EXERCISE #1 - The Scarlett O'Hara

(No Graphics will show the work being done in this particular exercise because it is
all internal. Graphics do accompany all other exercises.)
PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on the floor on your back; allow your back to assume its natural curve
and do not try to flatten it to the floor during this exercise.
2. Extend your legs forward, rest them on the floor and relax them. Keep them
relaxed.
3. Place your right hand behind your head, your left hand on your lower abs (to be
sure the abs do not "pop up" when you do the actual exercise.
EXECUTION:
1. Inhale deeply.
2. Exhale half the air, then lift your shoulders only halfway off the floor, chin lifted,
and hold. Hold your breath if possible, although you may breathe shallowly if
necessary.
3. Now, here is the important part: contract your waistline in toward the midline of
your torso, feeling the contraction longitudinally all the way from the lowest rib to
your pubic bone and laterally from hip bone to hip bone.
4. Hold the contraction tightly for a full 20 seconds if possible, then release and relax.
5. Repeat 4 more times or more, if you are so inclined.
NOTE: People with high blood pressure will not want to build up intra-thoracic
pressure by holding the breath, so they should take tiny, shallow breaths instead of
holding their breath.
NOTE #2: Remember that this contraction is mostly lateral, not mostly longitudinal;
it goes from the sides of your waist inward, like someone lacing up a tight corset. Be
sure to feel the contraction lower in the abdomen, not just at the waistline, and note
that the nature of this contraction is progressive; it increases as you tighten up the
waistline. You should feel a decided contraction low in the abdomen along with the
waistline contraction. Work hard at it.
EXERCISE #2 - The Spastic Butterfly

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back on the floor.
2. Bring your legs up off the floor, bent at a 90-degree angle.
3. Place your arms down at your sides, straight, palms-down, about 4" above the floor.
4. Place your lower back tightly to the floor.
EXECUTION:
1. Inhale deeply.
2. Exhale and raise the shoulders halfway up off the floor, chin tucked in and hold.
Breathe slowly.
3. In this position, contract the transverse abs again as in the Scarlett O'Hara, pulling
the navel down toward the spine.
4. Now begin "fluttering" your arms up and down in about a 4" range of motion, fullarm movement, not just the wrists. The hands shouldn't come off the floor more than
4" or so.
5. Hold this position while "fluttering" - to fatigue, breathing in 4 counts, out 4 counts.
6. Repeat once again to fatigue.
NOTE: If you think that the "fluttering" is useless, try it without it and you will
instantly notice the difference.

EXERCISE #3 - The Basement Crunch

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your side. Bring knees up into a fetal position.
2. Place hands behind your head, elbows flared out. Keep elbows out during the
execution.
3. Turn your upper body toward your top hip.
EXECUTION:
1. Inhale deeply.
2. Exhale half the air and lift bottom shoulder off floor and hold. Hold your breath.
3. Lifting your bottom shoulder toward the top hip, in this position once again contract
the transverse abs as in the Scarlett O'Hara, bending ever-so-slightly forward and hold
the position for 10 seconds.

4. Release, relax, let breathing return to normal, then repeat 3 more times that side.
5. Repeat on the other side.

EXERCISE #4 - The Superman Sling

PREPARATION:
1. Lie on your stomach, arms extended forward like Superman flying (beginners place
your arms at your sides. Intermediate, place arms out like airplane wings)
2. Separate your feet by about 8-10" and keep your toes on the floor during execution.
EXECUTION:
1. Inhale deeply.

2. Exhaling, squeeze your gluteals (buttocks) and raise your upper torso along with
your arms and head.

3. Hold the position for 10 seconds, breathing shallowly.

4. Repeat 5 more times.
NOTE: During the execution of this move, you will notice that your abdomen wants
to pop outward into the floor. You will resist this temptation and pull your abs back in,
doing the Scarlett O'Hara contraction of the transverse abdominals while doing these
back extensor strengtheners.
COMMENTS: This last exercise is mostly for torso and back stabilization, as it is
unwise to work only the abs without working the back extensors which the Superman
Sling will do.

EXERCISE #5 - The Dead Bug

PREPARATION:
1. Lie on your back and bring your knees up to your chest.
2. Place straightened arms overhead resting on the floor.
3. Flatten your back to the floor very firmly and don't allow it to rise up. This is
preparation.

EXECUTION:
1. In slow-motion extend your left leg toward the floor, straightening it while at the
same time bringing your left arm so that it follows the left leg.

2. When both the left leg and left arm are extended fully, toes and fingers as close to
the floor as possible (and your back still FLATTENED), just hold the position,
breathing shallowly if necessary, for about 10 seconds. Then begin to exchange sides,
bringing the left leg back into preparation position and the same with the left arm.
Do the same thing on the right side with the right limbs.

Done slowly, you will find that in order to keep your back totally flat on the floor, the
transverse abdominals must work extremely hard. Do as many as you can, but do
them very slowly, almost exaggeratedly slowly, and keep breathing.

EXERCISE #6 - The Piston

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back, back pressed tightly to floor where it will stay during the
entire
exercise.
2. Knees draw in toward chest, both hands in back of head - don't pull on your neck.
3. Lift shoulders and hold.
EXECUTION:
1. Very slowly extend left leg to parallel to floor and hold 10 seconds.
2. Very slowly reverse the legs. You may find yourself panting but that is normal. This
is hard work done properly (keeping the back on the floor) but it is extremely
effective.
3. Do 5 each leg.

This is a variation of an old exercise except that the old version was done very fast
with a torso twist. This one is done in slow-motion with no torso twisting, and the
major focus is keeping the back flattened so that the abdominals have to work hard to
do so.

EXERCISE #7 - The Open Book ( perfect form is

required, no deviations!!)
PREPARATION:
1. Lie on your back on the floor or other hard surface.
2. Raise legs and arms directly overhead, all four sets of digits pointing to the ceiling,
palms face each other.
3. Head rests on the floor, BACK STAYS GLUED TO THE FLOOR DURING THE
ENTIRE NEXT PHASE!

EXECUTION:
1. Slowly open limbs out to the sides, like opening the covers of a book.
2. Slowly bring them back to starting position, like closing the covers of a book.
3. Slowly lower all four limbs down the FRONT, arms parallel the legs, but stop when
legs are
NO LOWER THAN 45 degrees from the floor.

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4. The back must remain absolutely flat on the floor for this to work the abdominals
without engaging the rectus abdominis, something traditional situps do but that YOU
don't want to do here.
5. Hold the position, breathing, for about 10 seconds, then slowly lift limbs back to
starting position and do the "open book" part again.
6. Do 6.
NOTE: Limbs should not lower any further in front than 45 degrees off the floor. If
your back begins to rise up off the floor, raise your legs higher to flatten the back. It
will vary from person to person; weak abs and back may only be able to support the
legs 70-80 degrees off the floor for the 10 seconds. Strength should be built over
time. During the time the legs are held in lowered position, the transversus abs are
working very hard.

EXERCISE #8 - The Parallel Point

(An advanced move, for those who have been doing #1-7 for at least a month)
PREPARATION:
1. Sit on the floor with your arms extended diagonally forward and upward, palms
down.
2. Place your feet on the floor, knees bent.
EXECUTION:
1. Leaning back slightly, lift the right leg up (straight) so that the tops of both thighs
are level with each other.

2. At this point, the lifted leg and the arms parallel each other.
3. Hold the position, breathing normally, or you may find yourself panting, which is
all right.
4. Hold for 20 seconds, then switch.

Beginner Level
NOTE: If your torso is already very strong, raise both bent legs at the same time and
hold to fatigue. Keep the back rounded backward just a bit.

Intermediate Level

Advanced Level

For the very advanced, raise both straightened legs. Be sure to keep the back rounded
out a bit.

EXERCISE #9 - The Wish Bone

(This is another advanced move and takes practice in order to maintain balance so
don't give up.
Just be careful that if you roll backward, you don't hit your head on anything.)
PREPARATION:

1. Sit on the floor, shoes off, soles of feet touching, legs bent.
2. Grasp all the toes of each foot with the same-side hand, palms down.

EXECUTION:
1. Slowly, trying to maintain balance, extend first one leg out to the side, then the
other.
NOTE: Beginners, keep one foot on the floor and extend only one leg out instead of
both at the same time.
2. Hold this arms-and-legs-open position and notice the abdominals working to keep
you balanced on your buttocks.

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NOTE: If you cannot reach your toes, grasp your calves underhanded instead.

EXERCISE #10 - The Oblique Squeeze

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back, extend legs forward, relaxed, feet fall open.
2. Place hands behind head.

EXECUTION:
1. Inhale deeply. Exhaling, slowly lift your right shoulder up off the floor.
2. While lifting, bring the REAR of the right rib cage toward the FRONT of your
RIGHT hip, NOT toward your left hip.

3. Think about squeezing the front of your lowest right ribs toward the front of your
right hip bone. (This sounds contradictory but you are doing two things at once:
lifting from the BACK of the rib cage while at the same time squeezing the lowermost
ribs in the front, trying to "touch" the ribs toward the hip. It takes concentration.)
4. Hold the position for 20 seconds, breathing.
5. Do 6 on each side, alternating sides.

Exercise #11 - The Frog (Again, your back

must stay perfectly flat on the
floor!)
PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back, one hand behind head, the other on abs.
2. Knees pull into chest.
3. Open knees and touch toes together.
4. Flatten back to the floor tightly and KEEP IT THERE.
EXECUTION:
1. With back remaining flattened, drop navel down toward spine and keep it there.

2. Slowly, and without unbending knees, lower the feet toward the floor without
actually touching the floor, as far down as possible and hold for 30 seconds, breathing
normally.

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Aerial View

3. With one hand, poke around in your abdominal area and notice that your abdominal
muscles, especially at the waistline, are working very hard to keep the back flattened.
4. Return the knees to starting position, take a deep breath and repeat, holding each
"Frog" for 30 seconds.

EXERCISE # 12 - The Star Gazer (for the

external and internal obliques)
PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back with your right leg fully extended but NOT resting on the
floor.
2. Bring left knee to chest and hold it there.
3. Place left hand behind head.
4. Drop navel in toward the spine and hold it there.
5. Reach toward the ceiling with your right arm.
EXECUTION:
1. Lift the head and your entire right scapula (shoulder blade) and back of rib cage
straight up toward the ceiling and HOLD. Don't "twist" the torso: lift straight upward
instead.

2. While doing this, angle only the arm gently toward your midline and on a very
slight diagonal across the navel. Hold it there with the shoulder still lifted directly
upward.
3. You will be "balanced" on your LEFT shoulder blade.

4. Hold position for at least 20 seconds, breathing (pant if necessary)

5. Switch sides. Do 3 on each side.

EXERCISE # 13 - The Side Scissors

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back with all four limbs straight up in the air.
2. With limbs straight, cross them over each other and hold.

3. Lower both legs and arms forward no lower than about 60 degrees off the floor and
hold.
EXECUTION:
1. Very slowly, open the limbs, uncrossing them, as far as they will go.

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2. Very slowly, close them again.

3. Repeat 8x, taking a full 5-6 seconds for each movement.
NOTE: It is extremely important that you keep your back flat on the floor and your
navel
pulled in toward your spine the entire time you do the following exercise. If you find
you
cannot yet do this without your back rising up from the floor, do the Scarlett O'Hara's
and The
Frog for about a month before trying this one again.

EXERCISE # 14 The Front Scissors

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back with your left leg straight up and your right leg parallel to the floor
(don't rest the leg on the floor).
2. Place your left arm overhead almost resting on the floor, your right arm down at your side,
paralleling the right leg.

EXECUTION:
1. Very slowly (take a full 10 seconds), lower the left leg and left arm to match the position of the
right limbs while exchanging sides so that now the right limbs are in the "preparation position
#1, a "scissoring" movement.
2. Reverse without stopping, taking a full 10 seconds for each exchange.

Exercise: #15 - The Twisted Frog

PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your back, hands behind head.
2. Knees pull into chest.
3. Open knees and touch toes together.
4. Flatten back to the floor tightly and keep it there.
5. Lift the shoulders off the floor only halfway as far as you can really lift.
6.With back remaining flattened to the floor, drop navel down toward spine and keep
it there.
EXECUTION:
1. Slowly, and without unbending knees, lower the feet toward the floor without
actually touching the floor, as far down as possible and hold, breathing normally.
2. Meanwhile, while "hovering" the toes only about 1" above the floor and with
shoulders slightly lifted as in #5 (preparation) and with your back glued to the floor,
lift the right shoulder blade off the floor and hold for 20 seconds.
3. Without permitting yourself to lower your shoulders all the way down to the floor,
reverse the shoulder lift, doing the right on this time and again, hold for 20 seconds.
4. Repeat twice more on each side.

Exercise #16 - The Flying "X" (For the back

extensors, and secondarily, the transversus
abs)
PREPARATION:
1. Lie down on your stomach on a mat or something firm, not on the bed.
2. Place all four limbs out to the diagonal so that if viewed from overhead, your body
would resemble the letter, "X".
3. Place forehead on the floor.
4. Take a deep inhalation, squeeze the gluteals very tightly.
EXECUTION:
1. Exhaling, lift all four limbs up off the floor along with your head and HOLD the
position for 20 seconds, breathing, and pulling the abdominals back up toward your
spine as you "hold".

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2. Release and repeat two more times.

3. When finished, roll over onto your back, pull your knees into your chest and hold
(stretching the spine). Release knees and relax.

Exercise #17 - Rollbacks and Rollups

PREPARATION:
1. Sit on the floor, knees bent, feet on the floor.

2. Round the back, tuck chin into chest and reach arms forward with a slight upward
rise.
3. Pull navel to spine.

START

EXECUTION:
1. One vertebrae at a time, roll very slowly backward.
2. Try not to "flop" onto the floor. BREATHE!
3. Roll very slowly all the way back to a prone position.
4. Inhale deeply when you are lying flat, then exhaling, then begin slowly rising.
Don't use momentum to bring yourself back up; use your hands to pull up if
necessary.

5. Tuck chin in, hold legs under knees (if necessary), and slowly begin coming back to
starting position, keeping feet on the floor.
6. Repeat twice more without stopping.
NOTE: These rollbacks and rollups should be done very slowly. Try not to use
momentum as you rise up.

Exercise #18 - The Oblique Bug

PREPARATION:

1. Lie down on your back on a hard surface.

2. Extend your left leg fully paralleling the floor, but don't let it actually touch the
floor.
3. Pull right leg to chest and hold it there.
4. Place hands behind head.
5. Lift shoulders ONLY halfway up.
6. Pull navel to spine and hold it there. Breathe!
EXECUTION:
1. Now touch the right elbow to the left knee and hold for 20 seconds.

2. Keeping navel pulled in toward spine, reverse sides, touching left elbow to left knee
and hold
3. Repeat once again each side.

Exercise #19 - The V-Twist

PREPARATION:

1. Sit on the floor, feet on the floor, knees bent.

2. Arms reach forward.
3. Lift feet off floor and parallel the shins to the ceiling.
EXECUTION:

1. Pulling the navel tightly toward the spine, hold the lift for 20 seconds.
2. Now swing the arms right and the knees left and HOLD for 20 seconds.
3. Come back to center and HOLD for 20 seconds.
4. Swing arms left and knees right and hold for 20 seconds.
5. Repeat the sequence one more time.
NOTE: Again, think, "Navel to spine!" This is important.

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Exercise #20 - The Tweezer

PREPARATION:
NOTE: The only difference between this and #9, The Wish Bone, is that this one is
dynamic (in motion), while the Wish Bone is static (still).
1. Balance yourself, sitting up, on your bottom with all four limbs not touching the
floor.
2. Cross your ankles and your wrists.

EXECUTION:
1. Still balanced, slowly open legs and arms out to the sides.
2. Come back to starting position, and repeat to fatigue.

Exercise #21 - The Rope Pull

PREPARATION:
1. Balance yourself, sitting up, on your bottom with right leg extended, left knee
pulled in toward the chest.
2. Right arm up reaches diagonally forward and up toward the ceiling.
3. Left arm "pulls" down.

EXECUTION:
1. Pretend your arms are pulling on a rope suspended from the ceiling in a hand-overhand movement.
2. Exchange the position of the legs for each change of arms.
3. At no time does either foot touch the floor nor do you roll backward onto your
back.

4. Tempo of the leg changes should be "one-one thousand, two-one thousand, threeone thousand";
i.e., not fast, not slow ------- to fatigue.
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU'RE ON YOUR WAY TO A FLATTER ABDOMEN & A NARROWER
WAISTLINE
REMINDER: Choose only 3 daily and do them exclusively for a month. Please avoid
situps, crunches and reverse crunches during this time - you will find that your
waistline is narrowed, your abdominal area is flatter and your abdominal strength,
good for holding in the abs while doing your daily functioning, is greatly enhanced.