OK, situps work PART of my abs. If I do enough situps I get that nice "I did something" twinge in a band just below my belly button. What works the sides? What works the upper area between my belt and my ribs?
I will have to look up some of the sets our yoga teacher taught us, they can be done without ever leaving the floor. It was a kind of yoga called kundalini yoga, and included a lot of what he called "navel point" work, which means abs and muscles in that area.
They included things like the dreaded and evil V seat.
Lie on your back. Raise your legs to about 60 degrees from the floor. Sit up and then open and close your legs. Again and again. While they are at that 60 degrees from the floor.
Then, lie on your back. Flat on the ground. Raise one leg, 60 degrees from the floor. Lower it. Other leg. Do again and again.
Or, there is the one where you bring your legs in toward your chest, and then extend them back out. Repeat. Die of soreness if you are me.
There are more, and I found them challenging but fun.
Ohhhhhhhhh yes, the V seat. Dear Lord I hate that. I used to be able to do it, but then I used to be functional. Yikes but that's a mean exercise. So is that last one, presuming it's the one I'm thinking of where you're lying on your back and you're not supposed to let your feet touch the ground in between.
I bet I could get a lot stronger in a lot of ways without standing on my feet or using any equipment at all.
But... here is the thing. I went to one kundalini yoga class at Yoga Mandala, a studio near me. I finished the class and was sore for two solid weeks - laughing hurt, and both of my partners took too much pleasure in being silly and making jokes so they could watch me laugh and go "Yeowch!" (It was consensual. But man, what a workout.)
Then I took a smaller and much slower class where we learnt the same exercises and things went much better. I like these exercises, but would ramp up slowly.
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They included things like the dreaded and evil V seat.
Lie on your back. Raise your legs to about 60 degrees from the floor. Sit up and then open and close your legs. Again and again. While they are at that 60 degrees from the floor.
Then, lie on your back. Flat on the ground. Raise one leg, 60 degrees from the floor. Lower it. Other leg. Do again and again.
Or, there is the one where you bring your legs in toward your chest, and then extend them back out. Repeat. Die of soreness if you are me.
There are more, and I found them challenging but fun.
no subject
I bet I could get a lot stronger in a lot of ways without standing on my feet or using any equipment at all.
no subject
But... here is the thing. I went to one kundalini yoga class at Yoga Mandala, a studio near me. I finished the class and was sore for two solid weeks - laughing hurt, and both of my partners took too much pleasure in being silly and making jokes so they could watch me laugh and go "Yeowch!" (It was consensual. But man, what a workout.)
Then I took a smaller and much slower class where we learnt the same exercises and things went much better. I like these exercises, but would ramp up slowly.