The Pilates 100

One of the things I love most about working out is that it's never boring. No, really...it isn't! There are so many different ways to go about it that it's almost impossible to get stuck in a fitness rut for too long. And as a personal trainer, that's one of my goals. To help you, my readers and my clients, avoid the rut. How will I do that? Let's start with the Pilates 100.

If you do crunches regularly, you might feel as though your stomach is just getting bigger. That's because crunches only target your rectus abdominis (the 6-pack), which means only these ab muscles are growing. You'll want to target every ab muscle in your core to up your odds of having a flat stomach and the Pilates 100 does that. Here's how you do it:

The lovely ladies at Pilates on Fifth offer a number of free videos on YouTube, and you can download their Pilates podcasts from iTunes. If you haven't tried Pilates yet, you should. (Hey boys: That goes for you, too.) It's a great way to lengthen and strengthen your muscles, particularly those in your core, which is the center of all movement and balance.