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Sign Up for Email Newsletters: August 2010 Newsletter
Views on how to train the Abs from a Chiropractor and former personal trainer…
When I was a 20 year old student at SDSU, I got a job as a fitness instructor at Jack LaLanne’s Health Spa. One of my job duties was to teach a 45 minute “ab” class. What a treat…me on the floor with a bunch of 40 something’s, trying to get rid of their guts. Needless to say, as the instructor, it was my job to perform every repetition of the workout, daring these fitness wanna-be’s to keep up. I must say at that time…few could.
The classes consisted of the standard leg raises, bicycles, knee ups, and pike situps, along with 100 different ways to do a crunch, all performed to Boy George’s “Do you really want to hurt me?”
When all was said and done, the one that was hurt was me. 20 years old, a competitive swimmer with no history of injuries, and I had developed a chronic case of lower back pain!
Wait a minute, everyone knows strengthening the abs helps the back, right? What I have learned, first from personal experience, then from 30 years of training and 15 years of treating back pain is…it’s how you strengthen the abs that matters!
So here are my 10 Commandments of proper abdominal training:
1. There is no such thing as spot reducing. Your abdominals don’t “feed “ off of your belly fat. Just because you work the muscle, doesn’t mean the fat goes away there. You must have reasonable expectations for your ab workout, or you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and failure. Wanna get rid of the fat? Do your cardio and quit eating so much, or so much crap.
2. Leg Lifts are horrible! Any “lower ab” exercise which requires you to lift your legs, or repetitively bring your knees to your chest, (flexing your hips) will stress your back, mess up your posture, contribute to the beer belly and the love handle, and help pay for my kids’ college tuition. This is “ab”solutely, my most important commandment! In a way, I suppose I should thank these exercises for introducing me to Chiropractic care!
3. Beware of the “ab” board, or any other apparatus which has you locking your feet under a bar or pad. Like the leg raises, your excessively loading your lower back and hip flexors. The ends don’t justify the means.
4. Crunches on the ball are always better than crunches on the floor. For that matter anything on the ball is better, because you have to use your “core” to balance you while performing the motion. Really, that’s the primary function of your abs- to support and stabilize your torso and spine…what better way to train them?!
5. Planks are awesome! Boring-yes! Painful- yeah! Awesome…oh yeah! Once again, it’s all about stabilizing and supporting!
6. Don’t do side bends with weight. Side bends with weight are a great way to make your love handles worse…and create more visits to the Chiropractor. We’re back to that spot reducing myth here, since most people do this exercise to lose the handles. Additionally, this is more a back muscle exercise than an oblique ab exercise. No weights-ok…weights- no way!
7. “Brace” yourself when doing ab exercises. (or any exercises for that matter) Bracing means tightening your stomach as if you were preparing to take a punch in the gut. This protects and trains the transverse abdominals-powerful back supporters.
8. Ab weight machines should only supplement your ab routine. Though machines will help to strengthen your abs, this additional strength does not guarantee better support and stability for your back. When you’re locked into a machine, very little support is required of you- the machine provides it for you. You need to do functional exercises which require the abs to stabilize your torso and spine.
9. You must stretch your hip flexors. Nowadays, most people are sitting entirely too much. One of the effects sitting has is to tighten the hip flexor muscles in the front. Stretching these muscles routinely will not only prevent injuries, it will help to improve posture…and appearance!
10. Every other day is enough. So many exercise enthusiasts consider abs to be part of a daily routine. I suppose this comes from the idea that often weights are not involved in the ab routine, and the goals is tone- not building. The reality is, your abs are like any other muscle group- work ‘em hard…give ‘em a day off!
From time to time we will be offering Ab training workshops here at the office. If you’re interested, let us know and we’ll be happy to contact you when we schedule a workshop.
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