Sunday, August 29, 2010

[Blog/Article] Crunches

A major part of my detox plan is getting plenty of exercise. When you're not eating your body goes into "starvation mode" and tries to conserve it's resources and store fat. Because I'm going to be fasting, exercise will be essential to getting my body to use the nutrients instead of just hoarding them.

By drinking lots of water, getting plenty of exercise, and not giving them anything to eat, I'll be forcing them out of my system. With the added punch of clove oil, garlic, and the detox pills I'll be taking, they won't stand a chance.

In the semi-detailed outline I posted yesterday, I mention crunches. Starting out with "100 crunches every other day" in the first week. I want to clarify that I don't mean ordinary crunches where you lift up part way and come back down. Yes, I will be doing some of those, but just doing those will build an unbalanced amount of muscle right down the center of the abdomen.


Really Raw Food


Another common misconception about crunches is that you can simply add a slew of them to your lifestyle (without other changes) and expect results. "You cannot tone your stomach and abs without an overall change in your diet and full body exercise," -Flat-Stomach Exercises. But, it could make a big difference if you're adding raw principles to your diet in addition to doing crunches every other day, or at least three times a week.

With any exercise regimen, the exercises should be performed throughout the day in short bursts until your muscles burn a little. Each time you stop you should feel somewhat energized, not exhausted. Studies indicate that you burn more fat from this method, as well as build more muscle. Meaning that three days a week means several times throughout the day, three days a week.

Now, onto some crunches variations for a full abdominal work out (from an entirely unprofessional perspective, but with real-life experience behind it):



Having your legs lifted while you perform crunches uses more muscles and provides more challenge. I personally like to do leg-lifts in between sets of crunches so that I give some parts of my abdomen a rest while working out other parts of the same area.



Crunches that involve stretching to one side or another as you come up are much more satisfying. They actually feel more effective as you're doing them. Also, gently rising up onto one's elbows on each side gives the spine a nice stretch.



Breathing is important!

"Improper breathing can greatly interfere in the burning of excess calories and it might not encourage your body in burning excess fat," - Mixer's Nutrition

"If you breathe correctly you will be able to do more repetitions of the exercise without getting tired as easily, and it will also help give you better results because your muscles will be in sync and not fighting against one another." - Tummy Toning

"When it burns to breathe while exercising, you are not breathing properly. Failure to breathe steadily and deeply while lifting weights and engaging in cardiovascular exercise can also cause cramps, side stitches and an increase in blood pressure." - Katie Leigh

Unfortunately, our natural breathing tendencies tend to be a mess. This causes lack of proper oxygen to the brain and damages cells throughout the body, as well as depriving your body of it's potential. For an excellent article on how to breath deeply and correct your breathing patterns, I recommend Yogic Breath.

I particularly liked this video for abdominal work out variations. I've been using them since I first watched the video about five months ago, and I find this work out routine to be incredibly effective.

Anyway, in conclusion, when I said I'll be doing all those crunches, I mean each count as some sort of crunch, but not any particular kind. I'll be doing every variation I know, with leg-lifts in between, through-out the day and not in one sitting.

Planning on starting this crazy three-month detox on September 3rd, 2010; this Friday. But, it kinda depends on the kitchen supplies and my husband. We need to finish eating anything that isn't a vegetable because he's going on an all-vegetable regiment while I go on my all-water regiment. Also, he'll be taking the detox pills as well.

Why is this? Well, mostly because he loves me. The reason, however, for doing it together (aside from supporting each other) is because it doesn't help for me to get parasites out of my body if he's constantly reintroducing them to me. So we'll both be doing many of the things on the detox plan together. Except he's not doing the all-water thing because he has a job where he needs to drive a lot and being underfed could be dangerous.

Wish us luck!

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