How many times have you gone to the gym only to walk right past the medicine ball staring at you as you do your ab workout? Chances are, most of us are guilty of this. A medicine ball is one of the most underutilized tool to help tone that core for those tight and sexy obliques we all are after.
So, if you’re tired of doing all the crunches and still not seeing results, it’s time to spice things up a bit.
Enter the medicine ball. Here’s why we’re a big fan of this ab workout tool.
Why We Love Using a Medicine Ball For a Tighter Core
- Using a medicine ball requires you to use your abs and your back muscles, so you can double up and get two benefits for the price of one (sign us up!)
- Adding a medicine ball to your ab workouts helps strengthen your trunk muscles. Why is this important? Well, we need our truck to be strong for basic everyday tasks. The last thing we want is to tear a muscle while bending down to pick up a grocery bag or picking up our toddler. This is also where the conversation of functional training comes in, where we work on strengthening those muscles we use on a day to day basis.
- Medicine balls are fab for your at-home workout space, no matter how much or how little space you have.
- It’s pretty much one of the best inexpensive investments you can add to your fitness routine. Not feeling an ab workout? No biggie. Try adding a medicine ball into your HIIT workout to tone and strengthen your entire body.
3 Ways to Use a Medicine Ball For Crazy Toned Obliques
Ready to take your ab workouts to the next level? Grab a medicine ball, roll out your yoga mat, and try these five ways to use a medicine ball for chiseled abs and tight obliques.
#1 Add a Twist to Your V-Ups
Ok, ok, so hear us out. We know how challenging V-ups are already, but if you’re up for a challenge and ready to turn up the heat with your ab workouts, add a medicine ball to the mix. Do your standard V-up while holding a medicine ball to really fire up those abs.
#2 Mix up the Standard Situp
Wah, wah the standard sit up. We get it, they can get monotonous, and without proper form, it’s easy to do 100 sit ups, but still not feel the burn or see results. So, here’s our challenge. Try adding a medicine ball to the mix by holding a medicine ball between your hands and in front of your chest. This will really help you focus on your situp form while also adding a little resistance to help you feel the burn just a little more.
#3 Drop & Plank
Ready, set, plank. Planks are the bomb when it comes to total body toning. Want toned abs? Do more planks! Want to really work on those obliques? Add in a medicine ball. Get into the plank position, with a medicine ball in front of you. Hold your body tight in the plank, and tap the medicine ball with one hand at a time. Do this for about 30 seconds, or as long as you can until you start to get those plank shakes! If you can’t get to 30 seconds, don’t beat yourself up. You will get there with practice and consistency.
3 Other Ways to Tone Your Obliques
While a medicine ball is a clutch tool to help amp up your core workouts, we have some other tips up our sleeve. Here are three other things to keep in mind when trying to get those toned obliques.
#1 Reduce Stress
You would be shocked at how much stress affects your fitness results. Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your body’s stress hormones (we’re looking at you cortisol.) Too much cortisol can result in stubborn belly fat that just won’t budge. The solution? Take time for you, lady! Here’s your invitation to really focus on self-care. It doesn’t have to be an hour a day, it can be five minutes. Just carve out some time to bring those stress levels down to help get those hormones back in check.
#2 Get Enough Sleep
Sleep deprivation is a real buzz kill when it comes to seeing results in your fitness routine. You can eat clean, exercise, and still not see results if your sleep hygiene isn’t optimized. Why? Studies have found that sleep deprivation can cause hormone imbalances and food cravings (ugh!) So, even if you can manage to get an extra hour of sleep each night, make it happen. Over time you may notice a big change in your overall results.
#3 Focus on Gut Health
We need a healthy gut for improved health. If you notice yourself not seeing the fitness or health results you want, it may be time to look at gut health. Poor gut bacteria may make it more difficult to lose weight. A great start is reducing stress and adding probiotic-rich foods into your diet like sauerkraut, miso, kombucha, and kefir.
Change Your Oblique Toning Game
So, there you have it. The takeaway here is thatg a medicine ball ab workout may totally transform your ab workout game.
If you’re looking for a new way to tone those obliques, get that medicine ball out and see what it can do for your workout routine. It may just become your new workout BFF and the answer to tighter and toned obliques.
