Get a slimmer waistline: three quick exercises to try at home!
Everyday life sometimes doesn't leave us much time to do all the movement and exercise we need to keep us really fit: any type of workout you do at home or in the gym, in fact, should always be combined with aerobic activities such as walking, running, cycling and swimming for at least half an hour every day.
If you add to this a balanced diet and some targeted exercises, you will finally be able to notice a change in the various points of the body on which you want to focus. In the case of the waistline, which is often plumper than we would like - due to the deposit of visceral fat - we can target this area with exercises that work specifically on the muscles of the abdomen. We show you three of these exercises below:
The Russian Twister
- Sit on the mat and lift your legs while keeping them bent, so that your heels don't touch the ground.
- While your back is held a little tilted, clasp your hands in front of you (or hold a ball in your hands) and turn your torso first on one side and then on the other, while the legs remain bent in front of you.
- Repeat the movements 4 times on each side, pause and start again for a couple of rounds.
The lateral plank and crunch
Dedham Health & Athletic Complex/YouTube
- Sit on the mat, then stretch your legs out keeping them together and lay on your side, resting your elbow just under your shoulder.
- Try not to push your pelvis backwards and keep your legs aligned properly with your torso.
- Lift your hips off the ground to create a straight line from the neck to the feet, resting on your elbow and using your abs to hold the position in place.
- Extend your arm that is not resting on the ground above the head, to continue the line of the legs to body.
- From this position, lift the leg higher by bending it and at the same time also bending the arm: you must try to bring your elbow close to your knee and then return to the extended position, always without resting your hips on the ground.
- Repeat these movements 5 times on each side of your body.
The Superman plank
This is a variant of the normal plank exercise (also it is great for toning all the muscles of the body, including the abdominals).
- Start by getting on all fours on the mat, and placing your weight on your elbows instead of your hands. The elbows must be positioned exactly under your shoulders and have the forearms extended forward.
- Extend your legs backwards by touching your toes to the ground.
- Raise your knees so that you are in a traction position with your body and create a straight line from your neck to your feet.
- From this position, first bend one leg and then the other, bringing your knee as close to the side as possible and returning to the original plank position.
- Repeat ten times on each side.
