Nicki Waterman’s Flat Stomach Plan: The Ultimate Abdominal Workouts and Diet. Nicki Waterman

using this breathing technique.

       Ab Breathing

       Begin

      With elbows resting on the ground at about mid-chest position, place your splayed fingers across your tummy. You will probably feel the top of your pelvic girdle with the heel of your hands and your thumbs will be level with the bottom of your diaphragm. Take a deep breath and feel your abs tightening as you prepare to lift.

      

       Next

      Exhale, while pulling your tummy muscles in and upwards. At the same time, slowly curl your spine forward, lifting your shoulders and ribcage. You will feel your mid and lower back lengthening towards the floor, to stabilize your pelvis and protect your spine. Remember to keep your head, neck and shoulders in their basic natural alignment – don’t jerk your head forward. Continue to lift while your stomach remains flat – you will feel this with your fingers. As soon as your stomach starts to curl, stop. Return to the At Rest position and repeat.

      Continue doing as many repetitions as you can manage, until you are perfectly comfortable with it. You will notice that it is the simultaneous exhalation and pulling in and up of the tummy muscles that naturally starts the curl.

      Tip:

       Don’t move on to the Stage 2 exercises until the ab-breathing technique becomes second nature to you. You’ll find that after a while you will automatically breathe out and pull your tummy in and up at the start of each lift. Once you reach this point, you won’t need to concentrate. Correct breathing will be automatic as you move nicely into the basic curl.

       Do you want fab abs?

      If so, try my trademark string waistband. I make all my clients wear a piece of string around their waist when exercising. It is tied when the tummy muscles are tight. If the muscles then slack off, the tightening string reminds the wearer to pull them back in again.

      

       The Stage 1 Routine

      Now you are ready to move on to your first curl – the Ab Curl. At first, do the minimum number of repetitions suggested. If you feel tired, or that you can’t continue, try just a couple more before stopping. It doesn’t hurt to push yourself just a little and it won’t be long before you start to get stronger and are able to do the maximum number of reps suggested for each exercise. Ideally, you want to be able to complete at least two successive sets of 8–16 reps nice and smoothly, without resting.

      

       IMPORTANT

      You might feel a little stiffness or tiredness to start with, but you shouldn’t feel pain or real discomfort during any particular curl. If you do, stop at once. Try again later with some easier exercises to build up your strength before getting back to the one where you felt discomfort. If the pain persists, see your doctor.

      

       Ab Curl

      Tip:

       If you feel your stomach protruding during the curl, stop. Make a conscious effort to pull it in and up and then continue with the exercise. The purpose of a curl is to train your stomach to be flat.

       Begin