Crunches are sooo 10 years ago…
…Spice up your core routine with a new Ladies Who Lift strength training workout!
Walk into any gym anywhere, and I guarantee you will see people doing crunches for their entire core strength training routine with the hopes of one day walking out of that gym flaunting some rock solid abs and a six pack. For a lot of people and unfortunately even some trainers, this ab exercise still seems to hold the spotlight, and while I cannot control what they do, I am here to push YOU out from that comfort zone and offer a Ladies Who Lift twist on your core strength training routine!
In the past 15 years there has been a ton of research done on what it means to work and strengthen your core musculature. It has been proven that there is so much more out there, and so many more beneficial and effective exercises you can do for your abdominals than the ever so popular “crunch.”
So while it is not completely useless, there are so many more useful exercises we can do to develop a strong and powerful core.
So what the heck even is a core?
Your core serves 4 main functions
To flex your spine-like when you bend over.To resist spinal extension-so you do not bend over backwards.The help you stay upright.To help you rotate or avoid rotation.
Your core muscles are made up of the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques.
All three play the role of creating intra abdominal pressure for a strong “pillar,” breathing, stability, and keeping your internal organs in place.
The Rectus Abdominis are the muscles you might “see” when people have a six pack. The RA is an important postural muscle, and comes into play when flexing the lumbar spine. You get these muscles working in any type of movement where you are bringing your rib cage to your pelvis, like our ever-so popular traditional crunch, or where you bring your pelvis to your ribcage, like in a leg raise.
The Transverse Abdominis is the innermost layer of all the abdominal muscles, located underneath your RA, the TA runs horizontally and is recruited almost any time a limb moves, aiding the body through safe movement of the extremities. Thought of as the “corset” muscle the TA works to compress your ribs and essentially keep your abdomen from protruding.
The Obliques are located on the sides of the abdomen, running from the hips to the ribcage. The obliques help the body to rotate and bend, which is why most people think of training the obliques directly, through exercises such as side bends and russian twists. But the obliques should really be trained for the same functions as the rest of our core, for stability, bracing, and more specifically for this muscle, through explosive rotational movements. Unlike the unnatural twisting of a russian twist, explosive rotational movements will teach you how to actually rotate-bracing the obliques to transfer power from your legs and hips to upper body.
THE DOS AND DON’TS
WHAT I DO RECOMMEND
Heavy lifting.
I know, big surprise coming from Ladies Who Lift. But lifting heavy will train your core to brace and transfer force to protect your spine like no other.
Focus on exercises that center around bracing.
Practice resisting forces while arms are extended.
The further away from your body your arms are, the more your core is forced to brace and create spinal stability.
Add explosive rotational movements
To create power through movement.
Add anti rotational movements.
For safety and injury prevention.
WHAT I DO NOT RECOMMEND
Side bends
Side bends emphasize bending of the lumbar spine, which is not something you want to do on purpose repeatedly. And if you are turning to this movement for its waist slimming effects, well...don’t. Doing repeated side bends will drive hypertrophy through these muscles, causing your waist to actually get larger. Remember-spot training does not work.
Russian Twists
Like oblique training, repeated twisting will add wear and tear to the lumbar spine. A no no. If you already have back pain and are looking for a strong core and spine to help it, this will do the opposite.
A whole day put aside for core training
It just isn’t necessary. Put aside 10 minutes at the end of your strength training workout to complete some movements, or superset them with your other accessory work.
Hopefully by now we have realized that crunches only allow us one type of core training, and only work one type of core muscle, leaving a lot to be desired from your strength training routine. So let’s get down to the good stuff with Ladies Who Lift!
