Many times the focus is on the quantity of repetitions rather than the quality of the
exercises. Why do we need to do all those crunches, when we can achieve much
greater benefits by choosing different exercises? Use the following methods to tweak
your abdominal workout and see what it can do for your core.
What is it that keeps crunches and sit-ups from being beneficial to shaping our core? The answer is found in the “psoas paradox.” Basically, the psoas major is a hip flexor muscle, which together with the other two hip flexors, pulls your thigh bone up toward your torso. When you perform crunches or sit-ups, the psoas major does most of the necessary work. Thus, the abdominals do not get the workout you intended. Furthermore, crunches and sit-ups can put a lot of strain on the spine. Over time, this repetition could cause chronic lower back pain. There are many other exercises to strengthen the entire core with greater efficiency and without causing
back problems.
In order to fine tune your abdominal workout and get the desired results, you must understand the machine that we refer to as the “core.” We must resist thinking of core muscle actions in terms of straight lines. Most of the core muscle movement patterns are diagonal or rotational. Therefore, we should keep this concept in mind when choosing abdominal
exercises.
First, let’s consider static exercises. This type of exercise requires you to control your limbs in space in a wide variety of movement planes and ranges of motion. An example is the plank exercise. Begin by getting into a bridge position (face down). Now, raise one leg and hold it out to the side. Repeat on the other side.
Next, let’s consider movement-based exercises. This form of exercise forces muscles to work together in multiple planes and various degrees of rotation. A great example is a standing wood-chop exercise using a medicine ball. You can chop in vertical, horizontal, or diagonal patterns.
The speed at which an exercise is performed is vitally important as well. Too often people fall into a controlled tempo and do not stray from that pattern. Try accelerating and decelerating. Accelerate from a stopped position to full speed for the first half of the movement then start to decelerate to a complete stop on the second half of the movement. This requires the core to stabilize the entire body throughout the motion.
Another important concept to understand is progression. If you repeat the same abdominal workout time after time, you will limit its benefits. There are a few easy ways to vary your workout. First, work to increase the speed at which you perform the exercise. After you increase your speed, work to increase the range of motion for which you can perform the exercise. Once you have successfully accomplished increased speed and increased range of motion, you can move to heavier weights.
Don't get caught up in the crunch hype. You don't have to keep flexing your spine to get a six pack. Make sure the core is strong and can stabilize your body during movement instead. Keep the core strong and focus on the rest of your training and nutrition and the flat toned stomach will come. We can't just train the core and get the stomach we want. We have to burn the fat off the top and we do that by burning calories and eating the right calories. Focus on everything and the stomach will come.
