I've started power walking. Will it help my abs tighten up and get smaller? I walk every day for about 3.2 miles.

Sorry. Unless you walk on your stomach, walking won't do anything for your abs. Walking will burn calories, though, so if you do abdominal work two or three times per week, treat them like any other muscle group. Take at least one day off before working them again. As you lose body fat, your abs will come to the surface.

Here are exercises to get you started:

• Lie with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Fold your hands behind your head. Curl your torso forward until you feel the small of your back flatten out on the floor. Keep your elbows back. Cradle your head with your hands, but don't pull yourself up with your arms. Slowly ease your torso back to the floor. Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down. Do 15-25 repetitions.
  
  
• Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet together, hands behind your head. Let both knees gently fall to one side, and place your legs on top of one another. Keep your elbows wide, and curl straight up. Repeat on the other side. Do 15-25 repetitions.
  
  
• Lie on the floor with your knees bent; hands behind your head with elbows on the floor. Raise your legs so your hips and knees are bent at 90 degrees. Twisting from the waist, bring your right elbow toward your left knee while extending your right leg. (Your left elbow should remain on the ground.) Complete the set on one side; then change to the other. Do 15-25 repetitions. Do not alternate.

For more information on abdominal training, read Better Abs and Back by Dean and Greg Brittenham; Human Kinetics.

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