Alternating Supine Leg Walk

While people often think of crunches when it comes to toning and working the core and getting rid of stomach fat, there are lots of other exercises that you can do too. The Alternating Supine Leg Walk is one of the more popular and talked about core training exercises. However, when you first see it being done, you may think that it’s actually used to work the butt and thighs, and while it may help in those areas, it’s actually a core training exercise.

If you’ve used the Captain’s Chair at the gym, you may have already done a variation of the Alternating Supine Leg Walk, except with this exercise all you need is willingness, a mat, and a few minutes to exercise. This move employs a walking like move, which is why the tendency is to think it’s working the lower body. But what most individuals don’t known, unless they took an anatomy class and paid attention, is that the abdominal muscles are attached to the muscles in the legs, and this interaction can give the entire core an effective workout, while also targeting the lower abs too.

So how do you do the Alternating Supine Leg Walk? Lay out a mat on the floor, but if you don’t have one you can use a towel or just go without. Lay on your back, and once there you’ll need to get into the right position by lifting your legs up so that they are vertical to the floor. This positioning allows your abdominal muscles to automatically engage and get ready for the series of contractions and releases that this exercise naturally creates to build strength and tone.

Once your legs are in place, you’re ready to get started by alternating lifting and lowering your legs, mimicking a walking like move. One leg is lifted at a time and held for a second or two, while the other leg remains vertical a few inches off the floor. Once the raised leg is down, the other leg goes up. While you can do this exercise on the floor, as you get better at doing it and your strength increases, you may want to take your workout up a notch by adding in some extra workout options.

The Alternating Supine Leg Walk can be done on an incline workout bench to add in another layer of resistance so that the core muscles work harder. Also, as part of this stomach fat workout, you may want to add in exercise balls of different sizes and weights to provide more resistance and make this exercise far more challenging. Exercise balls can also make this exercise more back friendly, according to fitness experts and trainers.