Health & Wellbeing
Whether you’re trying to build a six-pack or just trying to tone your body, ab workouts are a terrific way to get in shape and strengthen your core. Plus, ab exercises require no extra equipment and can be done from just about anywhere.
But there are many variations of ab workouts, so it can be hard to know which ones to try. To get a better idea of where to start, we talked to exercise physiologist Katie Lawton about six great ab workouts to add to your workout routine.
While these exercises all focus on your abdomen muscles, they also strengthen your entire core. Your abs are simply a component of the core muscle group, which includes the oblique muscles along your side, your gluteal muscles, certain muscles along your spine, your diaphragm, muscles of your pelvic floor and hip flexors.
Your core provides stability for your entire body and impacts your movements. Core strength even affects your posture and back pain. The bottom line: A healthy, strong core is important for your overall health.
Before getting down to the floor and getting your workouts in, though, Lawton has a few tips to remember.
Keeping these tips in mind, you can get started on all of these exercises. Be sure to wear comfortable workout clothing, but make sure your gear isn’t so loose it interferes with your movement.
And since these workouts all involve being on the floor, make sure you’ve got a yoga or workout mat that provides some padding and can keep you comfortable while you go through your reps.
Crunches are probably the most well-known of the major ab workouts, a variation on the classic sit-up. They’re also very simple to do, though you need to take care you don’t exacerbate any back and neck injuries.
“They’re a great workout that targets your abs and strengthens your core,” says Lawton. “But if you have any disc issues, complications or neck problems, you might want to skip crunches because of the stress that can be put on those parts of the body.”
Whether you’re a fitness fanatic or casual gym goer, the thought of picking up a dumbbell covered in germs is enough to make anyone cringe. And with the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) becoming more prominent every day, gyms and fitness centers across the country are closing their doors to help protect members.
If staying active is an important part of your life (as it should be!) you might be wondering how you’re supposed to go about this whole at-home workout thing. Thankfully, it’s easier than you think.
“A lot of what you’ll find with at-home workouts is about maintaining your current level of fitness,” explains exercise physiologist Katie Lawton. “And with workouts, consistency is key.”
Here Lawton shares some practical advice about how to stay active at home.
Both practices are worth exploring and offer amazing health benefits
To improve your overall health and wellness, there’s no shortage of physical activities you can do on your own or with a group of people. But when it comes to yoga or Pilates, people are often unclear about what separates the two activities and whether they should choose one over the other.
There are some similarities that crossover between yoga and Pilates, but both classes are built off foundational differences. When done on their own or even paired together, both yoga and Pilates can really infuse several health benefits and awareness into your daily routines.
Yoga instructor and retired pediatrician Johanna Goldfarb, MD, E-RYT-200, explains the differences between yoga and Pilates, along with the benefits of each.
Pilates was invented by a German anatomist in 1926 as a way of conditioning the body and providing rehabilitation to World War I veterans. The practice quickly grew as a means of building core strength and improving endurance, particularly for those in the field of ballet and dance who were seeking rehabilitation from injuries.
“The goal,” explains Dr. Goldfarb, “was to help people with injuries to heal using core strength and guided exercises.”
Yoga, on the other hand, is rooted in a centuries-old spiritual practice meant to enhance your mind-body connection to achieve enlightenment.
But traditional yoga is more than just a workout routine — it’s a lifestyle that embraces a philosophy and a set of tenets built around nourishing your physical, emotional and spiritual growth. Yoga teaches you how to navigate life by creating and honoring boundaries, embracing a no-harm mentality, surrendering to the divine, and aligning your mind, body and spirit.
And while many Westernized versions of yoga have often emphasized the more physical aspects of yoga (or Asanas), yoga, for many people, is much more than just a simple workout — again, it’s a way of living.
Still, yoga helps develop strength, flexibility and balance (often in preparation for meditation) by bringing awareness to the connections of your mind, body and breath in every pose. Often, yoga sessions end with a brief meditation to close out the practice.
Pilates is focused more on building your core strength through a disciplined practice of several small-movement exercises during each session. A fundamental set of exercises is basic to each class and is learned first to strengthen your core and teach you how to move with each breath. Over time, you can level up to doing more advanced exercises with the help of an instructor.
While there are traditionally far fewer versions of Pilates, there are many different kinds of yoga that provide a variety of experiences.
Most kinds of yoga practiced in the United States today are rooted in Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is the oldest traditional East Indian practice of the form. Hatha yoga focuses on mindfulness, meditation and precise posture.
All yoga focuses on the breath and links with movement. But, as yoga has become more commercialized in the West, other kinds of practices have been designed for a multitude of different audiences.
Vinyasa yoga incorporates quick movements from one pose to the next, focusing on the connection of mind, body and breath. Conversely, yoga nidra involves no movement at all in a deep, meditative practice and often takes place at the end of a yoga session.
And restorative yoga is a much slower practice that relies on blankets, pillows and near darkness to provide comfort and space for meditation.
These are just a few of the many kinds of yoga available to learn from. But regardless of the type, each version of yoga offers a variety of different benefits when you make it a part of your weekly routine.
“Yoga has much more of a spiritual aspect to it, while Pilates is more about an approach to rehab,” clarifies Dr. Goldfarb. “People come to Pilates often because of an injury or because they want to prevent injury.”
Despite their differences, yoga and Pilates both share common techniques around:
Both practices rely on supporting your own body weight, but Pilates works to incorporate additional equipment like resistance bands, resistance-based reformer machines, foam rollers, barrels and bars to provide an additional challenge and further strengthen your muscles. Props are used in yoga, too, but more so for modification or to deepen specific poses or stretches.
“The equipment you use in Pilates is often added to make sure exercise can occur with a safe alignment,” says Dr. Goldfarb. “In yoga, props (like blocks, straps and blankets) are more limited and used to make certain poses easier to approach. And as we age and experience physical issues that come up, props can be extremely useful in yoga to help you get into a pose safely.”
Between the two practices, several of the following benefits arise.
Both Pilates and yoga strengthen several sets of muscles, including:
While Pilates and yoga don’t help you gain muscle mass in these areas the same way you would by doing strength-training exercises, they help tone these muscle groups and increase your strength and flexibility.
Whether you’re moving slowly from one pose to the next or you’re holding a pose for longer lengths of time, both Pilates and yoga focus on maintaining full-body alignment across every single movement. That means your back is often kept straight (but not rigid), with your neck and legs supported and your knees straight, or slightly bent but never locked too tightly in place. In a lunge, for example, your knees are directly over your ankles.
Whether you’re lying flat on a mat, standing tall or in a forward fold, your posture can continue to improve even as you work through a regular series of stretches and poses across both disciplines.
“The loss of proper posture itself can lead to several medical complications,” notes Dr. Goldfarb. “A yoga or Pilates instructor is, at every moment, making sure your posture is correct before you start using these muscles because it’s really important when preventing and treating injuries. Both yoga and Pilates will help improve your posture, which is a key source of disability as we age, as well as a source of pain.”
If you’re dealing with chronic low back pain, low-impact exercises like Pilates and yoga can help. Not only do they assist in building the strength you need to support your body, but they also allow you to stretch out problem areas that are causing you pain like your lower back. Plus, with the help of a physical therapist or certified instructor, Pilates and yoga can both aid with rehabilitation when it comes to certain injuries.
Consistent yoga practices can help you improve your flexibility and regain your range of motion if you haven’t been active for some time or were never flexible. This happens because you’re not only stretching the necessary muscles needed for mobility, but you’re also activating those muscles frequently in a variety of positions. Plus, on days when you’re not doing strenuous exercises like aerobics or strength training, both yoga and Pilates can become a part of your active recovery process to help your muscles heal more efficiently.
You can practice mindfulness in any setting. Both Pilates and yoga use breathwork as a means of looking inward and being in tune with how you’re feeling, what’s working, and what could use a little bit more support and comfort. Yoga, in particular, often weaves meditative practices into each session and uses it as an ending point largely for building this kind of self-awareness.
“Meditation is as important as any physical movement in yoga because it teaches your mind and body the importance of being in the moment and having periods of time where you’re not doing anything — you’re just being still,” says Dr. Goldfarb.
By enhancing your mental health in these small ways, and by regularly participating in these activities, Pilates and yoga can both help:
Only you, and perhaps your primary care provider, can decide if Pilates or yoga are right for you. While both offer low-impact exercise with a relatively low risk for injury, if you have underlying health conditions or injuries that disrupt your mobility, or if you have high blood pressure or you’re anemic, you’ll want to check with your healthcare provider which poses you may want to avoid or modify before diving in to a full-blown class.
Otherwise, Dr. Goldfarb highly encourages people interested in either Pilates or yoga to participate in both classes to get a feel for what they like and what they prefer. In general, if you were to work Pilates and/or yoga into your weekly routine, you may want to do them up to two to three times each week, between other strength training and cardio exercises.
“There’s such a range of approaches to both Pilates and yoga, so your experience is going to be completely based on where you start,” says Dr. Goldfarb.
“The ability to learn how to relax in yoga is what makes it especially important for people who are stressed. If it’s about an injury and you need physical strengthening, you might go to Pilates. But again, you’ve got to find the right mix. I would say try both yoga and Pilates before you give up on exploring one or the other. Finding the right class that’s safe and the right teacher is absolutely key to these experiences.”
We’ve all been there, caught between the desire to slow down and the need to push through the pain of an intense workout no matter the cost.
But if you’re a newbie to spin classes and indoor cycling, you may be confronted with a few positions that lead to discomfort or numbness that radiates through your lower extremities. If you’re not set up correctly from the starting line and don’t know how to reposition yourself, this numb feeling is the least of your worries for potential injury and an unsatisfactory experience.
Exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer Karen Feakes, CPT, explains how to find the right fit for your bike and helpful ways you can avoid injury and recover safely when cycling.
The benefits of cycling vary, but it’s a go-to practice for many people interested in building their endurance and improving strength and flexibility. Healthcare providers recommend aerobic exercises for 30 minutes at a time, five to seven days a week, making cycling a perfect low-impact choice to add to your fitness regimen. But just because it’s billed as a “low-impact exercise” doesn’t mean it’s never challenging.
A quick search for indoor cycling will likely give you a range of classes that run from performance-based classes to all-out get-fit courses.
“Indoor cycling classes offer different formats for various levels of fitness,” says Feakes. “Beginner classes could be as short as 30 minutes and promote basic principles of cycling. Anyone can pop into those classes to get a great workout, get their heart rate up, work on their endurance and build some of their leg strength. Advanced classes are structured to be performance-based to meet the needs of cyclists and triathletes and they can be up to 90 to 120 minutes long.”
If you’re new to cycling, or if you’ve dealt with knee, hip or leg injuries in the past, you might want to start off with a general cycling class before stepping it up to more performance-based courses. And even if you’re familiar with the routine but are just getting back into it after spending time away from cycling, starting slow is key to getting back on track. In those instances, you’ll want to consider doing 15-minute intervals and working your way up to an hour-long class over the course of five to six weeks.
“Cycling can become quite high impact, particularly at the hip and knee joint,” notes Feakes. “You want your experience to be enjoyable and realistic. In most cases, the adaptation process for getting used to cycling is around six weeks for most people, especially if you come in a little deconditioned.”
A majority of cycling injuries happen because of poor setup.
“Finding the correct positioning for you is really critical in terms of injury prevention,” states Feakes.
Here are some common injuries that can happen with indoor cycling, as well as ways you should position yourself for success:
Perhaps one of the most common cycling injuries, knee injuries can occur when you over-extend or over-flex your knee in any direction while pedaling. You can also experience a knee injury if you have too much or too little resistance and cause your femur (thigh bone) and your patella (kneecap) to grind against each other.
“You’ll get a sensation of either sharp pain or dull pain in your kneecap,” explains Feakes. “If your positioning is incorrect, most people will feel uncomfortable within 15 minutes and feel that pressure in their knee. And if someone already has existing knee complaints, this will only make those problems worse.”
One way to avoid knee injuries from happening is to adjust the height of your seat and the position or tilt of your seat. You can think of one complete pedal stroke like one complete revolution around a clock.
When you push to the bottom of your pedal stroke (in the 6 o’clock position), your knee should have a slight bend to it so your knee has 15 to 30 degrees of flexion. When your right leg is in the 3 o’clock position, your kneecap should be directly aligned with the ball of your foot and the center of your bike pedal.
“As you’re pedaling and you build up that cadence, your knee will track correctly while it’s in motion without being overly extended in any direction,” says Feakes.
And if you experience knee pain or swelling around your kneecap after your ride, you’ll want to rest, ice it right away, apply some compression and elevate your kneecap.
The day after you experience knee pain post-cycling, you’ll also want to get some range of motion back by flexing your hamstrings, quads and calf muscles below your knee to make sure your muscles don’t become too tight. Flexibility and mobility exercises can improve the function of your joints and muscles and speed recovery. It’s even helpful to do these at the conclusion of each class.
If you experience any foot pain while pedaling, it’s likely because you’re not wearing the proper footwear.
“A running shoe often has a lot of cushion but it doesn’t necessarily have a lot of stiffness,” says Feakes. “Sometimes, people can experience foot pain if they have too much motion in their foot as they’re pedaling.”
Gear up with stiff-soled shoes or cycling shoes with clipless (or clip-in) cleats that latch onto the pedal if you plan on participating in regular classes or cycle more regularly. Doing so will keep your feet glued to the pedal with much-needed support.
If you’re going to put in the work, you want to make sure you’re dressed for the occasion to avoid chafing and saddle sores. One sure way to do this is to wear cycling shorts without undergarments.
“If you’re shifting around in the seat and you’re also getting sweaty, you can end up with chafed skin from the seams of your undergarments,” explains Feakes. “Depending on the length of the class, you could also be rubbed raw.”
Feakes recommends showering immediately after each cycling session to minimize bacterial growth and applying anti-chafing cream before and after cycling to prevent chafing and soothe a sore area.
If you develop saddle sores, you’ll want to apply lubrication like Vaseline® or Aquaphor® daily and avoid cycling until they clear up after a week or two.
The numbing sensation you feel while cycling can often be fixed by making sure you position your seat correctly with the initial setup. But confronting pressure points in your behind and dealing with some numbness in your butt and lower back is common for most beginners.
“We don’t have a lot of fat in that region, so when you’re sitting in that seat, you’re sitting right on those sit bones,” explains Feakes. “Just like anything, we have to get accustomed to a load being placed in that area.”
If you need some added cushion, a padded seat cover can help provide some relief. But perhaps the best way to avoid that numb sensation and get used to the seated position is to slowly build up your cycling regimen over the course of six weeks, starting with short 15-minute intervals and working your way up.
“You want to build up your duration over several sessions to break in that tissue,” Feakes advises. “It’s an adaptive process, and you really have to get used to the ergonomics of the seat and having pressure in the seat as you ride.”
When you’re sitting in a forward, flexed position, you may find the muscles in your lower back become fatigued and/or start to spasm as you begin to cycle, especially if you’re new to cycling.
“For beginners, I’ll often keep the handlebar height up a little higher, and then, we’ll work on the position of their hands and how much flexion they have coming forward until it feels more comfortable,” says Feakes.
If your lower back pain persists, you may want to stop your ride and stand up for some stretching exercises to help extend some of those lower back muscles.
Cycling is an excellent form of exercise. With the right preparation and recovery tools, it can be a beneficial part of your everyday fitness. Working on your hip and lower back mobility, as well as incorporating other well-rounded strength training activities, can also help prevent injuries while cycling and make the experience more enjoyable.
And if you’re not sure where to start, there’s more than one path to get you in the cycling mood. Yoga, for example, is one solid starter to stretching those hips and getting ready for the ride.
“I encourage beginners to integrate indoor cycling into their fitness regime one to two days each week for general fitness improvements, weight management and to build strength and endurance,” says Feakes.
Another bonus? “In addition to the health benefits, indoor cycling classes provide a social outlet and can be a great opportunity to build friendships and find support.”
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