3 Weeks to A Flat Belly

By Denise Austin, Prevention

Prevention

A flat belly is all about food and attitude. Period. That's why the editors of Prevention promise that their new belly-flattening diet really works—not a single crunch required. It's healthy, it's easy to follow, and shedding harmful abdominal fat not only protects your health but could save your life.


Expert: Denise Austin is the author of several books including Sculpt Your Body with Balls and Bands and the host of two Lifetime Television fitness programs.

When people ask me, "What's your secret to keeping your belly so lean and strong?" I tell them about my favorite workout: Pilates. Over the past 10 years, as I moved from my 30s to my 40s, Pilates has been my golden key to staying young and fit and feeling great.

Invented by gymnast Joseph H. Pilates more than 80 years ago, the Pilates method involves a series of exercises that place intense concentration on your abdominal muscles, which, along with your back muscles, form your "core" or powerhouse from which your body derives its strength and stability.

Besides helping you to shape a beautiful belly, Pilates strengthens and stretches the entire body, creating lean, toned muscles similar to those of a dancer. (It's strengthened my legs, making them as sleek as they were when I was a gymnast.)

The Pilates method combines these exercises with mental concentration and breathwork. The result is a mind/body fitness program to help you achieve your best body ever. And it helps you feel mentally and emotionally balanced, calm, and refreshed.

More Than a Trim Tummy

Here are some of the other great benefits of Pilates:

A healthy, supple spine

Better balance and more coordination

Less pain and stiffness

Kinder, gentler conditioning

Improved mental outlook and increased motivation

Faster return to pre-pregnancy figure

Beginner Program

The following moves offer a terrific introduction to Pilates. All you need is a mat or padded rug. If you have back problems, check with your doctor first.

Here's how to do Pilates correctly:

Concentrate on your abs. Keep them pulled in toward the back of your waist and slightly up, particularly during exhalation. Think "long and lean," and extend through your torso.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth as you move. As you inhale, keep your abs pressed flat, but encourage your ribs to expand out with your breath.

Do the exercises in order. Each one will prepare your body for the one that follows. Do the entire routine at least three times a week. You should start to see and feel results in as few as 10 sessions.

Try these exercises:

The Hundred

Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, palms facing down. Bend your legs to form a 90-degree angle so your knees are directly over your hips and your calves are parallel to the floor. Exhale as you contract your abs to lift your head, shoulders, and arms off the floor. Inhale.

Press your palms down rhythmically as you exhale five short breaths, pumping your hands with each breath. Then turn your palms up, and press up rhythmically with five short inhales to complete one set. Repeat the sequence as many as nine times, equaling 100 breaths in all.

(If you're just starting out, aim for 20 breaths, and gradually increase to 100.) Straighten your legs (lowered only as far as you can while keeping your spine pressed to the floor).

The Bridge

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.

Rest your arms at your sides, palms down. Take a deep breath. Exhale as you contract your abs and slowly curl your hips off the floor, using your buttocks and lower back (not your arms) to lift your torso. Support your upper body on your shoulder blades (not your neck), and use your hands only for balance. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds, relax, and repeat once.

IMPORTANT: If you have neck pain, skip this exercise.

While in the bridge, lift your right foot off the floor. Stretch through your toes to keep your body in a straight line. Repeat with your left leg raised. Do the sequence one more time.

Single-Leg Circle

Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, your knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor.

Extend your right leg toward the ceiling, and point your toes.

Exhale, and contract your abs. Slowly circle your right leg counterclockwise, keeping your hips level and motionless. Inhale as you circle your leg out, away from your body.

Exhale as you circle it in, toward your body. Do six circles counterclockwise, then do six clockwise. Repeat.

Double Leg Stretch

Lie on your back with your knees pulled in toward your chest. Rest your hands just below your knees, and exhale as you use your abs to raise your shoulders off the floor. Inhale.

Exhale, and stretch your body long, pressing your arms overhead and your legs straight out in front of you in the air. Make sure you move from your abs, and extend through your fingertips and toes. Hold for a second. Inhale as you bring your knees back in, and sweep your arms toward your knees. Then extend again. Repeat five to eight times.

Forward Spine Stretch

Sit with your legs extended hip-width apart in front of you. Your feet should be flexed and your knees slightly bent. Pull your abs in toward your spine. Extend your arms in front of you at chest level, making sure to keep your shoulders relaxed.

Exhale as you bend forward, pulling your abs back against your spine. Continue curling forward, lowering your head, neck, shoulders and ribs until your spine forms a C. Inhale as you roll back up to the starting position. Repeat three times.

The Saw

Sit with your legs extended shoulder-width apart, feet flexed and arms extended out to your sides, at chest level. Pull your abs toward your spine.

Exhale as you twist and reach your left hand toward your right foot, as if you were trying to "saw off" your foot with your pinkie. As you reach for your toes, contract your abs even more. Inhale as you return to the starting position, then twist to the other side. Continue, alternating sides, repeating the sequence two more times.