Work those abs...

Fellow HealthyandHappyites,

This is Aaron grabbing the microphone... (and requesting a Blogger invite from Willow). Anne and I have been wanting to share a great (and quick) ab workout with everyone. I downloaded this 8 minute abs video a long time ago for Anne and she has really enjoyed it. Now that we are being more exercise conscious, we've adopted this into our routine. We figure that by doing this ab workout on a regular basis for several months, we will be able to lose that strange bulge in our mid-sections and have our inner xylophones poke through... So enough background on us, how bout this exercise.

Quick sidenote first (sorry). When trying to find this workout online, since it's not the easiest think to describe, I stumbled upon a webpage (another Blogger page) that I thought I should share: http://weightloss-tips-guide.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-make-my-stomach-flat.html. It's not that thrilling, but I noticed that almost every point made describes the H&H program. And notice the title: 'How to make my stomach flat'. Since one of the exercises recommended is working the abs (and Yoga, for those interested...), I thought this blog posting could add a new layer to H&H. We can be Healthy and Happy AND flatten those stomachs (if needed). Now on with the show...

Surprisingly enough, this video is all over YouTube. So all you have to do is go and get it. I had to dig to find the one with the best quality and had the audio in synch. Here's the link, which I will chatter more about as you read on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uIHRKwUH6Y. I'll quickly describe how to get this in a form that you can hang on to and not have to keep reloading it on the web. It might look lengthy, but it really quick and easy.

To save the video to your computer you can do it one of 2 ways:

(1) If you follow the link to the video and let it buffer completely, the file is actually saved for you in your temp internet folder C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files. You can sort the files by size so that the biggest one will most likely be the video (with a name starting with 'get_video'). Just copy that file to your desktop or where ever you want to keep it.
or
(2) To save on time, you can just go straight to http://www.youtubex.com and enter the link above and hit download. It'll find it and then just hit download again. All this does is download that same 'get_video' file.

Once you've got the video, rename it to something exciting and then add a '.flv' to the end (short for Flash Video). Then you'll want to go back to the web and download a piece of software to convert the file to something easier to use. Get this program: http://www.download.com/CinemaForge/3000-2169_4-10496506.html?tag=pdp_prod. Install it and then run it. Set the Input to the file you renamed above. Then change the 'Doc Type' to .avi (my preference). You can change the quality to High if you want and Channels to Stereo, but make sure to change Thumbnail to None (otherwise it'll create an extra jpg image you'll have to delete). Hit encode and where ever your file was located, you'll soon have a new .avi file along with it.

Phew... When you're done, you can clean up all the extras other than your new ab workout video. It is kinda cheesy but you can really feel the results. Ouch! For those of you having trouble making time for exercising, this is great because it's only 8 minutes... And when you know the routine you can ditch the video and just set a timer.

I don't want to blabber for too long here, but I thought I'd share our exercise plans and ask for some comments on what other people are doing. As the cold weather sets in, it'd be nice to find some good indoor exercises like this one. We originally were thinking that doing only the 8 minute abs was not long enough, since it is only 8 minutes, so we were doing jumping jacks and stair stepping as well. But now we think if we're in a rush (and don't want to tear all our muscles), this 8 minutes abs really can pack a punch so it could count as exercising for the day (not sure what others think about this). So currently we are planning on jogging for ~20 minutes at least twice a week, the 8 minute abs every other day, and then sprinkle in tennis for ~20 minutes, power walking and the jumping jacks/stair stepping combo according to our mood. That's what we've come up thus far, any other ideas?

So if y'all decides to start crunching those abs along with us, we can all compare washboards come wedding time. Wouldn't that be sweet?