Day 16 and we have a doozy of an exercise today – paused pushups!

Well, it’s paused pushups plus mermaids because one has to work obliques too 🙂

And we are doing these rounds together with the lovely Enka (follow her fitness journey on IG @unhealthy.to.healthy), who was just about to start her own core section when I came to the gym and she kindly lent her abs to our challenge.

Paused pushups = effort x 5 – that’s because we are pausing just above the ground for the count of five.

Form reminders: legs strong, glutes and quads firing, elbows at 45 degrees, chest to the ground. Pause for the count of five, then push the ground away. See that the bum isn’t sticking too far up in the air and hips are not sagging, avoid excessive curve in the lower back.

You will see Enka’s stance is wider with elbows directed more to the sides, especially the right one, my stance is narrower, elbows pointing into corners behind me, that’s because with elbows tucked in your upper back and tricep work more and it takes practice to build them up. Best to practice from something raised at first, like a table, a step, etc. Also my hips are slightly hinged, that’s because to get the full range of motion, I’m squeezing pretty much everything, it’s like reverse Hollow.

Once you feel that you are breakdancing to get up – drop onto your knees into 3/4 position. Or if you are doing 3/4 from the start then switch to the box position.

Whichever position you are in squeeze your legs continuously, this helps to keep whole torso engaged and get those abs working to the max.

Mermaids – we’ve done these last week, main thing is that in the top you are flat against the wall, no leaning back. When lowering – reach out underneath your torso, go as far as you can, feel shoulder blades opening as your back rounds.

Keep position stable, if need – bend your knees and work from there. The form will be the same, keep your torso tense throughout.  It’s not about handing on your ligaments, it’s about making every muscle in your body work for those 30seconds.