By Leo Pinto, Personal Trainer

With the arrival of the spring, it’s noticeable a significant increase of member usage and heavier traffic in local gyms and health clubs – current and new members are working hard to obtain their desired bathing suit summer body . During this time of the year It’s very hard to book sessions with good trainers or even to get a decent spot on competitive group fitness classes.

In order to design the most effective and efficient fitness program is important to define clear goals. A lot of times members know what they want but usually they have no clue how to get to it.

One of the most frequent questions I hear from new members at the gym is, ” hey Leo what do I need to do to get rid of my muffin tops?” (or gut, belly, stomach and similar terms for the abdominal area) – My general answer is: ” proper eating and targeted cardiovascular exercise are the most effective way to lose inches off of your waist line.” Once they listen to my response they almost immediately reply:” What about crunches? Are they any good?” – my response: ” crunches are a good exercise to strengthening your core but NOT necessarily effective to burn off abdominal fat”.

I include several core training exercises on my clients exercise programs – the benefits of working your abdominal muscles are numerous: it improves balance and posture which helps preventing lower back pain and injury – Although crunches are one of the most popular core exercises – there are many other great exercises for core training.

For beginners, I suggest a simple core strengthening program I list it below ( number of sets, reps, time and order of exercises can be adjusted depending of member fitness level) – new members should look for assistance and guidance for proper execution.

– 3 sets of 45 seconds holding planks
– 3 sets of 20 1/2 crunches
– 3 sets of 30 seconds mountain climbers
– 3 sets of 15 side bends

These exercises are simple, effective and cover all the areas of your abdominal section – but my recommendation is to hire a Personal Trainer to assist in customize a fitness program to fit specific needs so members can maximize their gains by performing exercises correctly. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. Always here to serve.