Abdominal Workout
Top 10 Abdominal Exercises You Need To Do
- Abdominal Exercise Workout
Although most people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back, leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation.
In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression on the spine!
Boy, do I wish I knew all this in my teens and early 20’s when I did thousands of spinal flexion exercises per week, eventually leading to two herniated discs.
Not only are you risking long term back problems by doing all those sit ups, crunches, and all their useless variations but you are not even providing optimal stimulus to the abdominals. Research has proven that bracing actually trains the abs much more effectively than spinal flexion.
To properly employ this technique you need to brace your abs as hard as you can like you are preparing to take a punch. You don’t push your abs out and you don’t suck them in. In fact, sucking them in and trying to activate your transverse abdominis is one of the worst things you can do.
You simply want to tighten and flex the abs as hard as possible. Be sure that there are no energy leaks and that your entire core is braced tightly. You can have a partner poke you or lightly whack you with a stick from different angles to ensure optimal bracing.
Never in real life will you consciously flex your spine and contract your abs like you do in a crunch, so why bother doing it in the gym? If you are on your back in most athletic endeavors, it’s usually because someone put you there. It’s usually not where you want to be. So why try to train your abs in that position?
Starting today, you are going to stop wasting your time and destroying your lower back with traditional ab training and instead focus your energy on the exercises listed below and their many variations. Read more
Arm Workout
Small Changes that Lead to Bigger Arms
Best Arm Workouts
To strengthen your grip, try this plate pinch from Strongman competitor C.J. Murphy: Place a pair of 5- or 10-pound plates together, smooth sides out. Pinch the plates between your thumbs and forefingers. Try holding the weights for 30 seconds. Add plates as you gain strength. And watch your toes.
2. Change Grips
It can help you do more reps. Try a set of barbell curls with a narrow grip. When you begin to fail, slide your hands out farther. “You’ll get more out of your biceps,” says celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson, C.S.C.S.
3. Do Chinups at a Dip Station
Using the parallel bars of a dip station simulates a chinup without lifting all your body weight. Besides your back muscles, you also strengthen your forearms. Grab the bars from underneath and place your feet on the floor. Keeping your body straight, pull yourself up, pause, then lower yourself.
4. Use a Mirror
“It promotes better technique and helps prevent injury,” says Chris Jordan, C.S.C.S., of LGE Performance Systems in Orlando.
5. Add Extra Tension to Any Move
At the end of your arm workout, wrap one end of a resistance band around the handle of a dumbbell and place the other end under your foot. Now do a set of biceps curls and overhead triceps extensions to fatigue your arms, says Tim Kuebler, C.S.C.S.
6. Pick Up Drop Sets
Doing five reps or fewer per set with a weight you can lift only five times trains your muscles to grow bigger and stronger, says Mark Peterson, an exercise and sport scientist at Arizona State University. Do three to five sets without rest, reducing the weight by 10 percent to 25 percent each set. Read more
