January 1, 2008

Michelle Matthews' Amazing Midsection

Sometimes it takes years of effort before you are noticed. However, once it happens, everyone wants to know everything about you and how you got there.

Take Michelle Matthews, for example. She’s a 39-year-old figure competitor currently in the best shape of her life. I first noticed Michelle a couple of years ago when she competed in the over-35 figure category at the CBBF National World Qualifier. She took second there. The next time I saw her was at the 2007 IFBB North American Championships held in the summertime. She didn’t do as well as she wanted to at this competition, but I could tell that she had the potential to do better at a high-level event. She just had to work on refining certain aspects of her physique, as well as improving her presentation a bit.

Michelle did just that. In the fall of 2007, she struck back with some newfound confidence that showed the moment she stepped onto the stage. In fact, she ended up winning her class as well as the Overall and Masters titles at the Brantford Figure Championships in September. Then she once again won her class and the Overall and Masters titles at the Eastern Ontario Championships in November. Furthermore, she entered the Fall 2007 SAF Model Search that was also in November and took the runner-up spot in the Figure Model category and also won the prize for "Best Competitor Over 35." What a turnaround!

And what a physique! In fact, many women at those three shows were in awe of the improvements she had made, and most wanted to know how they could look that good. But most of all, they wanted to know how they, too, could get such a taut and tiny waist.

Well, I’m happy to say that because of her placing at the Fall 2007 SAF Model Search, Michelle is officially part of the SAF Elite and she’s now sharing some of her secrets with SeriousAboutFitness.com’s readers, including how she got that amazing midsection.

So I sat down with Michelle in December and here is what she had to say on the topic: "I have a ‘12-minute abs’ routine that I do 2-3 times per week, usually at home, either first thing in the morning or after my morning cardio session. I like keeping abdominal training separate from other training so that I'm fresh and focused and not just going through the motions at the end of training something else. As well, I prefer to do it altogether rather than throw a set of this or that in between other exercises when I’m training major muscle groups."

I asked Michelle exactly which exercises she likes to do, and for how many sets and reps. But what I found most interesting was that Michelle trains her midsection just as she would any other muscle group – intensely and with a limited number of sets and reps, not unlike the way she would train her chest, back or biceps. Furthermore, for some exercises she adds weight to increase the resistance. In addition, she likes to use supersets and tri-sets. A superset involves using two exercises; a tri-set has three. In both cases, it means doing one exercise and then immediately continuing on to the next exercise with minimal rest between sets. For her midsection, Michelle likes to do seven exercises divided into two groups of two exercises (the supersets) and one group of three (the tri-set). So, her typical workout looks like this:

1) Superset of weighted rope crunches with Swiss-ball crunches. Each exercise is done 3 times for 12-15 reps per set (because this is a superset, it means that a total of 6 sets are being done).

Notes: For the weighted rope crunches, Michelle uses a pulley system that’s part of a Smith machine apparatus she has in her home. She usually kneels on the floor.

For the Swiss-ball crunches, she places her feet on a "step" to take some stress off her lower back. Also, she holds a 10- or 15-pound dumbbell behind her neck for added resistance

 2) Superset knee-up crunches on a bench (no added resistance) with reverse curl on bench (no added resistance). Each exercise is done 3 times for 12-15 reps per set (again, a total of 6 sets).

Notes: For the knee-ups crunches, Michelle first sits at the end of a bench holding onto the sides of the bench just behind her glutes. She starts with legs held up and with her knees in a bent position so that her body forms kind of a V. The only things touching the bench are her glutes and hands. She then drops her legs down until her thighs are parallel with the floor and then raises her legs back up into the bent position. Furthermore, when she’s at this top position, she leans her body forward to get into a "crunch" position that better contracts the abs. Michelle also finds that having more bend in the knee allows for a better "crunch" and protects the lower back. On the other hand, for variety she sometimes holds her legs straight, but when she does this she is always mindful of her lower back.

For the reverse curl on the bench, Michelle lies back on the bench and holds the edge just behind her head for stability. She starts with her legs straight and parallel to the floor and then raises both legs together until they are 90 degrees to the floor (i.e., pointed to the ceiling). When she has her legs in this top position, she also lifts her hips off the bench as high as possible to maximize the contraction. For variation, she sometimes does the same movement but draws the knees down and in before raising the hips off of the bench.

3) Tri-set comprising Swiss-ball rollouts, lying leg raises and "Superman" back extensions. The first two exercises are done with 12-15 reps per set, while the "Superman" exercise is done for 6-8 reps. Each exercise ends up being done 3 times (because this is a tri-set, a total of 9 sets are completed).

Notes: For the Swiss-ball rollout, Michelle lies prone on the ball and rolls out until in a push-up position with hands on the floor and with the shins and top of feet on the ball. She then begins the exercise by pulling the knees in by rolling the ball toward the hands, all the while contracting the abs while breathing out. When she can go no further, she holds the contracted position for a couple of seconds. To roll back out, the legs are straightened until she’s back in the starting position. However, Michelle cautions: "Be careful of the dismount after all the reps, it’s a bit tricky."

For the lying leg raise, Michelle lies on the floor, tucks her hands under the glutes, and starts with her legs fairly straight. She then moves the legs up until they are at about 45 degrees to the floor. Following that, she returns her legs to the starting position.

The "Superman" back extensions are done by lying face down on the floor with the arms stretched to the front. While looking straight ahead, Michelle lifts her arms and legs 4-6 inches off the floor as though "flying." When she does this, she concentrates on feeling the contraction in the lower back and holds for a count of six before lowering back down to the starting position.

Michelle moves briskly through this workout – remember, she does it in 12 minutes – but she does each movement slowly and with tremendous control. Michelle describes her technique and adds these helpful hints: "If I do it right, I only need about 12-15 reps before my abs are cooked, especially with weighted moves. Plus, I'm not taking a break during the superset, so it's really 60-100 reps when you add up all the sets. Also, I focus on form and breathing out during peak contraction, usually holding the position for a couple of seconds to engage the entire abdominal region. I try to focus my energy more on the ‘lower abs’ because they are the most difficult for me to develop and maintain. For weighted rope crunches, I sometimes stand instead of kneeling and do a pelvic tilt as I pull down and in, putting more emphasis on the lower abdominal region. I'm also very conscious of protecting my lower back and am careful not to increase pressure in the lumbar area during leg-raise exercises – thus, the hands under the butt and back extensions. I don't do any twisting or side movements for obliques as this would increase the width of the midsection, and that is certainly not what I want."

Michelle made quite an impression on the judges as well as the audience members last fall, and undoubtedly she’ll continue to do so in 2008 when she hits the competitive stage again. What’s more, while Michelle might have been in the best shape of her life in the fall of 2007, I have no doubt that with her continued training and her ongoing quest for improvement, this year she’ll be even better.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

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