Crunches with tubing stabilize core, ab muscles

Seated abdominal exercises are just as challenging as the traditional mat abdominal exercise. You can get a great core workout with multi-functional tubing. The over-the-shoulder tubing crunch targets the transverse abdominal muscles, the deepest of the abdominal muscles that wrap around the spine providing core stability. Deville Plaza YMCA member Barbara Spiars, 70, demonstrates.

Step 1: Begin by looping your tubing under the chair's rail on the back of the seat. Sit firmly in the middle of the chair with a good posture. Place both handles of the tubing in the left hand and cross the tubes over the right shoulder, firmly holding handles.

Step 2: Bracing through the core, curl the right shoulder over to the left hip. Repeat 10-12 times. Switch the tubing to the left shoulder and repeat the exercise on the left side 10-12 times.

Complete a total of three sets on each side. Begin with a proper warm-up and end with cool-down and stretch. Consult with your physician before beginning a new exercise program.

Contact Terricha Bradley-Phillips at (601) 961-7067 or tbradley@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @Terricha_CL on Twitter.