Ab Season Means It's Getting Close to Cosplay Season

It's definitely ab season.  Not like Pauly D flashing your abs every single second, that's just stupid.  It's that wonderful time of year that those of us who are into cosplay and even those that are not, begin to realize, "Oh my god it's May and I haven't even begun to start working on my swimsuit body."  This realization has gradually been seeping into my conscious mind.  It was a little jarring to think about a few weeks prior, but I've been trying to remember to toss some ab routines into my daily schedule when I have the down time to do so. 

One of my outfits for this upcoming Dragon*Con in Georgia is young Sif from the comic, Thor: Son of Asgard.  She's remarked as being a woman of great prowess and one, if not the best, female warriors of Asgard.  Sort of sets the stage for a lot to work towards in terms of being physically fit wouldn't you say?  While I'm not at all shy about my body, I really didn't want to work on an outfit that a lot of other people have done before.  I've seen a lot of individuals at cons who are the later version and more memorable version of Sif, mostly because of her helmet.  I opted for her early years outfit.

It will certainly prove to be difficult in it's own way considering that the material has to be a very soft, malleable leather.  I'm going to have to sew the top (granted comics don't always take into account the reality of fabric to how it works with an individual) but in this case, a lot of points can be taken away from the picture and applied to a dress form at least I'm hoping so. 

Last year a friend of mine helped me construct the leather aspects of my Blondie outfit for a SuckerPunch photo shoot and meet and greet.  Some of the material had it's own pros and cons.  The arm covers, even though measured to be tight fitting so that they didn't slip, eventually started the sag after awhile.  Here's a picture, thanks to Jesse Noble for taking individual shots of all the characters.  You can notice, if you look at my right arm, the brace is actually suppose to be up a little higher on my bicep, but given the frequent movement and action shots that were taking place, it kept sliding down and the leather started to give over time because I kept flexing.  However, not too bad for my first real "revealing" costume at Dragon*Con 2011. 

One of the pros of this outfit is that it hid some of my insecure spots.  I'm a hippy girl who doesn't have super defined abs.  Wearing a unitard and stockings really helps to kick up the confidence level when you don't have to show off your tummy... but I digress.

Sif isn't a character to back down and I've certainly been trying to channel that aspect of my personality with keeping on track with some exercise.  While I don't expect to have rock hard abs or the kind of definition I'd expect after a few months of cross-fit, I do expect myself to have less belly fat and a little bit more definition by the time D*Con rolls around on August 31st this year. 

I know not everyone is a fan of doing workouts and a lot of times they peter off after a week or two.  Don't worry, I've got the same kind of attention span, unfortunately.  I work pretty well wish visuals, which it's taken me a long time to realize that.  However, I have a number of planners that I carry with me for work and keep around the house.  While getting a new daily planner a month ago, I picked up a Martha Stewart Home Office decal to post up on the fridge. 

I got the one on the bottom, mostly because I really liked the measurement conversion sheet (works well with making smoothies).  I also have a housemate, so I don't really like to broadcast on the fridge what my workout of the day is going to be or my appointments, but I do like the weekly planner one on top.  I might be motivated to get that one later on and stick it on a mirror in my room that I frequent, so I have the constant reminder. 

The decals are sort of awesome, they requite a dry eraser marker and you can post whatever you like.  Personally, I like to leave myself notes in bullet point version: Do ab workout 3x a week, burpees 3x a week, try and do cardio 5x a week!

I don't like to do long and involved routines, if I can't remember them off the top of my head on my own, then I think it's all the more work for me to apply myself.  This will often lead to the "I'll do it tomorrow" or "I'll just double up the next time I do it" and eventually the workout routine becomes no more. 

I stick to a pretty simple routine that I did when I was in swimming (I currently coach it now, so I've been able to add on to my routine and change things up so I can target all the muscles groups), but this is something that you can post up on your workout board or weekly to do list if you want to get some ab work in, don't want to get a ton of equipment, and are pressed for time.  When I stretch with the older kids for swimming, the abs take 15 minutes tops to complete.  I think that is more than enough to keep your attention span and get some good body work done.  You can do this almost anywhere, if you like to do things while a commerial is on, pick one of the sets and complete it while you're waiting for your latest sci-fi show or anime to come back on the tube.  I was doing a crunches last night while waiting for Ouran Host Club to come back on Hulu ^.^

So here's the lineup:

20 standard crunches
40 bicycle rounds (20 each side)
40 side crunches (20 each side)
20 medicine ball crunches
20 side-to-side crunches
60 leg ups/arm reaches (20 at each leg height)


With the crunches I prefer hands behind my head, if you do this, you shouldn't be seeing your elbows come in front of your face, your hands are meant to support your head, not be the means to pull you up.

Bicycle rounds - feet should circle around like you are riding a bike (keeping feet flexed while you do it).  While cycling, you should come up into crunch position, alternating sides to almost touch your leg elbow to your right knee and visa-versa.  This is usually done pretty quickly with counts of 8 (so technically it's 5 rounds of 8).  On the first 4, it's standard one second = one bicycle side crunch.  The second 4 count is double time, so you move a little faster. 

Side crunches - you literally lay on your side, think loose fetal position.  Turn your torso and arms so that your upper body is facing the ceiling.  Do 20 crunches in that position, keeping legs turned to the side and at an angle (Anywhere between a 90 and 45 degree angle is good). 

Medicine ball crunches - Not everyone has a medicine ball, I actually had to buy one a few years ago because I wanted to get back into swimming.  Most sports stores will carry them.  If you are considering getting one, go with a weight that feels just right... carry it around the store for awhile and maybe see how many times you can toss it up in the air and catch it before your arms get tired.  If you're able to do 40 or more, it's way too light, if you can't to more than 10, it's not heavy enough.  I have a 10 lb. ball that I use.  If you don't have one and don't want to get one, any item that has some weight to it will work (an actual weight if you have it, I've even used my Buddha head statue when I couldn't find my medicine ball) To do the crunches (they also work your arms).  Get into crunch position, but hold the medicine ball extended above your head as if you were standing up.  When you're reading, swing your arms up with the ball and  pull your tummy in to come up into a crunch.  You should have the ball come down between your chest and knees, elbows extended out on either side of your body so you basically hug the medicine ball between your legs and chest.  Gradually let yourself back down, simultaneously lifting the medicine ball back up over your head (you'll feel it in your core if you're doing it right).

Side-to-side crunches - Standard crunch position and alternate sides, trying to touch elbow to knee, you shouldn't come up off the ground too much for these.

Leg/Arm Reaches - Extending your legs at a 30 degree, 45 degree, and 90 degree angle to the floor.  I prefer to work my way up in intervals so I start with 20 reaches at 30, them 20 at 45, and finally 20 at 90.  Arms should start above your head (some people prefer to bring them up from their side, but starting above your head pushes you to work your arms a bit more too).  Pull yourself up into crunch position, reaching hands out towards flexed toes for a count of one and then bring yourself back down, leaving your legs up in the degree position designated for that round.

So let ab season begin.  Hope people try the ab routine, it isn't all the bad and you'll feel like you're doing a lot for yourself in 15 minutes :)