By the Hers Staff
Blasting your midsection with set after set of crunches and leg lifts is not only boring — it's inherently limiting. Just like any other bodypart, doing the same exercises in the same rep ranges over and over will bore your body to death and leave you scratching your head when you look in the mirror. Your muscles — even your abs — love a new challenge, so why not throw them one?
The figure eight is a great way to mix up a stale abs routine. This weighted move puts your entire core musculature — rectus abdominis, obliques and your deep transverse abdominis — to the test, helping you to burn more calories while strengthening your midsection.
FIGURE EIGHT
TARGET: Entire core musculature
START: Sit on the floor with your knees bent, holding a medicine ball in front of you. Lean back slightly and lift your feet off the floor.
MOVEMENT: Bring your left knee toward your chest while straightening your right leg. Pass the medicine ball under your left leg, then bend your right knee toward your chest while straightening your left leg. Pass the medicine ball under your right leg. Repeat for 30 seconds.
NICOLE SAYS: "If you have difficulty balancing on your glutes, touch the foot of the straight leg to the floor during the passes until you can develop that core strength and balance."
>> Nicole performs three sets of these at the end of her abs routine, going as hard as she can for 30 seconds.
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