Re: How Do YOU Train Abdominals?

[Guest guest]

Since you asked ,

I train abdominals with a series of exercises recommended by Pavel Tsatsouline.

Janda situps are the mainstay of my program but are supplemented with any

of the following at various times :

A modified leg lift that he calls " Russian ballet leg thrusts "

One of those those ab wheel devices

Crunches on an inflatable " stability ball "

One-armed suitcase style deadlifts for the obliques.

Best Regards,

Angelo Mondragon

Cambridge, MA

>

>We have seen several opinions on core stability but how do you train

>abdominals:

>

>Multiple situps with straight legs? Crunches - with or without weight?

>Twists?

>

>Or do you allow the lifts themselves to develop abdominal strength?

>

>Joe Alden

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Joe Alden....

<<We have seen several opinions on core stability but how do you train

abdominals: Multiple situps with straight legs? Crunches - with or without

weight? Twists?>>

Good question Joe. Here are my favorites...

" Super Crunch " This is one I adapted from an idea that Mel presented to

another group quite a while ago. All I do is attach a rope to a cable

machine. I bring a preacher arm curl bench over to the machine and sit in

it backward so that the padded structure that would normally press against

your stomach during arm curls is now fitting nicely into your lumbar curve.

Pull the ropes over your shoulders and you're able to perform spinal flexion

against heavy resistance starting from full extension. Not very realistic

since you are sitting and have passive support for the low back, but the

exercise is unique in that you can produce some pretty heavy overload in

spine flexion.

" Cable Twist " Also using a cable machine to resist full body standing

rotational movements. This can be done with the cable at various heights.

" Med Ball throws " Either overhead to overload flexion, or " side tossing " to

emphasize rotation.

" HammerStrength Push/pull " Essentially a standing (unsupported) one armed

bench press and one armed horizontal row done simultaneously. Good upper

body work but I find that the trunk musculature has to work really hard in

order to establish a " solid base " to push/pull from. The same thing could

probably be done with two opposing cable machines - only perhaps better

since the resistance is not " guided " like the Hammer machines.

" Original Ab roller " You know the little wheel deals that you roll out with.

Mel has also described how this can be done just as well w/a barbell. The

drawback to this exercise is that it becomes exponentially more difficult

the further you roll out. Even the infomercial folk figured this one out.

Or, you can just kneel on some " sport cord " and attach the other end to the

wheel, and you'll get more *help* the further you roll out.

" Reverse ab curl " Use an inclined sit up board and get on it backward so

you're hanging onto the foot restraints. Then simply flex the spine from

the bottom up. I have even used a rolled up towel under my low back to

increase ROM. Also, I have put a dumbbell between my knees to add

resistance.

Those are pretty much my favorites.

Joe Alden....

<<Or do you allow the lifts themselves to develop abdominal strength?>>

Sometimes I wonder how much time it's worth spending on abs if you're doing

heavy squats, DLs and OLs. When I get lazy, the first thing I cut out is ab

work, and I have never noticed a difference in my lifting performance with

or without doing abs. Do you really need to do supplemental ab work if

you're squatting, DLing and OLing? I'm not convinced you do.

[Guest guest]

> We have seen several opinions on core stability but how do you train

> abdominals:

> Multiple situps with straight legs? Crunches - with or without weight?

> Twists?

Uhmmm... similiar to both.

TVA: Ballet Leg Thrusts (like leg raises but with the small of the

back flat on the floor and head on the ground), Janda Crunches

(basically half situps with your hams and glutes contracted)

Ext: Saxon Side Bends

Int: Clocks, Full-Contact Twists

Sorry, I'm a real fan of Pavel Tsatsouline's ab work. It works for me!

[antonsevilla]

[Guest guest]

Another good exercise Mel posted elsewhere is " instability " training, which is

the only ab

exercise I do, mainly because of lack of time, but also because I feel it is

sufficient to train

abs. It is especially good for WL.

To do it, after completeing an OH lift (snatch, jerk, press, etc.) you

deliberately lose control

of the bar (ie shift it fwd/bwd/L/R) and then try to save it.

Loren Chiu

Graduate Assistant

Exercise Biochemistry Lab

University of Memphis

Burkhardt wrote:

>

> Joe Alden....

>

> <<We have seen several opinions on core stability but how do you train

> abdominals: Multiple situps with straight legs? Crunches - with or without

weight? Twists?>>

>

> Good question Joe. Here are my favorites...

>

> " Super Crunch " This is one I adapted from an idea that Mel presented to

> another group quite a while ago. All I do is attach a rope to a cable

> machine. I bring a preacher arm curl bench over to the machine and sit in

> it backward so that the padded structure that would normally press against

> your stomach during arm curls is now fitting nicely into your lumbar curve.

> Pull the ropes over your shoulders and you're able to perform spinal flexion

> against heavy resistance starting from full extension. Not very realistic

> since you are sitting and have passive support for the low back, but the

> exercise is unique in that you can produce some pretty heavy overload in

> spine flexion.

>

> " Cable Twist " Also using a cable machine to resist full body standing

> rotational movements. This can be done with the cable at various heights.

>

> " Med Ball throws " Either overhead to overload flexion, or " side tossing " to

> emphasize rotation.

>

> " HammerStrength Push/pull " Essentially a standing (unsupported) one armed

> bench press and one armed horizontal row done simultaneously. Good upper

> body work but I find that the trunk musculature has to work really hard in

> order to establish a " solid base " to push/pull from. The same thing could

> probably be done with two opposing cable machines - only perhaps better

> since the resistance is not " guided " like the Hammer machines.

>

> " Original Ab roller " You know the little wheel deals that you roll out with.

> Mel has also described how this can be done just as well w/a barbell. The

> drawback to this exercise is that it becomes exponentially more difficult

> the further you roll out. Even the infomercial folk figured this one out.

> Or, you can just kneel on some " sport cord " and attach the other end to the

> wheel, and you'll get more *help* the further you roll out.

>

> " Reverse ab curl " Use an inclined sit up board and get on it backward so

> you're hanging onto the foot restraints. Then simply flex the spine from

> the bottom up. I have even used a rolled up towel under my low back to

> increase ROM. Also, I have put a dumbbell between my knees to add

> resistance.

>

> Those are pretty much my favorites.

[Guest guest]

--- Burkhardt <emburkha@...> wrote:

> Joe Alden....

>

> <<We have seen several opinions on core stability

> but how do you train

> abdominals: Multiple situps with straight legs?

> Crunches - with or without weight? Twists?>>

>

> Good question Joe. Here are my favorites...

>

> " Super Crunch " This is one I adapted from an idea

> that Mel presented to

> another group quite a while ago. All I do is attach

> a rope to a cable

> machine. I bring a preacher arm curl bench over to

> the machine and sit in

> it backward so that the padded structure that would

> normally press against

> your stomach during arm curls is now fitting nicely

> into your lumbar curve.

> Pull the ropes over your shoulders and you're able

> to perform spinal flexion

> against heavy resistance starting from full

> extension. Not very realistic

> since you are sitting and have passive support for

> the low back, but the

> exercise is unique in that you can produce some

> pretty heavy overload in

> spine flexion.

>

> " Cable Twist " Also using a cable machine to resist

> full body standing

> rotational movements. This can be done with the

> cable at various heights.

>

> " Med Ball throws " Either overhead to overload

> flexion, or " side tossing " to

> emphasize rotation.

>

> " HammerStrength Push/pull " Essentially a standing

> (unsupported) one armed

> bench press and one armed horizontal row done

> simultaneously. Good upper

> body work but I find that the trunk musculature has

> to work really hard in

> order to establish a " solid base " to push/pull from.

> The same thing could

> probably be done with two opposing cable machines -

> only perhaps better

> since the resistance is not " guided " like the Hammer

> machines.

>

> " Original Ab roller " You know the little wheel deals

> that you roll out with.

> Mel has also described how this can be done just as

> well w/a barbell. The

> drawback to this exercise is that it becomes

> exponentially more difficult

> the further you roll out. Even the infomercial folk

> figured this one out.

> Or, you can just kneel on some " sport cord " and

> attach the other end to the

> wheel, and you'll get more *help* the further you

> roll out.

>

> " Reverse ab curl " Use an inclined sit up board and

> get on it backward so

> you're hanging onto the foot restraints. Then

> simply flex the spine from

> the bottom up. I have even used a rolled up towel

> under my low back to

> increase ROM. Also, I have put a dumbbell between

> my knees to add

> resistance.

>

> Those are pretty much my favorites.

>

>

> Joe Alden....

>

> <<Or do you allow the lifts themselves to develop

> abdominal strength?>>

>

> Sometimes I wonder how much time it's worth spending

> on abs if you're doing

> heavy squats, DLs and OLs. When I get lazy, the

> first thing I cut out is ab

> work, and I have never noticed a difference in my

> lifting performance with

> or without doing abs. Do you really need to do

> supplemental ab work if

> you're squatting, DLing and OLing? I'm not

> convinced you do.

>

>

>

> In response to using hammer one arm push/pull

>exercises. They can be quite challenging when done

with cables. An exercise that I particularly like is

a 1 arm cable punch out with torso rotation. The

exercise goes like this, your stance can vary, but

usually some varitation of a lunge with the bilateral

leg back. The exercise then is performed as a 1 arm

chest press, only using a rotation of the torso and a

good activation of your TVA, looks as if your are

boxing, to a degree. Personally, I like it best when

the cable column is adjustable and is most challenging

at shoulder level, so that you are standing fairly

erect. You will find this quite taxing on the

obliques, as the load gets on the brink of overcoming

you. There are also many variations, such as

incorporating a shift, such as for a pitcher and his

weight transfer. As well, any standing torso

rotations can be very good when done correctly by not

incorporating the arms to much.

Thanks for listening, this is really a great forum!

Ratcliff

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Loren Chiu<lchiu <lchiu@m...> wrote:

> Another good exercise Mel posted elsewhere is " instability "

> training, which is the only ab exercise I do, mainly because of lack of time,

> but also because I feel it is sufficient to train abs. It is especially good

> for WL. To do it, after completing an OH lift (snatch, jerk, press, etc.) you

> deliberately lose control of the bar (ie shift it fwd/bwd/L/R) and then try to

> save it.

Here is another interesting one along those lines. Do an overhead

squat on a balance apparatus (balance board), and hold the position.

Have a partner try to move the bar out of position lightly, while you

try to resist that action. Allow your partner to randomly choose

spots on the bar to push or pull at and random directions to try to

throw you off.

----------

[Guest guest]

>Do an overheadsquat on a balance apparatus (balance board), and hold the

>position.

My concern is that a quick loss of balance would be potentially dangerous

for the spinal complex.

Joe Alden

[Guest guest]

Eli Rosenberg wrote...

<<Here is another interesting one along those lines. Do an overhead

squat on a balance apparatus (balance board), and hold the position.

Have a partner try to move the bar out of position lightly, while you

try to resist that action. Allow your partner to randomly choose

spots on the bar to push or pull at and random directions to try to

throw you off.>>

That does sound pretty good, but isn't the balance board a little over-kill?

Seems like it'd be plenty hard enough just on the regular floor.

Burkhardt

Strength and Conditioning Coach

UC Irvine