Alex Bowman is a tutor at Lifetime Training. He has over six years of experience in the health and fitness industry, including fitness instructing, personal training and studio instructing.

If you have a fitness question you would like answered by Alex, all you have to do is submit your question using the Comment on this Article box below. And remember - sign-up to our monthly health and fitness newsletter to receive your expert answer direct in your in-box.

Simon Asks:

I’m 15 years old and I really wanted to get a six pack so I started doing cardio and abs workouts after Christmas. Since then I can see 4 clear muscles, but the bottom two aren’t quite as pronounced. Could you recommend any exercises to help me to see the bottom 2 muscles in the six pack more clearly?

Alex’s Answer:

Simon, this is a really common question for people striving for those washboard style abs. There is a great deal of misconception with the abdominal muscles as people view the “six pack” as individual muscles or individual sets of muscles. People say that things like “I can feel it working my top abs but not the bottom ones”. The fact is that the muscle that determines our “six pack” (Rectus Abdominus) is one long sheet of muscle and cannot be separated. This means that when performing an abdominal exercise the whole muscle works and not just part of it. The issue with definition is due to our friend gravity. The lower part of your midsection is where any excess body fat will drop to hence making that area of the abdomen hard to define.

Continue to do your cardio but remember to keep challenging yourself, for example keep the time the same but increase the intensity. Also continue your ab workout but again, challenge yourself. Mix up your exercises – one day focus on crunches and the next focus on reverse curls. Slow everything down! It’s not about how many you do. An effective ab workout should have your muscles screaming within a short space of time. Good Luck!

Michelle Asks:

Since I started an office job I have absolutely no motivation to exercise even though I want to and I keep slowly gaining weight. Do you have any tips on how I can force myself to get fit again?

Alex’s Answer:

Michelle, I feel your pain! Believe it or not, I have recently been in a similar situation. I have a heavy workload divided between managing a team and teaching at countless gyms and the last thing I want to do is go back to one at the end of the day! It’s not a case of “forcing” yourself to workout as you’ll find that you quickly stop. It’s more of a case of finding something that drives you or that you enjoy.

Some people I know buy a gym membership and are driven by the financial commitment so they “get their money’s worth”. This does work for some people but again, some people can eventually justify the money going out the bank and still not go.

I would suggest one of two things. The first is to find someone who is in the same situation and use each other to commit to doing some form of exercise. Put it in your diary so you acknowledge it as a commitment. It doesn’t have to be the gym or going for a jog. Look at the leisure facilities in your area e.g. pools, sports halls, squash courts . . . the list is endless!

The second and most important thing is that you enjoy it! At the start of the year I went to a Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) gym. I started going once a week and loved it. Now I go three times a week and don’t need to worry as much about the gym. Believe me, you can actually look forward to working out!

Scott Asks:

What’s the best way to do sit-ups if you’ve got a bad back?

Alex’s Answer:

Scott this is a great question that will relate to a great deal of readers. Back problems are common whether they are due to sitting at a desk all day or doing some serious damage during an activity. I have been in a similar situation where I prolapsed a disc in my lower back when I was Wake Boarding and struggled to work my abdominals.

Full sit-ups should definitely be avoided as the strain could end up doing more damage. You need to start doing slow crunches. Get into the same start position that you would for a full sit-up and make sure your lower back is pressed firmly into the floor. From this position you raise your head and shoulder until you feel your abdominals working. Hold this position for a second, then return to the start. You MUST keep your back on the floor. A good way to check this is to do the exercise with your hands tucked under your lower back so that you can feel when the back is lifting. To make this harder, hold them for longer.

Another exercise that can be tried, depending on the severity of the back pain, is “toe taps”. This is the single leg version of a reverse curl. In the same starting position of a crunch, keep one leg where it is and raise the other one until it is at a right angle with your hip and body. Slowly lower this to the start position and change legs. This is usually done with both legs together but puts pressure on the lower back. Again, keep your hands under your lower back and keep pressure on them.

Alex Bowman, pictured. When taking up any new activities or exercise always consult with your GP first and ensure that you get advice from an appropriately qualified instructor.

For more information on fitness courses & more contact Lifetime Training on 0870 702 7273 or visit www.lifetimehf.co.uk