When you do not exercise your stomach muscles, they weaken and poor posture ensues. You need to perform abdominal strengthening exercises regularly to keep your stomach tight and prevent an excessive lumbar curve of your spine from occurring. The "American College of Sports Medicine's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription" recommends completing your strengthening regimen two or three times per week on non-consecutive days. Vary your exercises every week to increase interest and tighten different muscles. Complete enough repetitions that you feel tired, but not exhausted.
Crunches
Crunches work your lateral and anterior abdominal muscles to keep them tight. Frederic Delavier, in his book "Strength Training Anatomy," suggests preparing for crunches by lying on your back with your hands behind your head and your thighs vertical--bend your knees, but keep your feet off the ground. Perform crunches by rounding your back and raising your shoulders off the ground to bring your head and knees together. Some fitness centers have crunch machines where you can adjust the weight lifted to increase intensity.
Sit-Ups
Sit-ups use your rectus abdominis and oblique muscles, as well as your quadriceps muscles. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the ground to prepare for a sit-up. Round your back and tighten your abdominal muscles to sit up smoothly. Slowly lower yourself back down and repeat the exercise without touching your torso to the ground. Extend your arms forward or have a partner hold your feet down to make sit-ups easier. To vary sit-ups, lie on your back with your calves supported on a chair or bench; do sit-ups as usual from this position. You can also do sit-ups on an exercise ball; as you move the ball lower down your back, the exercise will increase in difficulty.
Leg Raises
Begin leg raises by lying face up on a bench or on the floor. Raise your legs, either alternately or simultaneously, while curling your spine to prevent back injury. "Strength Training Anatomy" suggests performing this on an incline bench. Steeper inclines will increase intensity, while shallow inclines will decrease it. Another variation is the hanging leg raise; do this by hanging from a chin-up bar and raising your knees as high as you can. All of these leg raises will tighten your abdominal muscles and also strengthen your hip flexors.
References
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2006
- "Strength Training Anatomy"; Frederic Delavier; 2006
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