How to Get a Flat Toned Tummy

A toned stomach is sought after by many, but there are many misconceptions out there about how to achieve it. Hopefully this article will clear up a few of those, and help you on your way to gaining the flat, toned tummy you're after.

Things You'll Need

• Water (Don't forget to stay hydrated!)

Instructions

1. Create a good exercise routine. Just like diets, exercises need to be diverse and include many things.

   Don't believe the misconception that by working only your stomach muscles, you will achieve a toned stomach. You need to include cardio into your exercise as well. Cardiovascular exercises are what will burn off the calories and fat. When you do exercises to tone your stomach, you will actually be toning the stomach muscles, not burning the fat off of your stomach.

   Cardio exercises are things like walking, swimming, jogging, aerobics, or riding your bike.

2. Do one of the most common exercises done to tone the stomach are sit ups (Also called the basic crunch.)

   Lie flat on your back. Cross your arms over your chest, and bend your knees, keeping your feet flat on the floor. (You may want to have someone hold your feet down, or put your feet under something very sturdy that will not fall over, to keep them down.)

   Use the muscles in your stomach to lift your upper body up towards your knees. Don't sit up all the way, lift yourself so your elbows are about half way to your knees, and then lay back down.

   Start off doing 3 sets of 10-15 of these a day. Increase the number when you feel that you can do more each set.

3. Work the Chair Leg Lift into your day. This is a very convenient exercise to use. To do it:

   Sit straight with your back flat against the chair. Put your hands on the seat of the chair by your legs.
   Lift your knees towards your chest and hold them there for 5 seconds. Slowly put your feet back on the floor, and repeat.

   Do 3 sets of these a day. Start with as many as you can do, and slowly increase that number as your muscles grow stronger.

4. Do 3 sets of 15 Pelvic Thrusts.

   Lie on your back as if you are going to do sit ups, but place your arms at your sides.
   Lift your pelvis up, keeping your lower back on the floor. Hold this for about 5 seconds before you slowly lower yourself down.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember, as your muscles get stronger, you can increase the number of times you do each exercise in each set.

• There are many more exercises out there to tone your stomach. These are only the ones I do. A quick search on any search engine will find you hundreds more.

• Don't forget your cardio!

• After your stomach is toned, don't stop doing the exercises. To keep a toned tummy, you have to keep up on the toning exercises.

• Never pull on your head or your neck when you are doing any exercise.