FIT FASHI O N Sweaty Betty sports bra ($65, sweatybetty.com). Monreal London shorts ($75, trendysportsusa.com). Flat ABS Carved CORE Tight LEGS This routine is sculpting gold: eight supermoves that give your belly never-before levels of gorgeous definition and build a body that won’t quit. By Jaclyn Emerick /// Photographs by Rony Shram
Abs tend to get all the attention in the gym because a sculpted set is undeniably sexy. But smart exercisers know not to stop there. When you strengthen your entire core—even smaller muscles, like the serratus anterior in the rib cage—you’ll not only earn the flattest belly of your life but also immeasurably improve the way you feel and move. Here’s why: Whenever you make a movement— jump, squat, walk—your abs, obliques, and lower back turn on to initiate that motion. In fact, your core fires a split second faster than your legs and arms. “It transfers force from your lower body to your upper body and vice versa,” says Joshua Lipsey, a celebrity trainer and the creator of the 12 Weeks Slimmer workout and nutrition plan. “The stronger your core, the more efficient the rest of your body can be.” To put it in perspective, if you’re a runner, a strong core will help you run faster and for longer distances while reducing the impact your spine takes each time you stride; if you play tennis or do kickboxing, you’ll have better coordination and rotational power. And by shifting your reps to firm all your trunk muscles, Lipsey says, you’ll create the beautiful lines and contours in your entire midsection that may have been eluding you. At the heart of Lipsey’s signature Transcoremation formula is making sure you challenge your nervous system. Yep, the network of nerve cells and fibers that sends impulses around your body. Do complex and explosive movements, Lipsey says, and you’ll light up your nervous system to alert many muscles to get to work, helping you to burn more calories and strengthen more muscles. “For example, if you do a single-leg burpee, you’re not only training your core to withstand high forces applied at high speeds,” he says, but the move itself also nails the sweet-spot combination of coordination, strength, and power that will challenge your muscles—and nervous system—to the max. Lipsey’s incredibly cre ative, core-blasting exercises are true nervous system twisters—they call for you to move through multiple planes of motion, often one limb or one side of the body at a time. “Every move in this workout requires the ability to create power or to stabilize, and that all starts in your core,” Lipsey says. “By adding unilateral [that is, one-sided] exercises, you prevent asymmetries to give your body a balanced look.” That means that unlike with a lot of other core workouts, you’ll definitely feel this one all over, especially deep in your quads and hamstrings. (Lipsey emphasizes working those two muscles in tandem “because having better intermuscular coordination, which is the coordination between different muscles in your body, will make you stronger and allow you to move more fluidly.”) Plus, the same balancechallenge moves recruit an alphabet soup of smaller supporting leg muscles that give juice to every stride. Showing these muscles some workout love can also make your legs appear longer and leaner. “They produce beautiful contours and shadows and improve your posture,” he says. Now it’s your turn to get all these perks. Here’s how it works: You’ll focus on your lower body, then upper body, then core, and alternate doing a static move with a dynamic move. “This specific order serves to activate the nervous system and to work fasttwitch muscle fibers [the ones used to power you through quick explosive movements] simultaneously,” Lipsey says. “This primes you for rebuilding strong, lean muscle and burning calories as fast as possible.” As mentioned, your metabolism will be running hot during this routine, but if you want to turn up your calorie burn even more, earn it: Move quickly from exercise to exercise. “Eliminating rest forces your structural muscles to stay engaged and also recruits more muscles, which ultimately boosts your calorie burn during the workout,” Lipsey says. “Also, increasing the speed of your transitions puts more stress on your smaller and supportive muscles rather than the bigger ones,” he says. “This will build your core from the inside out.” Ready to give it a try? All (nervous) systems go. <strong>SHAPE</strong>.COM <strong>OCTOBER</strong> <strong>2016</strong> 41
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