To prepare, Dutch 23-year-old beauty Kroes, who says she normally eats what she wants because she exercises often, goes on a strict sugar- and carb-free meal plan and spends many extra minutes a day jumping rope. “For other fashion shows you can be skinny, but for Victoria’s Secret, you need definition,” says Kroes, 23. - By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, AP

I’m impressed. Like most lingerie models they recognize that they have to be fit. Note that she says that she “exercises often”. Even for models it takes effort to look healthy and fit. Like she says, other fashion models are skinny. They simply don’t eat and they don’t have a shape. I find that look unattractive. The VS models are popular because they are fit, shapely and sexy.

Listen to what Kroes says. She has a fabulous body because she exercises a lot, she goes on a strict healthy diet and she does extra fitness work. If you want to be fit and healthy, there you go.

The side plank is what it sounds like. Let’s say you start on your right side. To do it, bend your arm at the elbow and stack your feet on top of each other. Lift your body until you are in a straight line. Your butt, hips and thighs will be elevated off the floor a few inches. Try to hold this position for 10 seconds. As you get stronger you will want to try to hold it up to a minute. Good luck with that. Swap over to the left side when you are done with the right.

Ballantyne says in his article that typical crunches cause spinal flexion and that “research shows that spinal flexion can lead to herniated discs”. When compared to the abdominal crunch the side plank is the better exercise because, while both builds up the abdominal muscles the same, the side plank does not cause spinal flexion.