I’m not sure I understand your previous instructions: with an apple shape, I need to trim and hone my waistline. Are the sit-ups you recommended on October 16 stand-alone or intended as preliminary to other regimes?
Storing weight around your midriff is known as abdominal obesity, and this measurement is much more closely correlated to health risks associated with chronic disease than the widely used obesity measurement of body mass index. Men with a waist measurement greater than 102cm (40in) and women with a waist measurement greater than 88cm (35in) are at greater risk.
Reducing an excessive waist circumference needs to be addressed through a combination of cardiovascular exercise to raise energy expenditure and dietary modification to reduce excessive calorie intake. A progressive brisk walking programme can be especially effective for individuals carrying excess weight, as there is less impact on the joints. Abdominal exercises, done correctly, will help to improve the muscle tone of the four abdominal muscles, providing not only a cosmetic benefit, flattening and firming the abdominal area, but a benefit to posture as well, reducing potential back pain.
Many people struggle with abdominal exercises, most commonly complaining of neck pain and not getting the flat results they want. These problems occur because some of the basic techniques – specifically, as I said the other week, “the rib-hip connection” and the “lift and lengthen” – have not been mastered. For the perfect “classic sit-up position”, start lying on the floor, knees bent and feet flat, hands supporting your head as you lift and lower from your breast bone. Just practising these technique tips alone can reap changes in the tone of the abdominal area. And it can be done in just five minutes a day.
· Joanna Hall is a fitness expert (joannahall.com).
Send your exercise questions to: Weekend, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER ([email protected]).
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