Create Your Own Total Ab Tabata

There’s really no way to sugar coat this, so I’m just going to say it. I HATE training abs. I don’t know why; it’s just the way it is. I always dread it, I come up with every reason under the sun to put it off, and I’ve been known to half ass it even when I do force myself to get it done. The problem with this? Surprisingly, I am not happy with my current level of abdominal muscle development. I’ve finally accepted that no amount of sitting around and wishing for a defined midsection is going to the get the job done, so I’ve been making more of an effort to hit my abs a couple of times a week. I have discovered one way to make this training more tolerable – tabata!

Tabata training is a style of interval training developed in Japan; 20 seconds of work are followed by 10 seconds of rest, and this pattern is repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. You can read more about it here and here. When I train my core, I like to complete one exercise for upper abs, one for lower abs, and one for my obliques. I usually like to finish up with a series of three 1 – 2 minute planks. In order to keep it interesting and to keep my body guessing, I usually mix and match the exercises I perform. To create your own tabata style ab routine, select one exercise (see instructional links for each exercise below) from each of the three sections. Complete the full 4 minutes of intervals with each exercise; rest for approximately a minute (or as long as necessary – your abs should be burning by the end of each 4 minute bout!) prior to moving on to the next 4 minutes of intervals.



An audible timer is key to being able to complete these intervals; I installed this free app on my Droid, and it has worked wonderfully for me.

Weighted Crunches
Exercise Ball Crunches
Stability Ball Roll Out
Stability Ball Pass
Reverse Crunch
Hanging Leg Raise
Exercise Ball Pull In
Scissor Kick
Oblique Crunches
Russian Twist
Cross Body Crunch
Straight Leg Pendulum

Cherry Almond Cheesecake Mousse

This Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mousse from Cara’s Cravings has been one of my go-to snacks ever since I first came across the recipe. It’s a great way to get in some protein post-workout, and it works equally well as a bedtime snack. Sometimes I refrigerate it and eat it in mousse form; other times I freeze it and enjoy it more like an ice cream treat. I’ve used virtually every variety of peanut butter known to man while making it – my favorite version is made with Archer Farms Creamy Cinnamon Peanut Butter. The other day I was flipping through old issues of Clean Eating Magazine when I stumbled upon one of my favorite clean desserts – clafouti! Looking at the picture reminded me of how much I enjoy the cherry & almond combo, and I realized it would translate well into a protein treat.

Cherry Almond Cheesecake Mousse

Adapted from here
Makes 2 Servings

10 oz 2% fat cottage cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons cherry preserves (I used Smucker’s Sugar Free)
Truvia or sweetener of your choice, to taste (I like things really sweet, so I used 6 packets of Truvia)
1/4 tsp almond extract

Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth. 

Calories: 199
Fat: 10g
Carbohydrates: 16g
Protein: 14g
Calculated on Sparkrecipes.com



This turned out better than I anticipated. It was rich and smooth with a strong almond flavor, and the cherry preserves added a fruity lightness to the mousse. I love that it kept me full until lunch after an early morning high intensity gym session.

Speaking of the gym, here’s the quick interval workout I completed before meeting up with my boxing trainer for our weekly session.

I didn’t want to completely wear myself out before boxing, so I ran the sprints at 10 mph and recovered at 3 mph. Today’s cardio-heavy workout was a welcome change after three days of lifting heavy. This week has probably been the best week of training I’ve had in a while; I’m hoping the trend continues since there’s only a little more than a month left before we run Vegas!