For women, a flat stomach is one of the most desirable body features alongside a tight ass and banging tits. Unlike bums and boobs however, a washboard stomach is attainable by anyone and has very little to do with genetics. If you want to get one, all you have to do is to strip away the fat and strengthen the abs. The only problem is that many of these exercises are designed with men in mind and as such prove a bit too much of a physical challenge or don’t take into account the female body shape – tonnes of sit ups and crunches just aren’t very lady-like and are harder for women than for men. So what are some forms of abdominal exercise for women?

Many classes tackle this problem to begin with. Pilates and yoga for example offer great abdominal exercise for women but stretching and tensing the abdomen. Both feature stretches and isometric holds that force the stomach muscles to stabilise the body while you reach out standing on one foot or double yourself over. This also works the very core muscles, helping your back as well as toning bums and tums. This inside-out approach to fitness will also provide women with the body control, balance and core strength they need to perform other abdominal exercises.

Circuits are another great class that will provide abdominal exercise for women – both CV to strip the fat and muscle strengthening exercises to give that firm appearance and feel. These generally involve running to various stations which involve exercises like crunches, skipping, dips, calf raises and tuck jumps. They range in difficulty and some are designed specifically for women, but generally part of the genius in the design is the fact that you can go at your own pace and put in as much effort as you need to for your level of fitness. Like pilates or yoga this represents a full body workout but is slightly more intense with far more CV to strip fat but less focus on core stability. Practicing both would be the best way to ensure you get a full abdominal workout.

There are many other options available too that will appeal to different people – boxercise (where you punch and kick to a beat for cardio and muscle tone), aqua-aerobics (where the water provides the resistance), simple aerobics (light cv work with stretching and core exercises) or ‘legs, bums and tums’ which are designed specifically for the purpose of toning those areas. For those who don’t like getting sweaty and out of breath in public however, or those who just won’t, there are a wide variety of video tapes that allow you to do pilates, yoga, boxercise, aerobics or any of the other aforementioned classes (except perhaps aqua aerobics unless you have a massive bath) from the comfort of your living room. In these a range of Z-list celebrities will take you through the process as though you were in the class, though you will need to make sure you have lots of space and a mat to provide a soft surface (and to catch sweat). At the end of the day it’s simply a matter of finding one that appeals to you and trying them all out until one sticks.

Mack LeMouse

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