As I think about it, for the upper and lower body, bodyweight exercises are typically used for developing muscular endurance like unweighted squats and pushups while (high weight, low repetition) free weight exercises are used to develop muscular strength like weighted squats and bench pressing. Most ab exercises I do are bodyweight exercises so am I really just building endurance and not true ab strength? What would be some good exercises for ab strength other than doing situps while holding a dumbbell (I have back problems)?
Developing strength in the abs
- Thread starter Spartan 117
- Start date
Ab strength!
Its sort of weird to hear someone ask for ab strength we so many people today are all about ab definition and shape. But I like the idea of talking about ab strength, so good job.
I'll share some of the exercises I used as a gymnast for core strength.
Hanging exercise: A high bar, chin up bar, a straight strong tree limb. With hanging exercises, be careful to not swing. You have to do them slowly. There is a pay-off though, you know you're doing them right when you don't swing.
- Knee ups...Lift your knees up, hold, lower down slowly.
- Toe ups...A favorite tourture exercise. Lift your toes up to your hand without letting your knees bend and lower down slowly. It takes a measure of flexibility.
Laying down exercises: Some of these require some imagination to get to work unless you have a partner and the right equipment.
- V-Ups...Lay down on your back, arms extended above your head. Imagine a high diver's position as they enter the water...do that except flat on your back. Bend at the waist, keep your biceps pressed to your ears, your arms and legs straight, toes pointed, and reach up until your fingers touch your toes.
- Toe ups - push downs...This requires a partner. Lay down on your back. Have your friend stand near your head (toes at the top of your head, one foot on each side). Grab your friend's ankles with bent arms. Bend at the waist, lifting your straight legs above your belly. Your friend will grab your shins or feet and push them away from himself, trying to force them to the ground. You will stop your legs from touching the ground and quickly recover them to the starting position for another push.
- Torso lifts (Reg)...Have you seen The Professional? You know the scene where Leon is working out, strapped to the bed, doing a sit-up type motion? We usually had a partner sit on our legs while working off of some accordion mats. Flat hard surfaces work best, beds are so-so. If you have a weight bench, a friend, or some straps, give it a try.
- Torso lifts (Rev)...Same as the previous except you're on your belly with your fingers locked behind your head. Keep your torso flat and your head in line with your spine. GO SLOW.
Be careful. These are all very difficult exercises. You should absolutely stretch before trying these. Listen to your body and go slow.
good luck,
m
Its sort of weird to hear someone ask for ab strength we so many people today are all about ab definition and shape. But I like the idea of talking about ab strength, so good job.
I'll share some of the exercises I used as a gymnast for core strength.
Hanging exercise: A high bar, chin up bar, a straight strong tree limb. With hanging exercises, be careful to not swing. You have to do them slowly. There is a pay-off though, you know you're doing them right when you don't swing.
- Knee ups...Lift your knees up, hold, lower down slowly.
- Toe ups...A favorite tourture exercise. Lift your toes up to your hand without letting your knees bend and lower down slowly. It takes a measure of flexibility.
Laying down exercises: Some of these require some imagination to get to work unless you have a partner and the right equipment.
- V-Ups...Lay down on your back, arms extended above your head. Imagine a high diver's position as they enter the water...do that except flat on your back. Bend at the waist, keep your biceps pressed to your ears, your arms and legs straight, toes pointed, and reach up until your fingers touch your toes.
- Toe ups - push downs...This requires a partner. Lay down on your back. Have your friend stand near your head (toes at the top of your head, one foot on each side). Grab your friend's ankles with bent arms. Bend at the waist, lifting your straight legs above your belly. Your friend will grab your shins or feet and push them away from himself, trying to force them to the ground. You will stop your legs from touching the ground and quickly recover them to the starting position for another push.
- Torso lifts (Reg)...Have you seen The Professional? You know the scene where Leon is working out, strapped to the bed, doing a sit-up type motion? We usually had a partner sit on our legs while working off of some accordion mats. Flat hard surfaces work best, beds are so-so. If you have a weight bench, a friend, or some straps, give it a try.
- Torso lifts (Rev)...Same as the previous except you're on your belly with your fingers locked behind your head. Keep your torso flat and your head in line with your spine. GO SLOW.
Be careful. These are all very difficult exercises. You should absolutely stretch before trying these. Listen to your body and go slow.
good luck,
m
Russian twists are great, you can hold a plate while doing them.
Isometrics like planks are also great for building strength in the core.
Dont forget about the lower back. The core isnt just abs. Dealift twists are great for the entire core.
Deadlift twists:
Start with a dumbbell on the floor at your right foot, feet shoulder width apart. Lower to squat position and deadlift the weight so you are standing straight up. (Don’t use your arms! Pull with your body.) Then, twist to the left and put the weight back down by your left foot. Try to do it all in one smooth arc.
Then, squat down, pick it up with your left hand, and repeat.
Obv you have to use your own disgression because of your back problems.
Isometrics like planks are also great for building strength in the core.
Dont forget about the lower back. The core isnt just abs. Dealift twists are great for the entire core.
Deadlift twists:
Start with a dumbbell on the floor at your right foot, feet shoulder width apart. Lower to squat position and deadlift the weight so you are standing straight up. (Don’t use your arms! Pull with your body.) Then, twist to the left and put the weight back down by your left foot. Try to do it all in one smooth arc.
Then, squat down, pick it up with your left hand, and repeat.
Obv you have to use your own disgression because of your back problems.
You have to learn how to--------MANIPULATE your diet.....this is the plain truth.
You use it (wisely) to reduce body fat, and use it (again, in other methods of manipulations) to reduce your body fat further, and to deal (effectively with stubborn areas). If you workout 1 hour per day, the diet works 24 hours per day, and in this rather simple sentence, you can see how important the diet really is.
So, let it be WRITTEN:
So, let it be DONE
One doesn't need to be a fitness scientist to get extremely lean, build muscle, or lose unwanted tissue, but one does need enough knowledge to get what they want completed accomplished.
With this said, let's look at the composition of the ab core (briefly):
The core are composed of (high endurance muscles) such as:
Rectus abdominis
The rectus abdominis runs from your sternum to your pelvis and essentially helps pull your rib cage and your pelvis closer together.
The rectus abdominis is the actual visible “six pack” (as many call them) that you see in someone with a well-developed core and a low body fat percentage.
The transversus abdominis
The transversus abdominis acts as a natural weight belt, holding your insides in (thus dispaying one of the reasons body fat has to be low to see the core), and act in stabilizing the trunk.
Attempting to develop the transversus abdominis helps "pull in your stomach area" giving you the appearance of a smaller waist.
One popular misconception is that people think that the upper abs and lower abs can be worked separately.
The fact is that you cannot isolate the upper or lower core. The rectus abdominus is one muscle group (or one sheet of muscle) and the entire length of the muscle group is activated whether you’re "pulling the upper body up" or "pulling the lower body up".
With that said, IMO, it is beneficial to work the core from a "variety of different angles" to attempt to recruit max muscle fiber development throughout the entire abdominal region.
The internal and external obliques
The internal and external obliques work to rotate the torso and stabilize the abdomen.
There are some lateral abdominal muscles and their role is to support the spine and maintaining a healthy lower back.
When working the core "directly", its IMO, we cannot leave out mentioning the:
Hip Flexors. While having strong hip flexors are important (and believe me when I tell you these muscles can get strong), attempting to minimize the engagement or involvement (as much as possible) when during core exercises is important so they will not "tend" to take over most of the stress and remove training stress from the core.
Why are the hip flexors important?
Its because the hip flexor muscles such as the (psoas), along with the core, act to pull your trunk towards your legs, and at the same time. However, the Psoas has a greater range of motion.
For example:
The psoas "can" get involved to the highest degree when your feet are supported and/or your legs are extended straight........such as in the traditional situp.
The psoas take over the majority of the work. This is not saying th core doesnt gt involved (it does), but at a certain point the Psoas takes over, when your upper body comes off the floor by more than approximately 30° in crunching or sit-up movements. This is why I support 30 degree situps if one elects to do them.
IMO, you can not "completely" remove the involvement of the hip flexor, but one should attempt to eliminate it as much as possible.....while attempting to put more stress on the muscle being worked. Having strong hip flexors are important (say for sprinters, as an example) so, dont get me wrong, but....having an understanding of their involvement and how to minimize their recruitment will benefit your core training; you can get more isolation. But, understand that eliminating them "completely" due to their design function is virtually impossible.
Additionally, a lot of people can complain of back pain when doing core work, and this can be (keeping thing equal) just simple body positioning or form during the function of the core exercise.
One of the reasons that many people who spend an hour during each workout doing hundreds of crunches fail to ever develop six pack abs is that after a certain point------->regular old crunches just don’t provide much resistance to develop your core, IMO.
Additionaly, this time wasted doing crunches or "other" minimally resistive ab exercises (i.e. working a very small muscle group) could have been better used by working larger muscle groups which in turn burn more calories.
Of course one's bodily position has to b taken into account, but my opinion is that the majority of one's time in the gym should be spent on the bigger compound movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and upper body multi-joint presses and pulls, your body is forced to work harder and burn more calories during and after the workout.
Don’t get me wrong, direct core work such as crunches can have their place in a routine, especially for beginners (new to weight training), and advanced versions of crunches can even be challenging for persons who are not so new.
IMO, you train the core lik any othr muscle group. This means not everyday. Some may differ in this opinion, but this is mine. Muscles develop during rest, not being "bombed" repeatedly without rest and recuperation.
Some exercises to consider:
A couple of my "indirect" favorites (not in any particular order):
Front Squats: There are some minor varients on how to hold the BB, but when the bar is placed on the shoulders in the front of the body (as compared to behind the head as in the back squat), this position tends to place much more stress on the core and demands that the core provide stability and support while its performed. And, more so, than the back squat, IMO. It also tends to take stress off of the lower back. I prefer @SS-TO-THE-GROUND when performing them.
I want to mention that, virtually any squat varient, will get the core involved. So, if you do a program that does not include the Front Squat, do it with confidence that it will recruit the core satisfactorily.
Renegade Dumbbell Rows: (upper body work with amazing oblique and core stability work).
Be inventive and creative with your routine....ROCKS!.......that is it......YEP! A KILLER.
Dead Lifts: Puts a high demand on the core in the function of stability and support.
With ALL POWER GIVEN TO:
1. DIET
To be perfectly honest, dietary habits are the sole reason that most people will never obtain a ripped/defined/built ab core.
No matter how hard and no matter how frequent one trains, most people will never get their body fat low enough to see their abs if their diet is poor. You have to KNOW your SELF, your calorie needs, and keep nutrition in line.......PEOPLE......
2. THE FULL BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE, a split, or another devised program (adapted) that works for you.....
Okay,,,,,,,,,there ya go.
Best wishes
Chillen
You use it (wisely) to reduce body fat, and use it (again, in other methods of manipulations) to reduce your body fat further, and to deal (effectively with stubborn areas). If you workout 1 hour per day, the diet works 24 hours per day, and in this rather simple sentence, you can see how important the diet really is.
So, let it be WRITTEN:
So, let it be DONE
One doesn't need to be a fitness scientist to get extremely lean, build muscle, or lose unwanted tissue, but one does need enough knowledge to get what they want completed accomplished.
With this said, let's look at the composition of the ab core (briefly):
The core are composed of (high endurance muscles) such as:
Rectus abdominis
The rectus abdominis runs from your sternum to your pelvis and essentially helps pull your rib cage and your pelvis closer together.
The rectus abdominis is the actual visible “six pack” (as many call them) that you see in someone with a well-developed core and a low body fat percentage.
The transversus abdominis
The transversus abdominis acts as a natural weight belt, holding your insides in (thus dispaying one of the reasons body fat has to be low to see the core), and act in stabilizing the trunk.
Attempting to develop the transversus abdominis helps "pull in your stomach area" giving you the appearance of a smaller waist.
One popular misconception is that people think that the upper abs and lower abs can be worked separately.
The fact is that you cannot isolate the upper or lower core. The rectus abdominus is one muscle group (or one sheet of muscle) and the entire length of the muscle group is activated whether you’re "pulling the upper body up" or "pulling the lower body up".
With that said, IMO, it is beneficial to work the core from a "variety of different angles" to attempt to recruit max muscle fiber development throughout the entire abdominal region.
The internal and external obliques
The internal and external obliques work to rotate the torso and stabilize the abdomen.
There are some lateral abdominal muscles and their role is to support the spine and maintaining a healthy lower back.
When working the core "directly", its IMO, we cannot leave out mentioning the:
Hip Flexors. While having strong hip flexors are important (and believe me when I tell you these muscles can get strong), attempting to minimize the engagement or involvement (as much as possible) when during core exercises is important so they will not "tend" to take over most of the stress and remove training stress from the core.
Why are the hip flexors important?
Its because the hip flexor muscles such as the (psoas), along with the core, act to pull your trunk towards your legs, and at the same time. However, the Psoas has a greater range of motion.
For example:
The psoas "can" get involved to the highest degree when your feet are supported and/or your legs are extended straight........such as in the traditional situp.
The psoas take over the majority of the work. This is not saying th core doesnt gt involved (it does), but at a certain point the Psoas takes over, when your upper body comes off the floor by more than approximately 30° in crunching or sit-up movements. This is why I support 30 degree situps if one elects to do them.
IMO, you can not "completely" remove the involvement of the hip flexor, but one should attempt to eliminate it as much as possible.....while attempting to put more stress on the muscle being worked. Having strong hip flexors are important (say for sprinters, as an example) so, dont get me wrong, but....having an understanding of their involvement and how to minimize their recruitment will benefit your core training; you can get more isolation. But, understand that eliminating them "completely" due to their design function is virtually impossible.
Additionally, a lot of people can complain of back pain when doing core work, and this can be (keeping thing equal) just simple body positioning or form during the function of the core exercise.
One of the reasons that many people who spend an hour during each workout doing hundreds of crunches fail to ever develop six pack abs is that after a certain point------->regular old crunches just don’t provide much resistance to develop your core, IMO.
Additionaly, this time wasted doing crunches or "other" minimally resistive ab exercises (i.e. working a very small muscle group) could have been better used by working larger muscle groups which in turn burn more calories.
Of course one's bodily position has to b taken into account, but my opinion is that the majority of one's time in the gym should be spent on the bigger compound movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and upper body multi-joint presses and pulls, your body is forced to work harder and burn more calories during and after the workout.
Don’t get me wrong, direct core work such as crunches can have their place in a routine, especially for beginners (new to weight training), and advanced versions of crunches can even be challenging for persons who are not so new.
IMO, you train the core lik any othr muscle group. This means not everyday. Some may differ in this opinion, but this is mine. Muscles develop during rest, not being "bombed" repeatedly without rest and recuperation.
Some exercises to consider:
- Hanging leg raises (with hunched back)
- Hanging knee raises (with hunched back)
- Lying leg thrusts (hip thrusts)
- Decline bench leg thrusts (hip thrusts)
- Reverse crunches (crunching hips off floor)
- Ab bicycles (alternating knees to elbows)
- Ab scissors
- Stability ball crunches (weighted for progression)
- Bench crunches
- Alternating (oblique) crunches
- Weighted cable rope crunches (with hunched back)
- Ab wheel
- Stability ball hip flexion (knee tucks)
- Abdominal vacuums (transversus abdominis development)
- Weighted decline situps ( 30 degree only) Advanced method: Adding in "peel offs"
- Weighted situps (30 degree only) Advanced method: Adding in "peel offs"
A couple of my "indirect" favorites (not in any particular order):
Front Squats: There are some minor varients on how to hold the BB, but when the bar is placed on the shoulders in the front of the body (as compared to behind the head as in the back squat), this position tends to place much more stress on the core and demands that the core provide stability and support while its performed. And, more so, than the back squat, IMO. It also tends to take stress off of the lower back. I prefer @SS-TO-THE-GROUND when performing them.
I want to mention that, virtually any squat varient, will get the core involved. So, if you do a program that does not include the Front Squat, do it with confidence that it will recruit the core satisfactorily.
Renegade Dumbbell Rows: (upper body work with amazing oblique and core stability work).
Be inventive and creative with your routine....ROCKS!.......that is it......YEP! A KILLER.
Dead Lifts: Puts a high demand on the core in the function of stability and support.
With ALL POWER GIVEN TO:
1. DIET
To be perfectly honest, dietary habits are the sole reason that most people will never obtain a ripped/defined/built ab core.
No matter how hard and no matter how frequent one trains, most people will never get their body fat low enough to see their abs if their diet is poor. You have to KNOW your SELF, your calorie needs, and keep nutrition in line.......PEOPLE......
2. THE FULL BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE, a split, or another devised program (adapted) that works for you.....
Okay,,,,,,,,,there ya go.
Best wishes
Chillen
Good replies.
My simple answer is this... (since Ive been obsessed with getting abs since I was like 15).
Ive found that you need to treat your abs like you do ANY OTHER MUSCLE in your body.
What do you do if you want bigger biceps? You lift heavy ****... you add resistance, because resistance forces your muscles to adapt and become stronger.
So same with abs. Do leg raises with 5-10 lbs dumbells. Invest in some ankle weights to add resistance, Do sit ups while hugging a 25lbs plate. If you're not exhausted by 15 reps, your still working abdominal endurance.
This is a very basic answer, but as of right now you don't seem like a n00b. so I'm sure you can take this info and run with it.
Cheers!
My simple answer is this... (since Ive been obsessed with getting abs since I was like 15).
Ive found that you need to treat your abs like you do ANY OTHER MUSCLE in your body.
What do you do if you want bigger biceps? You lift heavy ****... you add resistance, because resistance forces your muscles to adapt and become stronger.
So same with abs. Do leg raises with 5-10 lbs dumbells. Invest in some ankle weights to add resistance, Do sit ups while hugging a 25lbs plate. If you're not exhausted by 15 reps, your still working abdominal endurance.
This is a very basic answer, but as of right now you don't seem like a n00b. so I'm sure you can take this info and run with it.
Cheers!