Weight machine workout for abs and obliques. Learn exercises and stretches for your workout routine in this fitness video.
Select moderate weight
Keep tension on arm plates
Angle legs to work obliques
Amy McCauley has been a certified personal fitness trainer since 1995. She specializes in pilates, combat cardio, core conditioning and overall strength training. She works with clients ranging in age from 16 - 69. She has worked at Gold's Gym in Wilmington, NC since 2006. She loves her job because it gives her the opportunity to change peoples' lives in a positive way.
AMY MCCAULEY: Hi. I'm going to demonstrate how to use the abdominal machine. First, you want to select the weight. There is light to moderate. You don't want to do something that's a way too heavy for your body. So I'm going to select 40 pounds. Next, you want to sit down in the seat. Make sure that you got a 90-degree from your ankle to your knee to your hips. So you got a 90-degree angle here. Next, take the hands, bring the elbows onto the pads; reach the hands behind you. Back is going to go firmly against the pads in the back. Tuck the chin slightly but not too much. We're going to gently pull forward opening up the chest and pulling down with the abs. We're working on the center of your stomach. Things to avoid: Don't come all the way back to where the tension comes off the plates. Keep the plates about 2 to 3 inches apart, crunch down. Exhale down, inhale up. This is your base move for how to work the abdominal machine. A couple of options: Cross the ankles. This is going to force you to stabilize just a little bit more. Crunch is going to allow you to get a fuller range of motion till we get all the way down to your transverse abdominals. Think about breathing out as you come down and on your way up. Another variation: Keep upper body the same; take the knees and ankle turned to one side. This is going to help you work your obliques, hips need to be back, drop down, and come back up to center. Exhale as you come down; inhale as you reach the center. So four things to remember, weight selection is not too heavy, females are going to be between 30 and 50 pounds, males are going to be between 70 and 90 pounds. We got a 90-degree angle from the ankles to the knees to hips. Third point: Elbows are going to go into the pads; arms relaxed behind you; take the chin slowly lower just a little bit; keep it off the chest. Step four is your contraction. Exhale as you lower; inhale as you lift. Your variations include just a base move. To make it a little bit more challenging, cross the ankles coming down to the center, and to work the obliques, you're going to angle your hips to the side coming straight down. Suggestions on repetitions: When you're in the center, you're going to try to do between 25 and 50 lifts. If you just started at 8 to 12 for your sides, you're going try to do up to 25 repetitions. Do as many as you are comfortable with. Two to three sets. And that is how we do our abdominal crunch machine.
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