This month, Cosmo has Jessica Biel, one of my favorite actresses (make that actresses’s bodies) on the cover. One of the reasons I love her is Blade Trinity, a terrible, terrible B-grade film, with some of the most awesome DVD extras ever, including the training regime she and Ryan Reynolds went through to get their incredible bods. Oh, and it’s got Triple H in it too, but now I’m digressing …
The cover promises “How to get everything you want … a flatter tummy (no crunches, promise)” - that’s a good start. Let’s check out the inside.
Pg 50 - News Alert - the comfort foods that make you SKINNY
Another article about GI factor of some of your favorite foods, and how to change high GI’s to lower, more sustained energy just by making a few simple changes. Foods included are porridge, pasta, pizza, potato and dessert. There’s nothing on that list I don’t love, so I have to give this article a big thumbs up, and **** Great reading for a long checkout line, but also worthwhile taking home and following the advice.
Pg 154 - Get a sexy stomach (no crunches required)
Some challenging ab exercises and good dietary advice add up to a good rating for this article. As always, I have to find some kind of fault with it, and this time, it’s the lack of advice about relaxing your neck when doing a couple of these exercises. Leg walks and hip thrusts are really tough exercises, and unless you’ve done a lot of conditioning, you’re going to find your neck wants to tense up, and you’ll probably want to hold your breath - don’t! Start off doing mini versions until you’re strong enough to do something more difficult. The advice for leg walks is to add some 500g weights to your legs later - I think this is really bad for your lower back, and would just suggest slowing the exercise down and doing less repetitions. When your leg is kept straight, putting extra weight on the end of such a long lever is asking for trouble.
The photograph for the ball pike shows the model tilting her lower back in the start position, which isn’t good for your back. This is a super advanced exercise, and if you’re going to do it, try to find a mirror you can use to monitor your posture to avoid the same kind of tilt. You need to aim for a flat back, rather than the tilt and slightly rounded shoulders you’re seeing here.
With proper technique, these exercises are great. If you belong to a gym, get an instructor to show you how to do them safely and properly, and don’t go crazy trying to do the toughest version first.
Exercises **** Advice **.5
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