Fitness Friday -or- Operation Skinny Waist Begins!

Confession: I have started outgrowing my clothes.

When you're a kid, this is seen as a positive thing. Once you hit your twenties... not so much. Growing up, I was not a kid with body image issues. I was a swimmer and was completely comfortable walking around in nothing but a swim suit. I loved wearing short shorts and hip hugger jeans. Boy have things changed!

I would love to lay some of the blame for my current predicament on my kids. After all, they are the reason I have stretch marks. Fortunately for them, I was able to lose my baby weight really quickly after both pregnancies. But now it has all returned... sans baby!

So at my Memorial Day family gathering, my cousins and I chatted about how we're all getting fat and we decided to start "Operation Skinny Waist." I was put in charge of figuring out a plan for how we should attempt to lose some inches off our waists, so I've been thinking about it for the last two weeks.

Now I have formulated a plan, and this post is introducing Step 1. Before you start, measure your natural waist (at your belly button). I won't be sharing my starting measurement, but in future weeks, I will be sharing inches lost or gained. I don't have a specific goal in mind, but I do want to fit back into the pants I was wearing last summer and need to lose several inches before that will happen.

Step 1: Transverse Abs & Swimming.

First things first: transverse abs.

I'm no fitness guru, but in my understanding, your transverse abs are the deeper abdominal muscles. And from what I've read, being pregnant really weakens these muscles. I've been pregnant twice, so consider my transverse abs to be completely shredded. Without tone in the deeper muscles, you cannot achieve a flat tummy. If you work the outer ones, but not the inner ones, you can end up with a firm, but protruding abdomen. This isn't really what the ladies want. That's why we're starting with this routine on AZCentral.

I like this site for several reasons:

1. It explains the challenges of strengthening transverse abs.
2. It provides three separate exercises aimed at strengthening those deep muscles.
3. It is pretty low intensity.

{image source}

My goal is to complete these three exercises (vacuum, hollowing, and kneeling lift) once each day (10 reps). I'll try this for a week, combined with cardio and see if I get any results.

Second, swimming.

I know that everyone is not as well practiced in swimming as I am, but it is the perfect cardio exercise to start with. It is low impact. It uses your entire body. Unfortunately, it does require a swimming suit. So get a pass to your local lap pool, squeeze into that swim suit, and hope you don't run into anyone you know. If you don't know how to swim, consider participating in adult swimming lessons until you are comfortable swimming the full length of the pool.

For those of you who know how to swim, I've put together a few basic swim workouts to get you started. These workouts are aimed to take approximately 30 minutes, depending on how fast you swim. They are also tailored for a 25 yard pool. If you're swimming in a 50 meter pool, adjust your workout to  have fewer rests for longer periods (i.e., instead of a 30 second rest after 25 yd, take a 1 min rest after 50 meters).

Beginner

Warm up: 100 yd freestyle

Legs: 2 x 50 yd kicking, resting 30 seconds between

Swim: 4 x 25 yd sprints, freestyle, resting 30 seconds between

Legs: 2 x 50 yd kicking, resting 30 seconds between

Variables: 1 x 50 yd freestyle, 1 x 100 yd breast stroke or back stroke, repeat x 2 with 30 seconds rest between each set

Cool down: 100 yd nice and easy

Total yardage: 800 yards

Intermediate

Warm up: 200 yd freestyle

Legs: 2 x 50 yd kicking, resting 30 seconds between

Sprints: 4 x 50 yd sprints, freestyle, resting 60 seconds between

Legs: 2 x 50 yd kicking, resting 30 seconds between

Variables: 1 x 100 yd freestyle, 1 x 100 yd breast stroke or back stroke, repeat x 2 with 30 seconds rest between each set

Cool down: 100 yd nice and easy

Total yardage: 1100 yards