For the other Pro's - help with client needed

M

MrKJ

0
Ok, this one is really bad...

Ive been doing personal training for years and Im now the manager of a large health club. Last week I had a client, that I simply couldnt help the right way, when it came to ab workouts.

Ive been training many pro athletes and generally very fit persons, but this one beats them all. Its a girl, age 19, about 5 feet 6 and slightly chubby. She has been doing boxing training for about 1 year but stopped it ½ year ago. She has been doing heavy farm work for years before moving to the city 3 months ago.

The problem is, she has the strongest abs Ive ever seen in a person! That includes pro-athletes, Mr. and Mrs fitness athletes and all. I tried many different methods to get her tired but with no success. Began with swiss-ball crunches, moved on to leg raises with stop before she hit the bench and hip lift on the top. Then almost vertical crunches, then lying on the floor lifting both legs and arms straight so she claps her feet on the top. Technogym crunches, Kettler-crunches, the works. She did indeed get tired - in her lower back (she did them right, mind u, she just did very many) and in her legs from the weight-adjusted exercises.

I was left looking very dumb, but promised Id work something out. Suggestions?
 
Hanging leg raises holding a dumbbell between the feet?
Cable crunches
Reverse russian twists?

Take the same exercises and have her do them in supersets (pre-exhaust might challenge her a bit more), tri-sets, giant sets...

Let me know when you were able to overload her...sounds interesting! :)
 
Here are a few unusual exercises that should blitz her abs.

Leg Raise Pike — Holding a high bar with your body outstretched completely, raise your legs up and touch your feet to the bar. Keep legs as straight as possible. These are really hard for most folks.
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More coming... I think we can only post up to 3 images per post.
 
Bent Press — The bent press is one of the great classic lifts made famous by iron legend Eugene Sandow. It can be performed with either a barbell, dumbbell or kettlebell. Each implement offers its own particular "feel" (read punishment).

To perform the bent press, you lift the weight with one hand over your head by slowly "corkscrewing" yourself underneath. It's extremely draining and the lifter needs to really concentrate when performing the movement. In the setup of the lift, position the feet roughly 18 inches apart with the foot on the side that you're holding the weight turned in slightly and the opposite foot turned approximately 90 degree to the side.

As the lift begins, the weight is held in such a fashion that it's directly under the hip and you basically turn into it and lower yourself under the bar. As you continue to corkscrew under the bar, your off-side knee bends forward and the opposite knee approaches the ground which assists in stabilizing the balance of the bar. With the arm completely extended, you simply drive off the hip and extend upward. Maintain eye contact with the weight throughout the lift.

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Another tuffy!

Janda sit-up — While there's some controversy to this exercise, I've found it to be a fun addition to training. Named after Czech exercise physiologist, Dr. Vladimir Janda, this is one of the most challenging sit-up variations as it completely isolates the rectus abdominals by eliminating the hip flexors.
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Thx for the feed-back!

Isometric wont get her tired within the 30 sec fibre-exhaustion limit.

I tried the Janda situps too at our first meeting with the same result as the others. As for the cable crunch, I considered it briefly, but she would need more than her own body-weight, so she would have to have her legs held down, resulting in them getting tired before the abs.

Im intrigued by the bent press and the leg raise pike. Theres the danger of her shoulders and arms getting tired before the abs again, but Im gonna go for it. Ill work them into my own training a few times before having her do them. I never train something I havent tried myself.

Thx so much again! Ill keep you posted on the progress ;)
 
But wait, there's MORE!!

Have you ever tried these???

Saxon Side Bend — To the credit of the great Arthur Saxon, this is simply one of the finest core movements you can perform. This is a humbling movement that'll have you second guessing preconceived concepts of strength.

With feet spread roughly 18 inches apart and pointed straight ahead, hold dumbbells above your head close together. With total control, bend to one side and repeat to opposite side. Range of motion will be very modest and you'll find this movement requires a much lighter weight than you'd expect. As you bend to the side, keep the torso tight and the weights close together. Keep rep count low as with the other lifts, generally using around six reps per side.

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Windmill — This is a movement that looks simple but is oh-so-tough to perform. Hoist the weight above your head and maintain a tight and stable torso. With the weight in your right hand, position your feet roughly 18 to 24 inches apart. The right foot should be pointed in at approximately a 45-degree angle and the left foot turned out almost at a 90-degree angle.

Keeping the right leg locked straight and the left leg slightly bent, lower yourself slowly until you touch your left hand to the ground. Keep your eyes on the weight at all times and concentrate intensely. From the base of the lift, squeeze your abs and glutes tight as you lift in precisely the same angle of descent. A very effective rep range for the windmill is five to six.

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Full Contact Twist — This is an extremely simple movement that has some tremendous sport specific carryover for athletes in need of rotational work. There are a few variations of this lift and I prefer using one with more of a full hip turn.

Place one end of a barbell in a corner and grasp the other end with your left hand pronated (overhand) and right hand supinated (underhand). Pull the bar up using the torso and hips and square up completely to the wall. In this manner, movement is generated with a simultaneous pull of the torso and hip drive.

Reps should be kept low (around six) and I'd suggest not to advance with the weight too fast as you'll want to make sure your body is working in harmonious fashion and not simply pulling across with your arms.

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I don't understand. If you want tougher ab workouts, use RESISTANCE!

Weighted crunches with plates, or if thats too easy, use barbells (a 45lb olympic bar for starters) :)
 
jasondragon said:
I don't understand. If you want tougher ab workouts, use RESISTANCE!

Weighted crunches with plates, or if thats too easy, use barbells (a 45lb olympic bar for starters) :)
Click to expand...

So jason, am I to assume that you think that the exercises I recommend in this thread are easy ??? Have you tried any of them?
 
JP,

In terms of the exercises that MrK is already performing with his client, if he simply finds ways to increase the load he can make the repetitions more difficult.

In no way was I insinuating that the exercises you posted were simple. I have performed the side rotation twists with a barbbell. They are definately a great oblique/abdominal exercise.
 
True. But I'd bet the majority of people performing abdominal exercises are performing basic leg lifts, or reverse crunches, crunches, or sit-ups, bicycles, etc. Without adding any resistance.
 
I am new to this forum and was pleasently surprised to see almost all of my choice of ab exercises posted by you. Right On!
She could also try Dragon Flags, whether performed from the floor or a bench.
I have a similar client who has the abs of a boxer, nothing gets her motivated, she can't feel a burn, but bent presses,full contact twists, dragon flags, Janda and some basic weight swapping (sitting across from a partner, legs entwined, swapping a weight plate) have done wonders for her.
Doing some hanging leg raises with a Swiss ball or medicine ball between her legs could also prove good.
I believe tho that form is way ahead of reps when you work abs( or anything), so teaching her to properly pin down while crunching should be a priority.
Good luck:)
 
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