Beginner ab workout?????

FlauntItBitch

im a 20 year old girl and i carry most of my weight in the middle and i have an awfully big stomach. i tried 30 day shred and insanity but its just too hard for a person who never worked out her entire life. could someone suggest a workout dvd that i can handle and which may prep me for the 30 day shred or insanity?

missdibs1

I cannot recommend the ZCUT Abs serious enough The flying push ups (etc) really help you focus on your core

auddii

Doing ab workouts won't reduce fat in your stomach area. You can't spot reduce. Eat at a deficit, and find an exercise that you can do and you enjoy (even if it is just walking). As your fitness improves, you will be able to add in more difficult exercises.

Chase510

Doing ab workouts won't reduce fat in your stomach area. You can't spot reduce. Eat at a deficit, and find an exercise that you can do and you enjoy (even if it is just walking). As your fitness improves, you will be able to add in more difficult exercises.

^^ This

For easier workouts, you could try just walking or jogging on the treadmill or use an elliptical.

A lot of exercise videos (including most of Jillian's) have modified moves for beginners. For example, moving your legs side to side instead of doing a full jumping jack, planking and push ups with your knees on the ground, touching your knees instead of your feet, etc.

rebeccawesterfield5

Try pilates, you can find beginners videos at the library or online. It will help strengthen your core muscles, making burn and shred a little more tolerable. That stuff will kill you!

samanthajoellen

Hi friend! Honestly I am so not motivated by working out at home. I would rather sit my but on the couch. I would recommend going to the gym! I just started and I like it a lot! Planet Fitness is only $10/month!

1Cor1510

Ditto on the Planet FItness. And do try the Sworkit App. You can customize it to your level of ability, and go from there. I've been very impressed by it and do the ab sworkit along with my cardio some days, and some days a full body one. Just do your best on the moves and you will find if you are diligent with it, they become easier! On 30DS, the first time I did it, I couldn't get all the way through for 4-5 days. Now when I do it on the last circuit Jillian says "you should be floating right now!" on the last set of jump ropes and I honestly feel like I am (Level 1). Your body adapts quickly, but don't give up, give it a couple of weeks before you write off a workout

Greywalk

No ab workout...movement first. Abs will build muscle and yes you want that but first if you are not use to working out you will need to get use to making movement part of your day every day. Walking is a good start with a goal of moving 5 miles a day. Get a pedometer (there are many models) I use fitbit but here is a review site: http://pedometers-review.toptenreviews.com/. The current goal for you should be to increase movement until you are doing it for about an hour at a minimum of 5 times a week. Losing weight until you are in the area of your correct weight is part of a healthy lifestyle. Movement, activity is what we are built to do. Suggest Pilates or a beginner yoga class at first. And by the way I am no snarky athlete..I started not being able to walk more than 1 mile at a good clip and took yoga not being able to touch parts of my body. The only failure is a to quit...just keep trying we all do and eventually we succeed.

PS the abs will show up as the weight comes off.

alpine1994

Hey! I started with the 30 Day Shred DVD and my fitness level was...not good. The first day I managed to do 9 minutes of the video. The next day I got through the whole video but I took a LOT of breaks (maybe half the time) and each day I would try to add one 1 more rep or a couple more seconds on the cardio sections. I would give it another shot and approach it this way. I would stay away from Insanity for now (but make it a goal to do in the future! It's a lot of fun!)

Of course weight loss (and getting a flat stomach) is caused by a calorie deficit, so you need to change your diet. Figure out what your calories should be on MFP for 1lb/week loss and try to meet that goal daily while doing 30DS. YOU CAN DO IT. Trust me. I was the laziest person on Earth. All I did my whole life was sit on my butt and eat. I promised myself 30 days (with 30DS and logging on MFP) and I never turned back.

SaraJane112

I remember a couple years ago I followed 'Look Better Naked' and I found it to be a friendly and enjoyable workout. I learned a lot of workout moves from it too. It comes with a cardio and resistance workout and you alternate it throughout the week.

TeaBea

im a 20 year old girl and i carry most of my weight in the middle and i have an awfully big stomach. i tried 30 day shred and insanity but its just too hard for a person who never worked out her entire life. could someone suggest a workout dvd that i can handle and which may prep me for the 30 day shred or insanity?

Tons of workout DVDs - reviews - video clips - ratings for fitness level

here: http://www.collagevideo.com/

Ellen Barrett is great ....beginner to intermediate workouts. She has several DVDs the fuse pilates with cardio

http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-video/ellen-barretts-flat-belly-workout-express-belly-blast-5713

http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-video/ellen-barretts-live-power-fusion-6032

Danny_Boy13

Doing ab workouts won't reduce fat in your stomach area. You can't spot reduce. Eat at a deficit, and find an exercise that you can do and you enjoy (even if it is just walking). As your fitness improves, you will be able to add in more difficult exercises.

^ this x's 1000. Abs are made in the kitchen.

ndj1979

my advice would be to concentrate on losing body fat first.

If you do a bunch of core/ab exercise and you have not burned off the fat then you are not really going o see any results. I used to make this mistake too. I would do like 20 minutes a day of ab work and not see any results...it was not until I starting eating in a deficit, lifting heavy, hitting macros, and melting off body fat that I started to see my abs.

so I would say:

eat in 500 per day calorie deficit
lift heavy three times a week, preferably compound movements (deadlifts, squats, bench press, overhead press, rows, chin ups/pullups)
mix in cardio about three times a week to help burn off excess body fat through increased calorie burn

pickup a copy of starting strength and new rules of lifting for woman

you can still do ab work but I would limit it to one to two sessions a week of about 30 minutes each ...I only do one..

bf43005

Not sure of how much weight in the stomach you are talking, but if it's all fat you need to do some cardio to cut that down. Ab workouts will help build muscle but you can have plenty of that hidden under fat.

MWhitt81

Fitnessblender.com has tons of beginner workouts.

usmcmp

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Capt_Apollo

the best way to trim down your waist is to avoid direct ab work. crunches, side bends, and all those ab exercises you see people doing in an atempt to headbutt their crotch are almost entirely a waist of time.

sure, they'll strengthen that muscle, but it'll make it bigger. and if it's bigger without first losing the fat, the whole waist will look larger.

my advice to you is to eat at a slight deficit. strength train three days a week. full body circuits are your best bet. 2-3 days a week you can do some cardio in any form you choose. i recommend doing some kind of HIIT training two days, and one low intensity day. rest that seventh day.

Capt_Apollo

im a 20 year old girl and i carry most of my weight in the middle and i have an awfully big stomach. i tried 30 day shred and insanity but its just too hard for a person who never worked out her entire life. could someone suggest a workout dvd that i can handle and which may prep me for the 30 day shred or insanity?

btw, if the dvd is too hard, just do it as long as you can, and then pause it. catch your breath, grab some water, and then hit play again. soo enough the breaks will be shorter and less frequent.

RGv2

Not sure of how much weight in the stomach you are talking, but if it's all fat you need to do some cardio to cut that down. Ab workouts will help build muscle but you can have plenty of that hidden under fat.

Disagreed.

Cardio isn't required to lose fat.

Ab workouts don't build muscle. They can build strength in the core, but muscle building (outside noob gains and the morbidly obese) require a caloric surplus along with progression.

ndj1979

Not sure of how much weight in the stomach you are talking, but if it's all fat you need to do some cardio to cut that down. Ab workouts will help build muscle but you can have plenty of that hidden under fat.

No.....

Cardio isn't required to lose fat.

Ab workouts don't build muscle. They can build strength in the core, but muscle building (outside noob gains and the morbidly obese) require a caloric surplus along with progression.

I agree, but from a beginner standpoint don't you think it is a good idea to do cardio to increase calorie burns and aid in the process? I would think after about three months OP could back off to like one cardio session a week, if that...

RGv2

Not sure of how much weight in the stomach you are talking, but if it's all fat you need to do some cardio to cut that down. Ab workouts will help build muscle but you can have plenty of that hidden under fat.

No.....

Cardio isn't required to lose fat.

Ab workouts don't build muscle. They can build strength in the core, but muscle building (outside noob gains and the morbidly obese) require a caloric surplus along with progression.

I agree, but from a beginner standpoint don't you think it is a good idea to do cardio to increase calorie burns and aid in the process? I would think after about three months OP could back off to like one cardio session a week, if that...

Sure, but they don't "need" to do cardio to lose fat. Also, OP is trying to do cardio DVD's already.