Many people who exercise to lose weight focus on strengthening and showing off their abdominal area. Though you need both exercise, and a healthy diet, to lose weight in the most efficient and wellness-beneficial way, exercise is particularly important when you want to lose weight and keep it off (and why wouldn’t you?)
The amount of knowledge out there on exercise can weigh heavily on your mental wellbeing, but in fact the simple truths are always the best. The reason there are so many exercise and diet innovations out there is because people are always looking for an easy and quick fix, but in reality there just isn’t one. However, you can achieve the abs you want with ‘hanging around’ exercises – which are simple, if not easy!
When you do hanging leg raises, you obviously need some sort of bar to hang from. Having a chin-up bar is the ideal situation to be in, but otherwise you can make do with a large piece of wooden dowel or even the handle of a broom stick. Simply mount it wherever you work out. As an aside, chin-ups and pull-ups, and all variations thereof, are good exercises to do as they use multiple muscle groups simultaneously. They’re not easy to do, especially if you’ve never done them before, but you certainly don’t have to do 15 full chin-ups on your first try! You can work your way up to the full version by using a chair and your legs to help push you up, and still feel the burn.
When it comes to hanging leg raises, you start by, when your bar is installed, hanging from it with your arms shoulder width apart. Then, raise your knees up as high as you can get them, and try doing this 15 times per set, resting for 30 seconds, and repeating until you’ve done four or five sets. I won’t lie to you, this will hurt, but in a good way, and if they’re too easy you can work your way up to raising your legs up (knees slightly bent) so that you end in a pike position. However, this is quite advanced so take your time.
Finally, remember to pay attention to your back, keeping it straight and your core flex. Also, try to raise your legs up as slowly as possible, as swinging them up will only put your back at risk of injury. Remember you should contact your doctor before starting any rigorous exercise programme.
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