2019-08-01_Men_s_Health_South_Africa

106 MH.CO.ZA/ August 2019

THE LAPTOP MARTYR

HOURS BENT OVER YOUR DESK WILL LEAVE YOU WITH BAD

POSTURE AND A WEAK CORE. YOU WON’T SEE YOUR ABS UNTIL

YOU IRON OUT THE KINKS, SAYS PT DAVID BIRTWISTLE.

THE DIAGNOSIS

Exaggerated Kyphosis

BY WHICH WE MEAN

Your shoulders are

hunched

THE DIAGNOSIS

Scapular Protraction

BY WHICH WE MEAN

Your pecs are in knots

THE DIAGNOSIS

Hyperlordosis

BY WHICH WE MEAN

Tight hips and weak abs

FIX IT Boost your mobility to

help your abs pop. Lie with

your knees bent, a foam roller

across your shoulders beneath

you and a bar held behind your

head. As you push with your

legs, push the roller down your

back and up again for three

minutes. Feel the stretch.

FIX IT Releasing your tight pecs

will improve your posture, giving

you a flatter stomach. Align the

roller with your spine. Lower your

hips to stretch your abs. Grab

two light dumbbells behind your

head for 30 seconds, then arc

them around to your hips and

hold again. Repeat.

FIX IT Use this to stretch out

your abs and hips, shortened by

hours at your desk. In a lunge

position, with one knee on the

floor, tilt your pelvis under and

slowly push your hips forward,

squeezing your glutes and lifting

your arms overhead. Do five slow

pulses, breathing out as you

push forward.

THE WEEKDAY AUTO-BRO

HITTING THE GYM FIVE TIMES A WEEK IS OF LIMITED USE IF YOU’RE JUST

GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS. MIX THINGS UP FOR NOTICEABLE DEFINITION.

Monday

ABS

Tuesday

SPRINTS

Friday

SPRINTS

Sunday

REST

Wednesday

STABILITY

Saturday

STABILITY

Thursday

ABS

YOUR CORE FINISHERS

Most of us have a default workout. A run, a stretch, a few minutes on the bench... But if you keep doing

the same old thing, you’ll go on seeing the same old results. PT Courtney Fearon, AKA “The HIITman”,

has drafted a one-week regimen that’s certain to shock your muscles. Run through your usual moves if

you want to; but end each session with one of these 20-minute core-sculptors, and you can’t go wrong.

On these days,

perform a circuit

of tough, targeted

moves such as leg raises,

oblique twists, abs wheel

rollouts and mountain

climbers.

Push through

intensive intervals

with short work

periods and long rests

to shed extra fat. Use a

treadmill, Assault bike or

SkiErg machine.

Strengthen your

deep core on

these days with

a combination of plank

variations, weighted dead

bugs, bird dogs and pull-

downs.

KEY