Are you ready to take on an abdominal challenge at home? Our 2 examples of special abdominal challenges will make you exceed your limits in a playful way, while allowing you to improve your physical condition and avoid back pain. Long program or short program, it’s up to you!
Why get into an abs challenge?
Our advice: To optimise the results of your special abdominal challenge, hydrate well and take advantage of the opportunity to adopt a balanced diet.
Targeted exercises to work the abs at home
Many bodyweight exercises can be performed anywhere without equipment and can be integrated into your abdominal challenge:
- Cruches: The classic abdominal exercise consists of lying on your back, legs bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head and raise your shoulders without forcing or lifting your back off the floor in an attempt to reach your knees. Theoretically, your feet should not move, so stay focused on this point during the first few sessions without holding them down with a weight, otherwise your back will hurt. If you are sensitive in the lumbar vertebrae, try a variation of crunches with your legs raised, resting on a bench or bed up to your knees.
- Scissors work the legs and abdominals. Lying on your back with your hands palms down on the ground under your back at the hips or on either side of your pelvis, raise your outstretched legs a few centimetres from the ground and cross them alternately. Be careful not to arch, not to pull too much on your neck and to breathe throughout the movement.
- Leg lifts consist of lying on your back and lifting your outstretched legs until they are vertical. Then lower them slowly without trying to put them on the ground. If you can’t keep your legs straight at first, it doesn’t matter: it makes your abs challenge gets better and better.
- Pedalling is a simple yet formidable exercise. Lying on your back, raise your knees and perform a pedalling movement as if you were on a Nordictrack bicycle.
- The plank is an obliques exercise playing more on duration than on repetition. Lying on your stomach, raise your elbows to the same height as your shoulders and lift your pelvis so that your only points of support are your toes and forearms and your body forms a straight line. Hold the position while breathing.
The format of your abs challenge
Once you have mastered these exercises, you are ready to start your abdominal challenge at home: the principle is to train every day, increasing the number of repetitions and the duration of training. How far will you manage to get in less than a month?
Short program over 21 days: the awakening of the abs
If you are new to physical activity or have not been active for a long time, start on a 21-day challenge. Your goal is to gently wake up your abdominal muscles by performing a series of 4 exercises and increasing the effort a little each day, for example:
- Day 1: 10 crunches, 5 leg lifts, 5 scissors, 5 seconds of planking.
- Day two: 15 crunches, 7 leg lifts, 7 scissors, 10 seconds of planking.
31-day long program: concrete abs
If you are a more seasoned athlete, you can plan a more sustained program over 31 days to have concrete abs. How about starting on more ambitious programme, with a faster increase in difficulty? For example, you can follow the following model:
- Day 1: 15 crunches, 6 scissors, 10 seconds of planking.
- Day two: 20 crunches, 8 scissors, 15 seconds of planking.
- Etc.
Towards the end of your abdominal challenge, you should be able to perform impressive sets: pause between each exercise, change and add a few seconds of recovery every 50 repetitions of the same exercise before continuing the set. You can be proud of yourself, you have taken up the challenge!
Check out our Fitness & Training page for more advice.