (3-5lbs is sufficient), do a full sit up and punch with each hand off to the side (right arm punches over to the left side, left arm punches to the right side) so you get a full range of motion on your obliques.  Think like Rocky!!  Sit up, punch, punch, back down.  Remember to punch to the side and not straight forward so you can get that twist in.

Kickboxing + Boxing

If you can get ahold of a heavy bag, boxing is a great full body workout.  Why do boxers have such great abs? Because they can burn up to 1000 calories in an hour right on the bag.  When you’re punching, a majority of your power is coming from your legs and abs, so you’re getting those body parts in as well.  If your gym has heavy bags, then it most likely has a group fitness boxing or kickboxing class.  You can explore a few of those and then make up your own routine!

It’s hard to see the first thing you want to go be the last!  Be patient, and keep changing up your routine so you don’t get bored.  And remember, getting the stomach you want isn’t about doing crunches all day.  This routine should be supplemented with a healthy diet, a full workout routine, and plenty of cardio and rest.

Good luck on your ab quest!

Today on The Bridal Boutique: Personalized Hangers by Black Label Decor

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All photos courtesy of Bleudog Fotography

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If you have any comments, feedback, or even suggestions for products, please feel free to contact us at meredith@theoverwhelmedbride.com

The Importance of A Recreational Companion

Written with love, by Pastor Dave Page

I bought a motorcycle ten years into our marriage. My wife wasn’t thrilled about my new hobby. Nobody in her immediate family owned a motorcycle. A few months later we went to Hawaii for vacation and I had a dream of renting a Harley on Oahu and riding it from Waikiki to the North Shore. I knew my wife wouldn’t want to go with me but she encouraged me to go ahead and rent one anyway. The night before my ride she said, “I’d like to go with you.” Yes! I was thrilled. She was willing to accompany me even though riding wasn’t her thing. We set off the next morning and rode along the coast with Carrie on the back of the Harley. We stopped along the way and jumped off a cliff together into the ocean. We ate lunch on the North Shore and shopped – something she loves to do. We rode back to Waikiki just as the sun was setting – a perfect day. A memory I will never forget.

WHY DON’T YOU DO THIS WITH ME ANYMORE?

In Willard Harley’s book, His Needs, Her Needs, he identifies a man’s need for a recreational companion. Harley ranked spending recreational time with his wife as the second greatest need that men have, second only to sex for the typical husband. We often put our best foot forward in the courtship which later can lead to disappointment after the “I do.” “Why don't you do this with me anymore?” is a common complaint. Harley cautions spouses that having fun together doing the things that you both like is essential to the marriage. Men (especially) place a surprising importance on having their wives as recreational companions.

ADAM WAS LONELY AND INCOMPLETE

The creation account says, “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone.’” The same verse includes God’s solution: “I will make him a helper fit for him.” Eve was the solution to Adam’s deficiency (Genesis 2:18).

Two Hebrew words help us better understand the creation of Eve as the first woman. The word translated “helper.” This word is even used of God, sometimes, noting that He is our Helper. We would certainly not view God, as a Helper, as subservient to humans, nor should we understand the role of “helper” here as a position of subservience. The concept of an “ideal partner” seems to convey the thought best.

The second important Hebrew word in this verse, translated “fit.” It literally means “according to the opposite of him.” In other words, the focus is on an appropriate match. Eve was not created above or below Adam; she was complementary. The animals Adam had named each had an appropriate companion, and Adam was given a fitting companion as well. Eve was just right for him. Think in terms of “you complete me.”

The passage implies that Adam was lonely and incomplete by himself. He had been created for relationship, and it is impossible to have relationship alone. With the creation of Eve, Adam experienced the joy of love for another person.

BE A COMFORT, A FRIEND AND A CHEERLEADER

In Malachi 2:14 it says, “… She is your companion and the wife by covenant.”  The Hebrew root word implies an intimate partner, an accomplice. In the dictionary, a companion is one who accompanies another. In the middle of the Latin word companion is the word “pan.” Pan is bread, which is a “comfort food.” That is what a wife is, a comfort to her husband.

The verse goes on to say, “And your wife by covenant.” A covenant is a formal and binding agreement. The covenant implies that you are to be his wife and friend, a friendly friend - a lover and friend. When you were courting, you had no problem joining in his interests. Your interest in his favorite activities helped seal the marriage deal.

In fact, recreational compatibility is usually a crucial criterion for men in selecting a wife. Men place a big importance on recreational activity. Wives after marriage may encourage their husbands to continue their activities without them. This can be a dangerous choice by sending him off to his most enjoyable activity without you present to enjoy it with him. You are taking a risk that someone from the opposite sex may turn up to be his companion and he may fall in love. You are missing out on a golden opportunity to have fun together. I have talked with many wives who testify that the secret to their marriage is that they stayed together in pursing a recreational activity.

So, stay his companion, his friendly friend and his cheerleader. Of course it goes both ways. My wife played volleyball in high school and college and wanted to attend a women’s volleyball game at the University of Hawaii while on our Hawaiian vacation. Volleyball is not my favorite sport but I went with her and enjoyed it because I was with her. Sometimes you have to take one for the team and the result is the team wins.