Abdominal/Core exercises - your recommendations & routines

titchard

titchard

titchard

Soldato
Joined
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Crewe, UK
Hello!

One of the areas that I have noticed has slowed it's improvement is more abdominals whilst I am exercising - I have read that if you continue to do the same kind of exercises that you will not see any improvement, so because of this I mix up weekly what I am doing in this area. Is this a good thing to do?

Also - what routines & exercises do you guys recommend on here? I have got to the stage were the top four are just showing through, but I can feel the bottom four underneath and to make sure I am doing it right I mix up lower and up abdominal exercises.

Any recommendations in this area for what has worked for you would be great. The equipment I have to my disposal is kettlebell and swiss ball.

Also before it comes up - I do exercise all of my body - this is just an area I wish to seek some advice on.

Thanks in advance!
 
Best ones ive found are

Dead lifts-works your back and core like a mofo!

Plank from Gym Ball to a bench on equal hight(Feet on the ball) Hold as long as you can or do 5x1 minute reps.

Side bends with Weight- The day after i first did these i thought i was going to die :p They a bloody great for your Obliques. I do 5x10 reps each side and currently up to holding a 22.5kg dumbbell

Incline Sit ups with 10kg held to the chest- I do 3 sets 30+30+40 or similar.

Standing over head press - Brilliant for the entire core When i first did this i was wobbling and shaking like a bowl of jelly, now i can lift 55kg and my body is as stable as a rock :cool:


Im yet to add the Turkish get up into my routine but ive heard good things about it

Hope these help :)
 
I tend to do, vsits, reverse crunches, crunches on on a bench. Obviously they aren't going to pile on the size like compound exercises but I do them in addition to these where possible.
 
You cannot work upper and lower abdominals. The rectus abdominus is one muscle just like any other.

If you haven't already tried kettlebell windmills I'd recommend these along with planks and a kettlebell pull in. Hanging knee/leg raises are also good but all of these are substitues for squats & deadlifts!

As for getting the lower portion of the rec-abdom. visible this will be done by lowering your bodyfat %.
 
BennyC said:
You cannot work upper and lower abdominals. The rectus abdominus is one muscle just like any other.

If you haven't already tried kettlebell windmills I'd recommend these along with planks and a kettlebell pull in. Hanging knee/leg raises are also good but all of these are substitues for squats & deadlifts!

As for getting the lower portion of the rec-abdom. visible this will be done by lowering your bodyfat %.
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I had it in my head that whilst they were one unit per se, but they were split into two parts - my bad!

Planks I already do quite a lot of but will take into account the ones you guys have recommended too (the feet raised one, first)

I will have to work on the old body fat % then although I think as I weigh only about 64-65KG that will a rather hard feat! There is barely any fat on me! :P

Will go through these exercises tonight see how I fare on those - thank you folks for your input! :)

Rich
 
If you find planks quite easy add some weight onto your back.

I found I was doing 60 seconds, 20 seconds rest, 60 seconds, 20 seconds rest, 60 seconds 20 seconds rest. Really smash it!

You've got the rectus abdominus which is responsible for the '6 pack' it is however 1 muscle which has feeding tubes which harden to form tendons after birth which give the effect of several muscle bellies.

The obliques can be targeted too, theres a few variations of the dumbell windmill. A reverse crunch is supposed to be the *most effective* exercise for activating these, though that may be most effective form of floor exercise/crunch, which is more likely!

Abs will respond the same as any other muscle so 100's of reps aren't necesary. Train them heavy as you would any other.
 
Benny what do you think of what i posted/do? :)

Some of them I use, others I dont at the moment but have used previously
 
Zip said:
Benny what do you think of what i posted/do? :)

Some of them I use, others I dont at the moment but have used previously
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Looks good to me.

You might find a DB windmill more effective for hitting obliques, it's a bit of a hard one to master and there's a few variations using single overhead, single below and double dumbells (one below and one overhead). This feels a bit more natural to me than a side bend and feels easier on my spine.

Leg raises as well I quite rate. I do them after my leg workout butmostly to target the rectus femoris (part of the quad group) which is responsible for also helping to flex the hip and you get a bit of an ab workout from it as well. You grip is also worked too which is good :)

Nothing has blasted my core like front squats with static holds though!
 
I personally do hanging leg raises from a powerbar I put up in the door frame, 3 x 8 Mon - Fri.

Need to start off with a bent knee as otherwise my feet hit the floor, but as I lift my legs I straighten them. I've found that they quickly got easier so I suppose that must mean my core is getting stronger.

As above, squat / deadlift / standing press are all obviously excellent for core strength aswell, but in terms of isolation, leg raises are the daddy imo.
 
Robbie G said:
I personally do hanging leg raises from a powerbar I put up in the door frame, 3 x 8 Mon - Fri.

Need to start off with a bent knee as otherwise my feet hit the floor, but as I lift my legs I straighten them. I've found that they quickly got easier so I suppose that must mean my core is getting stronger.

As above, squat / deadlift / standing press are all obviously excellent for core strength aswell, but in terms of isolation, leg raises are the daddy imo.
Click to expand...

Hanging leg raises are very good, ideally you want to work up to doing full ROM where your shins end up touching the bar/your hands as this works the abs the hardest.
 
Sometimes changing to often can be as bad as not changing often enough.
Also, some people thrive on not changing, look at Dorian yates routines over the years, rarely changed at all!
 
You can do some proper static holds and static core exercises - however they won't be as beneficial or as good as doing them along with big compound exercises. :)
 
I read an article on T-nation about a workout which involved an olympic bar with 100Kg on your back. Nothing too tough about that right? Now walk a mile with it :p

Really want to give this a go, not sure if the treadmils could take the best part of 200KG though!
 
BennyC said:
I read an article on T-nation about a workout which involved an olympic bar with 100Kg on your back. Nothing too tough about that right? Now walk a mile with it :p

Really want to give this a go, not sure if the treadmils could take the best part of 200KG though!
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Ever tried the Farmers walk Benny? :)

BTW i think you would really like a book called Dinosour Training By Brooks Kubik

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html


Its what i base most of my strength training on:cool:
 
BennyC said:
I read an article on T-nation about a workout which involved an olympic bar with 100Kg on your back. Nothing too tough about that right? Now walk a mile with it :p

Really want to give this a go, not sure if the treadmils could take the best part of 200KG though!
Click to expand...

I seen that, the one done by the seals I think it was because they were bored one day. Nutters :p
 
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