Don’t slouch. When you slouch, your stomach bulges out. Straighten up so your tummy looks trimmer. Let your ears be aligned with your shoulders, your ears over your shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees, and knees over ankles. Keep your weight even on the balls of your feet and your heels.
Work core muscles. Your abs will look firmer and flatter if all your core muscles are firm, which includes your glutes and back muscles. Pilates exercises will help to work all of the core muscles as also the arms and legs.
Crunches. The classic abs exercise. Lie flat on your back with your knees drawn up. Cross your arms across your chest, without holding your neck or sides. Using your stomach and back muscles, raise yourself up towards your knees. Stop about ¾ of the way up, then lower yourself slowly down, “crunching” your abdominal muscles all the way down. Repeat twenty times
Leg lifts. This targets abs and core. Lie flat on your back. Intertwine the fingers of both hands and place them under your tailbone. Keeping your back straight and your shoulders flat, raise both legs about six to ten inches off the floor. Hold for fifteen to thirty seconds and then slowly lower them. Repeat ten times.
Try the Canoe twist. It targets the abs and core. Stand with your feet slightly apart with your hands clasped together in front of you at waist level. Exhale, then twist your arms, shoulders, and torso to your right (as if rowing a canoe), while raising your right leg, bent at the knee. Repeat for twenty reps, switching “rowing” sides.
The Cat kick. Stand with your feet slightly apart, with your arms outstretched at your sides, like an airplane. While raising your right leg straight out without bending your knee, stretch your arms out together in front of you, and round your back like a cat. Inhale, and return to your original position. Alternate to the left leg, and repeat for twenty repetitions.
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