Summary

The article suggests using morning bed exits as an opportunity to engage in exercises that strengthen the abdominal muscles, proposing four progressive forms of sit-ups to perform upon waking.

Abstract

The article "One Trick to Improve Your Abs Before You Even Get Out of Bed" presents a method to incorporate abdominal exercises into the morning routine. It recommends performing a sit-up using only the abs to transition from lying down to sitting up in bed, with four variations of difficulty. The first form involves no arm or leg support, while subsequent forms offer increased support by bending knees, using leg momentum, or incorporating arm swings. The author, Dash Ip, shares that this practice is part of his own morning routine and contributes to maintaining his six-pack abs, though he acknowledges it as a maintenance habit rather than the sole cause of his toned physique. He also advises readers to progress through the forms gradually and not to be hard on themselves if they need to use easier forms on certain days.

Opinions

The author believes that the morning transition from lying to sitting in bed is an untapped opportunity for abdominal exercise.
He suggests that this exercise habit can aid in the journey towards stronger abs, complementing other fitness advice and routines.
The author is confident that with consistent practice, individuals will be able to progress through the less challenging forms to the most difficult one.
He emphasizes that this habit is part of his personal ab maintenance routine, implying that it is effective for him and could be for others.
The author acknowledges that everyone has off days and encourages readers not to feel discouraged if they can't always perform the most challenging exercise form.
He humorously notes that this exercise should be skipped when the need to use the restroom is urgent, providing a practical caveat to the routine.

One Trick to Improve Your Abs Before You Even Get Out of Bed

It’s less of a trick and more of a habit.

How do you get out of bed?

You and I have never met, but I’m going to hazard a guess and say your answer includes the words “slowly” or “reluctantly” or “with difficulty” or “hitting the ‘snooze’ button repeatedly while shielding my ears with my pillow.”

Let’s start your day right.

We say “roll out of bed” for a reason. I haven’t taken a survey with a large sample size, mostly because there are only a handful of people with whom I’m close enough for me to ask, “What are the first things you do with your arms and legs when you wake up?”

You probably literally roll around a bit to get yourself out of bed. You most likely don’t roll all the way out of bed, which is fortunate, since very few of us have the coordination first thing in the morning to do so and not incur some sort of injury.

Don’t roll out of bed. Don’t roll in bed either. I mean, when you’re trying to get out of bed, that is. There are, of course, highly pleasurable subsets of activities in bed where rolling is not only accepted but encouraged.

Whether you toss and turn while you sleep, there’s a good chance upon waking that you turn to your right (because most of us are right-handed), press your shoulder into the oh-so-soft mattress, place one or both hands flat on the bed, and push yourself into a sitting position. There might be some elbow action.

You’re missing out on a grand opportunity.

If you’re reading this, you’ve already read loads of articles on how to get six-pack abs.

This is not one of those articles.

Well, not exactly.

It’ll nudge you along the way, though.

If you’re following the advice of those loads of articles or any of the eight billion home workout videos on YouTube, your abs are hopefully getting stronger. Where you are on this journey will determine which of the following forms you should start with.

Form 1: Get yourself from a lying-down position (with arms and legs flat on the bed) to a sitting-up position without using your arms or legs. Use only your abs. Get yourself into a sitting-up position where your back is perpendicular to your bed and stay that way. I guess this is telling you to do a high-level sit-up first thing in the morning. Yikes.

Try it. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

You can do it? Great, congratulations. Now make room for everybody else.

You can’t do it? No worries.

Form 2: Still while lying down, bend your knees to a 45-degree angle. You know, the angle they’re in when you’re doing standard sit-ups (notice my use of “when” and not “if”). Now try to get into a sitting-up position without using your hands or elbows or even shoulders. Use only your abs. This is telling you to do a standard sit-up first thing in the morning. Less yikes.

If you want to look either like you’re in deep thought or like you’ve just had an actual workout, you can lay your forearms on your knees, which should be at about chest level.

You can do it? Great. Now make this a daily habit and never again use your hands, elbows, or shoulders to sit up in bed. Only your abs. Then progress to Form 1.

You can’t? Not yet? No worries. There’s more scaffolding available.

Form 3: Tuck your knees into your chest and kick your feet forward to lend yourself some momentum as you use your abs to get yourself into a sitting-up position. Remember, it only counts when your back is perpendicular to the bed.

Was that enough help? Remember to inhale upon tucking in and exhale upon kicking out. No cheating, no hands. Or elbows.

Form 4: Still not enough? Okay, do the tucking and kicking but add your arms. Not your hands or your elbows or shoulders. Your arms. The entire length of them. Stretch them out sideways and swing them backward as you kick your feet forward. Extra momentum.

That should’ve done the trick, right?

Please say yes. I’ve got no more tricks in the bag for this one.

Even if the answer is no, I’m confident the answer will be yes as your abs grow stronger with the help of all those other articles. Then move on to Forms 3, 2, and 1.

Don’t rush your progression. If you’re comfortable with Form 4, give it some time before you step up to Form 3. Same thing going from Form 3 to 2 and from 2 to 1.

It’s perfectly okay to regress. Okay, that might be the wrong word. But we all have off days. I would like to say that on most days I stick to Form 1… and I actually do.

The point is, though, there are days when I have to resort to Form 2 or 3. You’re just more tired on some mornings. Don’t beat yourself up. Admittedly, I can’t remember the last time I had to pull out Form 4.

The goal is to get to Form 1 and stick with it on most mornings.

I wish you the best of luck (although luck has nothing to do with it).

Disclaimer: Yes, I do have six-pack abs. I’ve had them for over a decade now. They’re high-maintenance. No, obviously this one simple daily habit did not get me my abs. I forget whether I already had a six-pack when this became a daily habit. Chicken and egg. Without a doubt, it’s part of the maintenance program.

Warning: You can and should give this daily habit a skip on mornings when you desperately have to pee.

Dash Ip would like to emphasize that this is not a satirical article. It really is part of his morning routine (man, it’s weird switching from first-person to third-person). If you read novels for fun, please give his a whirl.