myawethinTICself's Journal, 04 Dec 14

Well it is the 4th day of the Core Challenge & I must say for me it is more difficult than I imagined! BUT I DID 3 DAYS & today is a scheduled rest day from it.
Since the exercises are hurting my back & I know that will cause me to give up completing this challenge,I decided to take time to find a way to adjust the exercises so I can continue to do them while eliminating the back pain. Here's what I decided.
According to Harold Sanco(he's a group exercise director of Results the Gym & has his own Core DVD called Prime Time Abs) we can attack ab muscles we never knew we had by doing 1/2-3/4 sit-ups while our knees are bent & our feet are on the ground-- like we learned in school during gym class.But he recommends when we come up at the top to alternately twist our torso from one side to the other then slowly roll down,working the obliques.
As for crunches,he says getting on our back & tucking our knees into our chest then extending them & our arms out to form an "X" with our hands & feet off the floor, hold before tucking back in,will get him more complaints,but that's how he says he knows it's working.
He also says that doing regular crunches will not do away with a tummy pooch of jiggle right below the waistline. But REVERSE CRUNCHES will. he explains: Lie down on your back with our knees bent at a 90-degree angle & feet raised where our shins are parallel with the ground.Then rather than lifting our shoulders off the ground,do a pelvic tilt bringing our knees toward us. Switch off swinging our knees to the sides during the motion to perform what he calls "twisters".
I found this information in an article written by Vicky Hallett,special to the Washington Post. I think I will divide my crunches up between the 2 different kinds talked about here & then switch them with the amount the Core challenge sets out with the sit-ups,(was that understandable?)in hopes that it lessens my back pain.
Here's to finding a way NOT to give up!
Hope everyone else is finding success :)

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633 kcal

Fat: 43.61g | Prot: 20.16g | Carbs: 52.13g.   Breakfast: Central Market Ground Flax Seed, Spice Classics Ground Cinnamon, Red Delicious Apples, Jif Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, Quaker Old Fashioned Oats. Snacks/Other: T. Marzetti Ranch Veggie Dip, The Biggest Loser Celery Sticks, Crystal Farms Sharp Cheddar Cheese. more...

2102 kcal

Exercise: Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 40 minutes, Resting - 15 hours and 20 minutes, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...