Cheryl’s Fab Abs

Fitness and Lifestyle Expert Sonia Palecek  says:

It has been said that the secret to Cheryl’s flat tum is Yogalates.

No, this is not something you get from Starbucks or a health store. It is simply a combination of yoga and Pilates. Frankly, you can never go wrong with Yogalates whether your objective is to tone up and get more streamlined, improve your dancing by stabilizing your core and joints, balance in the skyscraper heels or enhance spinal alignment and posture.

If you aim to get a strong core and small waist as Cheryl’s I would advise that you begin with Pilates exercises first of all. Good Pilates teacher should explain how the core muscles work and in which sequence they fire. All in all, more of a visual picture you get, more effective your workout will be.

For this week I have selected several Pilates exercises that you can safely do at home.

Leg Stretches on Elbows

Sit on a mat and lower yourself till you are comfortably propped up on your elbows. Your forearms are right beside your hips, palms down.

Place your legs in a table top position (feet off the floor, knees bent at 90 degree angle, shins parallel with the floor).

Breathe out and stretch one leg towards the ceiling.

Breathe in and bring that leg back to table top.

Repeat on the other leg.

Repeat with both legs stretching together.

Try x 4-6 repetitions of single – single – double stretches.

Keep your chest lifted and spine long, avoid sinking into the shoulders.

Do not feel strain in any part of your back.

Keep the abdominals pulled in.

Breathe laterally here, i.e. into your ribcage.

Stretch the legs out all the way, creating space in the hips – you will work those tums much more effectively then.

Seated Roll Downs

Use a dynaband of medium resistance for this exercise.

Sit on your mat feeling the body weight evenly distributed over the two sitz bones; hold each end of your dynaband in one hand and tuck the mid part around your feet.

Bend the knees slightly, keep the heels on the floor and lengthen up through the spine.

Breathe out and start to open through the back of your spine – tucking your pelvis under and rounding your spine as you lower your back towards the floor.

Breathe in and hold the down position.

Breathe out and start to come back up maintaining the scoop and C-curve in the spine.

Breathe in and start to open up your spine till you are in a tall seated position again.

Try 4-6 repetitions with knees bent, and then progress with straight knees.

If you feel strong, you may attempt to lower all the way down, imprinting the vertebrae of your spine one by one…

Do not use momentum to come back up; these should be your deep core abdominals working.

Do not feel strain in any part of your spine.

Only lower down till it is comfortable for you; progress gradually lower.

Breathe laterally here, i.e. into your ribcage.

Avoid tensing in the neck and shoulders; you have a dynaband to help you out.

Keep your heels on the floor at all times.

Photo copyright: Polydor Ltd. / Fascination and Sonia Palecek