When you hear windshield wipers, you probably think of a car battling through the rain, but this clever move from AB is an excellent way to target your midsection. The best part? The windshield wiper exercise requires no equipment, so you can do this simple bodyweight exercise just about anywhere.
As someone who is always up for a challenge, I decided to do the 50 Windshield Wipers a Day challenge for Tom’s mentor. Basically, you use 50 windshield wipers every day for a week. I was keen to see how this exercise would affect my abs. Will they look more harmonious? Will my milk feel stronger? Read on to find out what happened.
How to do the windshield wiper exercise
Not sure how a windshield wiper works? It’s not a very complicated movement but as with most sit-ups, good form is important. Heres how to do it:
- Lie on your back on the floor or on one of the best yoga mats, with your arms straight on the floor, at the sides of your body. Your legs should be straight toward the ceiling.
- Rotate your hips to the left so your legs slowly lower toward the floor on your left side.
- Next, lift your legs and move them back to the right side, rotating your hips to the right as you do so.
- Keep switching sides, making sure your core is engaged, and your lower back is not arching.
Windshield wipers require the engagement of several core muscles. The upper and lower abs should remain engaged as the legs slowly move left to right, without the torso moving too much. Plus, the oblique muscles — the muscles that run down the side of the body — work hard here, too, to keep the torso stationary throughout the exercise. Oh and let’s not forget the lower back muscles, which also work hard as you rotate your hips and legs.
I Did 50 Windshield Wipers Every Day For Seven Days – Here’s What Happened
Your hip muscles worked hard
If you are a fan of crunches or sit-ups, you may not know how it feels to work your quadriceps muscles during an abs exercise. However, the windshield wipers engage the hip muscles thanks to the rotational motion. If you spend a lot of time sitting behind a desk, or are a runner, you may notice that your quadriceps are tight, and you will find this movement particularly challenging. Start doing a few stretches to work your tight quadriceps, and then try again in a few weeks.
They set fire to italics
Doing 50 windshield wipers each day was harder than I thought. I felt my oblique muscles completely on fire as I slowly swung my legs from left to right, also working my upper and lower abs in this movement.
However, don’t think of windshield wipers as the answer to a flat belly. In order to show abs, you need to have a low body fat percentage, you don’t get a low body fat percentage just by doing sit-ups alone. Instead, you need to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose the fat above your abs. To reach a calorie deficit, you must consume less than you burn. Here’s more on how to calculate your body fat percentage and why it matters.
Windshield wipers require great stability
One of the hardest parts of doing windshield wipers is keeping your back pressed flat into the mat. There will obviously be some movement as your torso moves slowly, however, it shouldn’t move as violently as my back did earlier this week. It took me a while to adjust to doing this exercise, and it is definitely a test of your core strength. But I will say that over the course of the 7-day challenge, I found this workout a little easier. So, practice makes perfect!
My quads tightened
It’s especially hard to keep your legs straight when doing the windshield wipers, especially if you’re a runner like me. My quads felt tight, and after I did 50 windshield wipers, I had to give them a stretch because they were cramping up a bit.
Basically, if you want to complete a set of really good windshield wipers, you need to stretch out and do your commuting work because this is definitely not an exercise in letting go!
I did 50 windshield wipers every day for a week – that’s my opinion
Do you want to work out muscles you may not have felt before? Try these windshield wipers. Unlike core exercises like sit-ups, leg raises, and planks, windshield wipers really target the obliques, hip flexors, and lower back thanks to the intense rotational motion required. I recommend adding windshield wipers to a core workout maybe once or twice a week. They’ll add some difference to your routine, plus they don’t require any equipment, so they can be done at home or at the gym.
But, as mentioned above, no organic exercise alone will flatten your tummy, so be sure to stabilize your diet along with abdominal exercises if a flat, toned belly is your goal.
More Tom’s guide
[ad_2]
