5 Crunches Alternatives to Get Your Abs Ready For The Beach

If your weight room sessions these days consist of you plodding through the exact same regimen that consists of the exact same sequence of exercises that you cooked up way back in high school, here is your chance to incorporate some badly-needed variety in your life. Today: CRUNCHES. Here's how to get the abs of your dreams, according to a few of our favorite trainers.

Idalis Velazquez: Hollow body crunch

The hollow body position involves bracing your abs and creating total-body tension, which is a more effective way and functional way of training your abs than traditional crunches. Start by laying out flat on the mat, and, while keeping your lower back on the floor, tuck in your ribs and raise your shoulders and legs off the exercise mat at the same time. Imagine pulling your belly button into your spine. Hold for one second, and then bring your knees and elbows together, holding that position for an additional second. Aim to complete 3 sets of 10-20 repetitions.

Ben Booker: Hanging knee raises.

Hanging on a pull-up bar, arms straight, and raise your knees high as you can towards your chin. Don’t swing—controlling the motion like this recruits the obliques and other stabilizer muscles, which demands tremendous core strength. For additional variety, add a twist at the top of the motion, or if you dare, try to get your toes all the day to the bar.

Jay Cardiello: Knee presses.

Try an isometric exercise for a change of pace in your core routine. Lay flat on floor with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle and your shins off the ground and parallel to floor. Place your palms on top of knees, and press into your knees as hard as possible, while also driving your knees upwards toward your chin. Keep your lower back flat on floor, and imagine pressing your stomach up towards the ceiling. Maintain the position for 30 seconds, and then release.

Gideon Akande: Reverse crunch.

Most people mentally check out after just a few crunches, but reversing the motion is a great way to refocus your attention. Start on your back with your knees bent in a sit-up position. Glue your heels to your butt and lift your hips over your head. The challenge, though, is returning to the starting position as slowly as you can. The only way that happens is to engage the lower abs and maintaining control throughout the movement, like so.

Alexia Clark: Medicine ball engaged crunch.

Lay on your back and squeeze a medicine ball between your forearm and your thigh. Use your core to hold the ball in place while keeping your leg at a 90 degree angle, as demonstrated here. Raise the opposite leg up and down, performing 15-20 reps on each side. This exercise requires your core to do multiple things at once, maximizing calorie burn and promoting extreme muscle confusion.

Secret Health Tips Celeb Trainers Swear By

From Instagram to the red carpet, celebrities like Heidi Klum are totally nailing it in the hot bod department. We're sure this supermodel learned a thing or two about striking the perfect pose on the catwalk of countless Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows, but the real secret comes from working with A-list personal trainers that know all the ingredients for achieving a flawless physique. 

While I won't be walking down a runway any time soon, I'm always looking for ways to improve my fitness, and what better place to go for advice than the experts themselves! 

Here are 5 health secrets some of Hollywood's top personal trainers swear by.

Water is king

We've all heard that drinking eight glasses of water can help us prevent dehydration and flush unnecessary toxins from our systems. But according to FitFusion trainer Andrea Orbeck, who's worked with celebs like Heidi Klum, water is also crucial for keeping our bodies in prime shape. In fact, Orbeck told me she downs "at least half a gallon of water" every single day. 

H20 is also on the list of daily essentials for celebrity trainer Reggie Chambers, whose A-list clientele includes stars like Christina Ricci and Allison Williams  of HBO's Girls. "I drink tons of water," Reggie told me in an interview. "Most people don't realize how much water the body needs."

Sip some green tea

When he's not drinking water, Chambers says he'll often enjoy some green tea on most days. "Green tea increases your metabolism and the caffeine improves your endurance and helps you work out longer," he told me. 

Green tea can also be a great option for anyone actively trying to reduce their daily caffeine intake. While green tea isn't completely caffeine free, it does contain less caffeine than your average cup of coffee or espresso, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Abs are made in the kitchen

While planks and V-ups are certainly great ways to tone your midsection, Orbeck says that eating poorly will almost always sabotage the work you put in at the gym. When I asked her if the average person needed to spend hours at the gym to achieve a fit body, she said, "It depends on how much time they spend in the kitchen eating horribly." 

She explains that when you eat healthy, there's no need to kill yourself at the gym for hours every day. "If you eat 80% of your meals with clean and lean in mind, you can spend less than an hour [exercising], 3 to 4 days a week, as long as you train hard, smart and efficient."

Some food just isn't worth the calories

With a hot body comes great responsibility. Sure, we'd all like to think that it's possible to have six-pack abs and eat whatever we want, but unfortunately, that's just not the way it works. The truth is that there are certain foods super-fit celebs — and their trainers — just won't touch, no matter how yummy and tempting them may seem.

Chambers, for example, told me he avoids milkshakes at all costs. "Too many calories, not enough nutrients," he told me. For Orbeck, it's fast food. "Anything prepared by the restaurant with the golden arches sign: never!"

Hello, plyo

From Yoga to kickboxing, there are no shortage of options when it comes to getting our sweat on. And while any physical activity is better than nothing, Orbeck explains that certain exercises are more effective than others, especially when you're short on time.

"Quick combinations of weighted squats with anything plyometric or high intensity heart rate work," she told me, when I asked about her favorite quick workout routines. "It's astonishing how you can end up in a pool of sweat in less than 10 minutes when you ask your legs to perform heavy and fast movements."