July 2, 2009 by beautybrief
Filed under Fitness
Crunchless Abs is an exercise program created by registered nurse Linda LaRue that is based on various Pilates movements that directly target the entire abdominal core without including a single crunch. According to LaRue, the problem with regular crunches is that they only target a couple of muscles in your core and there are many more muscles that get completely ignored. To achieve toned and flat abdominals you need to target all the muscles that wrap around the entire core including the upper, lower, side obliques and even the lower back.
There are a series of Crunchless Abs workouts that you can choose to purchase online or over the phone individually or as a kit. Here we will review the kit that includes 3 Crunchless Abs workouts on one DVD and the Crunchless Abs Program Guide.
The DVD begins with an introduction by Linda LaRue where she explains the breathing techniques and the neutral spine alignment which are important to maintain throughout each exercise. The Crunchless Abs workouts 1, 2 & 3, are hosted by fitness instructor Tracy Mallet and each one is about 10 minutes long. You only need a towel and a chair for the workouts, which is nice because you don’t need to purchase any additional equipment, and since the workouts are so short you can easily squeeze them into a busy schedule.
Also included in with the DVD is Linda LaRue’s “SOUPer Slim Meal Plan”. This diet plan consists of eating three meals and two snacks a day and emphasizes the importance of including protein in every meal and only eating “good carbs”. The unique aspect of this diet is that you are advised to eat a cup of one of LaRue’s homemade soups before every meal (except breakfast). The intention of this is to give you a “full” feeling sooner when eating your regular meals, and that way you end up eating less and consuming fewer calories overall. There are four different soup recipes included in the guide.
Crunchless Abs gives you a good workout in a short amount of time and the exercises are easy to follow and learn. I would recommend them to someone who is more experienced, has been working out for awhile and is looking for a more advanced abdominal workout. Some of the moves may be difficult for someone who is just beginning to exercise.
