FIRE UP YOUR ABS

Want to add more oomph to your core training? Use these fitness tools to increase the intensity and enhance your results.

YOUR CORE muscles engage with every push, pull, turn, and step you take. That’s why they respond so well to new challenges. It’s also why crunches are so boring — and ineffective. “To work the abdominal muscles you have to do more than just flex and extend the trunk — you need to move through a variety of planes of motion and even incorporate resistance and force”, says Julia Ladewski, CSCS, a strength coach and fitness expert based in Highland, IN, USA. Using tools like kettlebells and medicine balls for resistance, and exercise balls and sliders to create instability opens you up to a whole new set of stimuli, she adds. Try adding these moves to your regular routine — or put them all together for one rock-solid workout that’s sure to get results.

OUR MODEL: Alyssa Exposito Trainer Location: New York, USA Instagram: @expossentials "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

1 Knee Tuck and Scissors

THE TOOL: Sliders

Begin in full push-up position with toes on top of sliders (A). (You can also use two small towels on a smooth floor.) • Bring both knees toward chest; keep upper body in place (B). Slide plates back to start and repeat. Do 15 reps.

• From push-up position, bring legs wide out to sides (C). Scissor legs together and apart for 15 reps, keeping core tight and upper body in place.

SETS: 3

2 One-arm Sit-up 

THE TOOL: Kettlebell

• Lie face-up with legs extended and a few centimetres apart, holding a kettlebell at the handle in left arm directly above shoulder (A).