Okay, ladies (and gents)- as promised, I had Nik Herold, personal trainer and owner of Fitness Doctors, write up his three favorite exercises for strengthening your Transverse Abdominal area. Remember, these are the smaller, support muscles that help tighten your pelvic floor muscles, help give you a flat belly, and help in preventing back injuries.  Add these to your gym routine to get that flat stomach before summer! Here they are:

1. Bird Dogs

Description: Start in the quadruped position, on both hands and knees.  The hands should be placed directly under the shoulders.  Draw the navel towards the spine–activating the TVA–and extend one of your legs by squeezing your glute.  Simultaneously extend the opposite arm straight ahead.  Hold that position for 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.  Try and shoot for 10 sets of 10 seconds holds on each side.

2. Foot Alphabet

Description: This is just like the bird dog, except you are only extending the leg back this time.  Start in the quadruped position again, arms under the shoulder, and draw the navel in tight towards the spine.  Squeeze one of your glutes and fully extend your leg.  Once the leg is in full extension, draw the alphabet with your leg and foot while maintaining a drawn in navel.  Go through the full alphabet and repeat on the other side for 2-3 sets.

3. Plank

Description: The plank is a little bit tougher than the previous two examples.  It forces your to develop anterior stability while working the TVA at the same time.  Start in a quadruped position.  Then, drop to you elbows and fully extend the legs.  You should form a straight line with your body, being virtually parallel with the ground.  The butt should not go up in to the air.  Likewise, the back should not be in an excessive arch and once it sink, stop the exercise.  Keep the navel drawn in towards the spine through the entire exercise.  Shoot for a 30-90 second hold for 2-3 rounds.  Once you reach 90 seconds, you can progress to a tougher version of the plank.

4. Alternating Foot Elevated Plank

Description: This is one way to advance on the first version of the plank.  You basically start in the plank position, but now you are going to elevated one leg.  The goal is to keep the navel drawn in towards the spine while also not allowing the hips to fluctuate up and down and break parallel with the ground.  If you find that you are teetering back and forth or the back starts to arch, stop the exercise. 

Try alternating 10 seconds on each leg to start and later work your way up to 30 second holds for 2-3 rounds.

*Nik Herold, owner of Fitness Doctors, is a personal trainer in Southern California who has worked with Season IV’s Biggest Loser contestant Jez Luckett—who he led to an amazing 90 pounds of weight loss in 6 months, helping him drop 42% of his original body weight.