Sit up's and Crunchies

[spliff fisted]

What gives you the best ab work out, and which is better for your body (ex. better for your back). I have heard that crunchies give you a better ab work out and that situps are bad for your back. I plead for the wisdome of the "collective" in this matter and if you have and articles on the subject from the web or that you can post I would love to get a hold of that as well. thanks for your thoughts...... PEACE!!

Outer space is a nice place to live but nothing beats gravity...

[Paul DiMarino]

Just follow strict form and you'll be fine either way. I usually mix things up depending on what conditioning cycle I'm on. Some good exercises are:

Back bridging (strengthens all stabilizer muscles)
Good mornings (hip flexors/abs)
Sit and tucks (trunk muscles)
Crunches (trunk)
V-ups (trunk)
Atomic Sit-ups (killer trunk)
Flutter kicks (hip flexors/abs)
Yuhas
Russian Twists
Full Contact Twists
Janda Sit-ups
No momentum sit-ups
Etc

Just pick a few exercises to do every other day for a few weeks, then switch it up.

[GinSueDog]

My girlfriend brought the abs slide about two months ago, and I tell you that thing makes working out your abs alot easier. My lower back used to get tight and strained from doing crunches all the time, but that abs slide thingy totally makes things easier. Someone here posted some ideas a while back on ab workouts using stuff from the local hardware store. Try some of those ideas.-ED

"The grappling arts imply most fights end up on the ground...take them there. The striking arts imply all fights start standing up...keep them there. The mixed martial arts imply any fight can go anywhere...be ready and able to go everywhere."-a mix martial artist

[spliff fisted]

cool thanks for all of that I'll try to do my best and modify my workout.

Outer space is a nice place to live but nothing beats gravity...

[LEGEND]

There's a cheaper version of the ab wheel at CHAMPs...$10.
This stuff will strengthen your UPPER BODY...notice when you do it the strain you put on your forearms up to your upper body...
You have to really concentrate to keep tight form...
It also works your abs...
But ab crunches will give you a quicker burn!

A

[Braden]

My MA conditioning stuff hits the abs alot, but I also do:

1. Crunches with your butt up against a wall and legs raised up along it, pointing to the cieling.
2. Leg raises from 180o (straight down) to 90o (straight forward) while on parallel bars (well, ok... two sturdy chairs).
3. Stand. Legs ~1.2x shoulder width. Dumbbell in one hand. Other hand on same side's thigh. Twist and bend at the waist to touch the dumbbell to the outside of the opposite side's foot. Raise. Switch sides.

These three exercises will hit everything you need (upper; lower; obliques and lower back, respectively), although if you're constructing a full work out you may want to look into hip exercises and you'll definitely want to balance #3 with some back-specific exercises.

You can make #1 and #2 more difficult by using free weights (on chest or in hands; or on ankles, respectively), but usually people just add reps. #3 of course you can just increase the weight.

However, most people shouldn't do any of this, as they're not doing the exercises right in the first place. Too many people have this idea that weight-training is about getting the most reps with the most weight. It's not; it's about maximimizing your personal training time. With this in mind, the "secret" is to focus all the motion on your abs. With each motion, the particular muscles should be quite noticably pulling your body around; the rest of your body should not tense up at all. Most of the people who get _this_ right, for some reason forget to keep doing it on the negative motion (ie. returning to the start position), which I feel is actually where the most benefit can be had.

Coordinate your breathing with each motion, first in, then out when returning to the original position. (Although with #3 I actually find it better to exhale while bending down, inhale while bending up. Any comments?) If you start feeling abnormal pain, stop whatever you're doing. You're either doing it wrong, or doing it with too much weight (#3 is especially susceptible to this, as most people have comparitively weak lower backs - start with light weight and build up SLOWLY. You don't need heavy weights to condition, you just need proper form and long term dedication. Even a moderate injury WILL screw you out of exercising for months.)

Also, I've often heard it suggested that you CAN exercise your abs every day (generally, your muscles need a need off for every day they get worked), however I haven't found it to be worth the bother.

P.S. Sorry for being preachy. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[mantis108]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Coordinate your breathing with each motion, first in, then out when returning to the original position. (Although with #3 I actually find it better to exhale while bending down, inhale while bending up. Any comments?) If you start feeling abnormal pain, stop whatever you're doing. You're either doing it wrong, or doing it with too much weight (#3 is especially susceptible to this, as most people have comparitively weak lower backs - start with light weight and build up SLOWLY. You don't need heavy weights to condition, you just need proper form and long term dedication. Even a moderate injury WILL screw you out of exercising for months.)[/quote]

I am of the opinion that For #3, it is better to exhale to go down and inhale to come up. Especially if you are using abdominal breathing with naturel breathing pattern. That is stomache in when exhale and stomache out when inhale. It is ergonomically correctly and empowering to do the exercise in that manner. Also, make sure warm up the muscle prior to practice. Just a thought.

Mantis108

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