ab work
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ab work
So I stumbled on this while looking for something else and gave it a try:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... abs_really
I was able to do level 3 fairly easily but couldn't do level 4 without at least one heel leaving the floor. I was surprised to find that after just a few reps (maybe 5) of level 3 though I felt like I'd done a good 30 crunches. What gives - I'd always read that crunches were supposed to be preferred for various biomechnical reasons, but those straight leg things felt much more intense and targeted.
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... abs_really
I was able to do level 3 fairly easily but couldn't do level 4 without at least one heel leaving the floor. I was surprised to find that after just a few reps (maybe 5) of level 3 though I felt like I'd done a good 30 crunches. What gives - I'd always read that crunches were supposed to be preferred for various biomechnical reasons, but those straight leg things felt much more intense and targeted.
Good looking man, I'll definitely be doing more of these is the future. It took me 6 tries to get the first level 4 without my heels involuntarily jumping up between steps 2 & 3, and then I could only get 3 reps in a rowbefore my right heel jumped up on the forth. I thought I was having issues with the second level 1 until I noticed that they did that one backwards. I can only do level 3 of the reverse crunch test, which kind of made me angry because I did little more than core exercises over the winter. I didn't notice any names for these exercises, does anyone know
of their names?
The pauses in between the movements make them a lot harder than they would normally be, especially the last step.
of their names?
The pauses in between the movements make them a lot harder than they would normally be, especially the last step.
Well, I'm a stud apparently. The level 4 ones are actually kind of hard. Harder than I though a body weight ab exercise could be. How about level 5, a set of situps on a decline bench at maximum decline, holding a bar with about 55% of your bodyweight. I could usually get 6 or 7 when I last did them.
i tried this out a few weeks ago. found 1 - 3 to be very easy. my form was strict. 4 was more of a challenge, but certainly doable. not sure how accurate this is as a level indicator.
then again, most of my ab work is weighted, and has been for a long time. hanging leg raise with 35lb dumbbell, sets of 6 or 7, is better use of time, i feel. same with ironman's decline weighted situp.
then again, most of my ab work is weighted, and has been for a long time. hanging leg raise with 35lb dumbbell, sets of 6 or 7, is better use of time, i feel. same with ironman's decline weighted situp.
Maximum decline, Ironman? My bench's maximum decline is 90 degrees straight up, but there's not much to hold on to.
Onlyethic, now handing leg raise, to me, doesn't seem like ab work. That hits my hip flexors more. Unless your talking about the one where you keep your knees bent the whole time and raise your butt...
I think I'll keep at it until I can do their level 4... seems interesting.
Onlyethic, now handing leg raise, to me, doesn't seem like ab work. That hits my hip flexors more. Unless your talking about the one where you keep your knees bent the whole time and raise your butt...
I think I'll keep at it until I can do their level 4... seems interesting.
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I got both tests at level 4 first time I tried. I tried them again just now, a couple hours after a workout involving weighted situps and rotational med ball slams.
Again, I got level 4 on both the bottom-up and top-down ones.
I don't think the tests are really that hard...unless maybe the judging is more strict in person than I can do on my own?
Again, I got level 4 on both the bottom-up and top-down ones.
I don't think the tests are really that hard...unless maybe the judging is more strict in person than I can do on my own?
Yea well like I said I've heard that. Googling "squat abdominals" and such gives tons of pages of people raving about it. I just don't get it mechanically though. The only way I can see the abs being involved at all is just from the overall tensing of muscle throughout the body whenever you're exerting yourself. In that vein though, you work your abs in almost every exercise, just maybe a little more in squat because squat already recruits a lot of other muscle.
On either squats or DLs you need to set your abdominals very tightly in order to protect your spine. If you're doing that well, it's a lot of work for your abs.frogbyte wrote:Yea well like I said I've heard that. Googling "squat abdominals" and such gives tons of pages of people raving about it. I just don't get it mechanically though. The only way I can see the abs being involved at all is just from the overall tensing of muscle throughout the body whenever you're exerting yourself. In that vein though, you work your abs in almost every exercise, just maybe a little more in squat because squat already recruits a lot of other muscle.
We had a big discussion a few weeks ago here about whether the work that the abs get from squats and DLs is enough. Personally, I do some additional ab work, and I believe that that work in turn helps my squats and DLs. I do mostly isometric ab exercises like Pallof press planks, etc.
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EMG studies would disagreebob wrote:If you really want to develop a good core, the best way in my opinion is to do exercises such as squats, especially the front squat, and deadlifts. With good form of course. You can always do isolation ab work to define the abs, such as planks or stability ball oblique crunches to name a couple.