Keepin' it Real Artwork
Season 3 - Episode 13

12-Pack Abs

35 min - Practice
48 likes

Description

Robert leads us through a challenging and fun practice to build heat and work the core. We move through a series of postures and exercises to ignite the fire within and work toward building "12-pack abs."
What You'll Need: No props needed

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We are going to get shredded. They all talk about six-pack abs. This is 12-pack abs in 30 minutes. You can stay and do this if you'd like, or not. I'm going to do it. So, no, all joking aside, it's 30 minutes of abs. Let's have some fun. Do your best. But one little thing, right? And I try so hard myself. When you're at that moment where you're like, you feel the burn and you want to stop, just go for one more breath. One more breath or one more move. And that's growth. All right? So just have that in the back of your mind. And I believe that. So we're going to start on our back. All right. 12-pack abs.

No big deal. 12-pack. Okay. All right. Take a moment. Lie on your back, bent knees. For your core. All right. For your core. To start off, take the right knee, hug it in toward the body while you extend your left leg out. Let's right now get in the kind of like the habit of lifting that leg up because that's where we're moving towards. So you can either lift it straight up or let it go out halfway down or even all the way down, but just not touch.

But notice when you do, and this is important moving forward. I won't talk about it too much, but the lower that extended leg goes, does your back arch, right? So wherever your back does not arch is the height of that extended leg. Switch legs. Bring some attention into your belly, right? So when you breathe in, your stomach expands and as you breathe out, the stomach contracts. Almost like every time you pull the belly in a little bit, navel down toward the mat to secure the core and ground your back.

Switch legs. So I've got my right in. So let's try to get synced up, linked up, linked in. Good. Extend the left leg, draw that right knee in. We'll do one more like this. So what we're also doing is we're exhaling as you extend the leg out and pull the leg in. Now let's add a little core love. So bring both knees in. Arms are alongside your thighs. So reaching your fingertips forward, arms are lifted up off the mat.

Extend your right leg long and without hands. So this is hands free. Draw your knee in toward your body. Good. Now you're right, exhaling as you do so. And your left, exhaling as you do so. If you want to add to this, lift your chest. Inhale here. Exhale. Left knee in. Right leg extends out. Inhale. Exhale. So it's like the bicycle abs, right? Similar. But you're not holding onto the back of your neck.

Good. Keep going. So work toward as you're extending that leg out and drawing the knee in, lifting your chest. That'll really get into those 12 pack abs. I'm going to keep selling that to keep you inspired throughout. But if you don't have a 12 pack set of abs by the end of this, don't call me. Okay, here. So keep going. And I really want you to exhale, pull the belly in and lift your chest.

Lift. Lift. Five. Five. Four. Four. Three. Three. Two. Two. One. One. All right. Well, I felt that. Bring your feet down. Take one breath. One big beautiful breath in. Breath out. Let's grow on that. Palms facing straight up. Your arms are straight the entire time. Lift your feet up off the mat. Legs are 90 degrees or so. Two parts of this movement.

You're going to, as you exhale, pull the belly in, right, and begin to lift your palms, which will lift your shoulders up off the mat. Press your palms to the ceiling or to the sky, depending on where you're doing this, and then draw your knees in the direction of your elbows or even higher. Good. That's the exhale. Inhale, lower down. Exhale. Come on up. We'll do 10. That's two. Breathe in. Breathe out. Inhale. Lower down. So when I say lower down, it's your low back and your shoulders. Exhale. Lift your low back as much as you can. Lift your shoulders.

Touch the knees onto the elbows or even your triceps or as high as you can. Good. Inhale. I think that's four. Exhale. Five. Inhale. Exhale. Six. Inhale. Exhale. Seven. Inhale. Exhale. Eight. Really tuck those knees in. Reach up. Good. Two more. Breathe in. Breathe out. Last one. Inhale. Exhale. Tuck and hold. Bring your big toes to touch. Tuck those knees in. Reach up. Reach up. You're in crow pose. You're in crow pose. Breathe in and release.

Definitely felt that. So what I'm feeling, right, you may feel the upper abdominals, the mid and the lower, which is not a bad thing. All right. A little more work here. Similar to what we just did. But imagine yourself on your back, but on a plank. Like you're in a plank pose with your knees bent. Now what I want you to do is send the right leg out and the left leg out. Lower them as far as you can without lifting your low back. Now on your exhale, draw the right knee and your shoulder, like same thing you just did, but it's a single leg version.

Good. Right knee to right elbow. Inhale and exhale. Left. We'll do five on each side. So that's one one. Exhale two. Exhale two. Exhale three. Exhale three. Exhale four. Exhale four. Exhale five. Exhale five. Whoo Glad there were only five All right. Good work Hug the knees in and now we'll begin to rock forward. So Forward and back kind of like your back body is a rocking chair, right? We'll do five times So I like to bring my arms all the way back as I do so so reach back toes come back and up up and back You don't have to go back too far. Right? We're just bringing a little back body energy in two more breathe in Breathe out breathe in and now breathe out land right on Heels down. That's all right. Bring your heels down See how I like made it look like it was planned Okay, so your heels are down your feet are down pause just like so trying to walk your knee your heels in a little bit Knees into your body kind of like tucked, right? Now if you place yourself up on your your sit bones Well, then tip back a little bit but refrain from Rounding try to keep your chest up spine long Hold on to your hamstrings and lift So you've got your hands to support you in boat pose Hands-free would be reaching out straight out Reaching your fingertips towards your toes. You can keep your knees bent You can work towards straightening one or the other or Both chest up low belly working to support you low belly engaged Maybe even flare your toes a little bit that actually does make a difference right engage your toes fan your toes strong thighs chest up again, if this is bothering any part of your body make your adjustments Bending the knees feet down is a good option breathe in here and now exhale bring those feet back down Okay, walk the feet out just a little bit Keep the chest up reach both arms. It's a combination core and a little bit of a twist. So reach the arms forward Inhale reach the right arm back as far as you can maybe even trace your gaze towards your fingertips Exhale bring it forward Inhale reach the left arm back Exhale the left arm to meet the right out in front of you. Inhale reach back with the right Exhale right we'll do ten. That's three Exhale left three Inhale reach back with the right Exhale right Inhale left Exhale left halfway there. Inhale right Exhale right inhale left exhale left Inhale right Exhale right inhale left Exhale left remember chest up core nice and brace. Let's do two more on each side Inhalation reach back with the right Exhale right inhale left Exhale left last one breathe in Breathe out Left is the last and up Good hold on to your shins just below the knees Give you a little support take a breath Okay So remaining on your sit bones as much as you can you could even find like the fleshy part of the butt All right, but draw those feet closer. This one's gonna become a little more difficult, right? I really want you to tuck the knees into your body while lifting your feet Belly strong arms reaching straight out and you could do these little pulses. We'll try ten chest up breathe in exhale knees in Inhale reach out exhale Bring them in good. That's two. So it's a little micro movement breathe in heels reach toward the floor exhale knees Tuck in pull the belly in That's three seven more inhale exhale inhale Exhale you can also just hold it right. We maybe even bring the arms on the inside of those thighs Good. This is actually kind of like my legs are shaking. I forget the core. It's like muscles on the inner thighs So you're either holding it or you continue to tuck on the exhale tuck Let's do four more four three two One hold arms on the inside reaching front fingertips reaching to the toes press the legs into the arms legs into the arms arms in the legs lift your chest breathe in and Exhale come to a sitting position Release all the effort in the legs and in the belly Take one more breath here before we transition onto hands and knees. So sweep the arms up big stretch breathe in Exhale palms draw to your chest Tabletop hands and knees pose Okay So let's get a little cat cow going on here Okay, but before we do what I want you to focus on is keeping your back straight arms straight No cat cow. We're gonna isolate the focus the focal point to your belly in fact If you have your if you're in tabletop, right, you can look at me or close your eyes and really envision low belly that area where if you're trying to fit into a Super super tight pair of pants and you have a zipper right and you're trying to zip up those pants and button them or snap them Whatever That's where I want you to focus right now. So Let that area be super lazy right now That's the breath in you're not moving anywhere else. You're trying to isolate right there. So belly's lazy on The exhale pull that region up that zipper region up up up up up on the exhale Like you're trying to carve out space in your low belly Get thin We'll do five inhale. Let it hang Exhale pull it up Inhale, let it be lazy Exhale engage Gentle squeezing even two more breathe in breathe out Breathe out last one breathe in Exhale squeeze it up like hollow belly Just the feeling right the feeling of like pulling up and in there Good. Now, let's add movement to it. Drop the belly cow pose butt up shoulders back chest forward arched back exhale from that low zipper That's the first part of the movement pull up and then get the rest of the movement Cat pose tuck the tailbone spread the upper back Good three more breathe in Breathe out Continue to do let's do three more. All right, so find your breath find your movement and Think about not only the belly Not only the spine But your shoulders and shoulder blades and your pelvis your hips moving forward and back this forward motion backward kind of tucking motion mobility All those body parts one more time breathe in and Breathe out core core core Nicely done inhale back into a flat back extend your left leg back So your your left leg push through that heel a lot Reach the right arm forward with your thumb facing up bicep alongside your right ear Now lift your left toes up off the mat Drive through your left heel curling your toes towards your shins toward your left shin Okay. Now let the back arch a little bit like cat pose look forward breathe in now exhale like a cat pose Right draw the left knee toward the center line of your body Toward your right elbow get a little rounded here pressing to the center of your left hand here Four more inhale send it out Exhale hug it in Inhale send it out Exhale hug it in Two more inhale and every time you inhale here, you can get a little squeeze on that left side the glute The butt good exhale squeeze core strong last one inhale Exhale belly up belly up belly up Good inhale send it all the way out bring your right hand back down your left toes down Now bring your left heel down to the mat like you would like a warrior to the whole left foot grounded So the idea here right hand below your shoulder right knee below your hip You've got options for that right foot To make it a little bit more core disciplined Keep the toes there or for balance issues, right?

Slide the toes over to the right I'll try both and you'll see if you're watching it's pretty difficult The left arm up this is like a side plank modification also a half moon modification Draw your tailbone back engage belly Now if you begin to lift the left foot up It really does become quite a balancing pose Push through the left heel like you're pushing Deliberately through that heel and curling your left toes toward your shin or your left knee Take the gaze up if that's of interest to you And what I love about these poses is it requires so much focus and so many other body parts to be firing and moving To sustain the pose inhale lift up and open and exhale left foot down left hand down tabletop good job So I take one round of cat cow. I like to do that every time like kind of in between sides so go ahead and inhale your way into cow pose and exhale cat pose Pause and cat push into the center of your palms. This one. I'm kind of like Really into these days draw the tailbone down pull and like carve out as much space in the front of your body as you can Separate your shoulder blades in a good healthy way Good inhale back into flat back extend your right leg back this time Push like you mean it through that right heel like you really mean it Okay, left hand reach forward thumb straight up Even like kind of like send the left thumb over to the left That's a subtle little shoulder creates just a little more space between your shoulder and ear Okay, now lift your left right toes up get a little Archie in the back, right? Exhale need an elbow five times So it's need a elbow, but I want you to really push through that right hand pull the belly up. Just like cat pose Inhale send it long Exhale hug it in Two three more breathe in Exhale Inhale Exhale Last one breathe in Exhale extend it out breathe in bring the toes down bring the left hand down Right heel down. Same thing as the other side that those left toes can be used as support So use those toes as it's necessary for you Try drawing your right fingertips up along the back of your left leg Up alongside your left forearm like really tightly, right? So fingers up Across your shoulder left shoulder across your collarbones And then once you drag those fingertips across your right shoulder Then you let that right arm kind of come all the way up Find your positioning with the left foot that enables you to lift your right leg up off the mat for balance push your right heel to the Side wall or whatever is like push the heel and curl the right toes toward your shin really super active and If you can get active, this is a good one to like Feel when you drive through your heel whether it's here or on the ground or wherever I want you to get and Activate through your glute or glutes if it's both heels. All right, open up one more breath here and Exhale right hand comes down right knee another cat cow inhale and exhale Inhale flat back toes curled downward dog Take your right leg lift it up About hip height actually you don't really need to lift it that high breathe in as you exhale We did it on the mat before Knee to the inside of your right elbow or even like in the direction of your nose Try the nose might not touch. That's fine. Mine doesn't touch doesn't need to touch Come up onto those back toes. Pull that low belly in press into the center of your palms Inhale for four more Exhale squeeze it in get that full range of motion. Let it be that full finish every time Inhale for number three exhale number three Inhale number four Exhale number four Inhale number five exhale number five need a nose Inhale send it high good Downward dog take the right hand slide it center right side of the mat shift your heels over to the right side plank So your feet are staggering or Stacking in this case. I'm going to stagger my feet Make sure my right hand is below that right shoulder or slightly forward Press evenly into all five fingers of that right hand and lift the left Supporting yourself like the focal point might be in the low right side of your waist to help lift you Left hand comes down Good plank pose Set the knees down Five push-ups right nice and slow though breathe in breathe out keep drawing your tailbone back pull your belly in so this is just as much a core exercise as it is anything else to Exhale three Exhale four Exhale five good work tabletop downward dog Left leg lift it breathe in exhale need a nose So pull the belly up and in knee toward the nose up on the right toes Inhale send it hot exhale draw it in That's two inhale Exhale Three more three more or two more. Well, we'll do three more bonus exhale one Exhale to Inhale exhale three Good inhale send it high bring it back down shift your left hand left center of the mat heels to the left Good so one of the most important parts here is really making sure your your left shoulder It's doing a lot of work here. So make sure it's okay Don't let that left elbow kind of spin out draw your left elbow toward maybe your left foot That might help kind of like screw that left hand in as well Reach the right arm high. How's your breath? Low left waist kind of focus there a little bit Okay, breathe in exhale the right hand down With knees or without knees. We'll do five push-ups. Okay So as you breathe in you lower down halfway breathe out hug that belly up and in and push up There's one Exhale to Exhale three Exhale four good work. You've got this inhale exhale downward-facing dog Take a full complete breath Exhale Everything out Good work so far set your knees down sit on the heels for a moment Okay So this is like a little break for me a little break for you what we've got next right is A forearm plank and I'll talk you through it. This isn't like hold the forearm plank forever This is like short little spurts. Okay, so you might be holding it for about two breaths I'll talk you through the first You know two so we get in sync with one another and then the idea is to really fire through your elbows elbows to the toes toes to the elbows Springs all of the strength to the center of your body and you're going to shake and that's good All right, that means you're here. You're working. You're getting that 12-pack ab. I told you it's happening. Haha Well, do we even have 12? Yes, I think we do. All right, here we go friends friend Okay, forearm plank. This could be like your dreaded thing. You could be able to hold this forever. I don't know But let's see how it goes Okay First off bring those knees down drop your belly like you would a cow right cow pose But what I really want you to do here is draw your tailbone Back flatten out your back and hug those low abdominals in keep that as you send those legs straight For the first one, let's take a few like moments to cue pull your elbows to your toes and your toes to your elbows Like to the point of trembling that's what I want that's what I'm doing Breathe in as you exhale relax the knees down Breathe in exhale go lift the knees and elbows to the toes toes to the elbows fire This is number two of five breathe in exhale relax the knees down You could even let your belly sort of hang out breathe in and if you're watching I'm starting to exhale tailbone back belly in knees up Elbows to the toes toes to the elbows. I want you to really make good use of this time Exhale, relax two more breathe in exhale full engagement On your next exhale Relax, you've only got one more let your belly be lazy here Exhale Exhale Exhale Exhale Exhale Exhale Exhale Exhale tailbone back belly in and go for ten nine eight seven six Five keep going elbows to the toes toes to the elbows four three two Oh Sphinx pose, so Thighs hips belly down Sphinx can look a couple different ways elbows can be directly 90 degrees under the shoulders if that's too much on your low back. You take those elbows a little wider little more a little farther forward Whatever brings more of your stomach to the mat and releases any like genuinely like unnecessary tension your low back So even if it's here Here meaning like further on the belly arms further out maybe even resting your forehead on your hands So you choose between all of those options will stay here for another three breaths So you choose between all of those options will stay here for another three breaths So this is like through one more breath And then we're coming up into full plank and we've got one more like little thing here So finish your exhale and stay with me. It's just Ten times on each leg full plank mountain climbers. All right, then we come back to Sphinx pose and you are almost done So full plank So mountain climbers look like this right right knee on the inside of your right elbow left knee inside a left elbow That's one two two three three four we're going slow four five five keep pulling the belly up and in six six seven seven eight nine keep pressing into the center of your palms ten ten bonus round ten Ten you got this nine nine eight eight Seven it's not easy six Five four three two one Sphinx pose lower down with control if you can Sphinx pose Good work. I don't know if you can see but I'm sweating it's not easy But it's really important to stay like become more sort of engaged and understand how your core works, right? The benefits are strong back It basically I could go on and on which I won't it benefits your life good strong core benefits everything so Don't be afraid to get in there Okay, lower all the way down Child's pose hinge back Reach your seat back towards your heels In this one here because some of it was kind of shoulder-heavy reach back towards your heels and let your forehead draw down toward the mat Take a couple full conscious breaths Try to stay in a real like genuine positive state of mind if you know even if you were struggling You felt you know weak in a certain exercise you felt like so what you're here doing it and that really Makes all the difference showing up is everything right? And we have days that are better than others, but if we just keep showing up Keep giving it our best without sounding like cheesy like do your best right, but do it do your best It's gonna make a difference. It's gonna Think you get where I'm coming from Okay After child's pose right Let's take one minute together to relax okay, so come to your back lie down on your back When you land When you land You may do that right you may have that feeling of exhaling and releasing All of that effort Back of the neck is long Your heartbeat might still be sort of pumping a little bit right So You may need to make a concerted effort to draw some long exhalations out of the body If you pay close enough attention And if you can feel the heart rate You might even feel it likes begin to slow Maybe may take you longer It may already be relaxed Try to get to the like the next three or four breaths zero muscular effort in your body You don't need to try It's actually pretty difficult. Some of us are gonna be lying here trying to relax, but we just can't give it two more breaths Give yourself two more breaths of full relaxation Now together you and I breathe in deeply Exhale as much as you can Draw the knees into the chest Stretch out the little bit of breath Draw the knees into the chest stretch out the low back and then roll up So Whoo That was great twelve pack or no twelve pack you could have a two pack you could have a zero pack It really doesn't matter what I can see or anybody can see it's really like genuinely All I care about is that you have a sense of understanding of how to engage your core protect your spine Move from your core. All right, we'll keep it at that if the 12 pack half app 12 pack happens That's kind of a bonus. So thank you Have an awesome beautiful gorgeous day. See you next time

Comments

Ana S
1 person likes this.
I love it. Fill you up with energy. Thank you Robert.
Robert Sidoti
Thanks Ana!
Joan J
1 person likes this.
Love your sessions, this is a great core workout. First half was wonderful, second half I have problems with wrist pain and holding myself up so long. It also compresses my low back, much as I try to keep it supported Do you have any options for the latter poses that won't hurt my wrists and back, but not compromise the core work? Thank you Robert
Robert Sidoti
Hi Joan ! Thanks for your comment and question! As hard as we try with some poses, it can be so difficult NOT to compress low back, the wrists can also be challenging too! Let me take a look at the sequence and message you back with some options, suggestions and modifications that could help:)
Robert Sidoti
Hello again Joan .... the best 'virtual/online' suggestion I can give would be to do most of your core work on your back. This will eliminate all of the wrist and low back compression, generally speaking. So in this sequence specifically you can simply repeat the movements on your back a few times, rather than moving into the planks etc... The forearm planking might be ok though because you are not on your wrists, just be sure to keep pelvis in neutral position so not to compress. Hope this is helpful and thank you for hanging out with me!!
Joan J
1 person likes this.
Hi Robert, I appreciate your help and suggestions with this practice. I will follow your suggestions and keep working on building up my strength. Many thanks, be well.
Robert Sidoti
Hi Joan ! Maybe there are specific videos on Yoga Anytime that focus on wrist stretching/strengthening? Could be worth some investigation for you:) Maybe Kira or YA team can suggest?? Keep me posted!
Marty M
1 person likes this.
Great core and shoulder workout. My upper body feels great and I’m in high spirits following this session! Thank you Robert!
Ch Marie d’I
It feels great afterwards ;) and even better after a lazy day Thank you
Joy E
1 person likes this.
I love this one. Still struggling with push ups but will keep working on it.
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