Most people train their core with sit ups and crunches… There’s a smarter way...
Your core is just the middle part of you, and the middle part of you is primarily for stabilizing s*** while you do stuff…
Basically, anytime you push something, throw something, pull something, use or move something [you get the idea - whenever you do anything, ever] the force starts at the base against the ground, moves along a kinetic chain [the components of the musculoskeletal system system involved in the production and transmission of force] and ends at the object that is being moved…
Like I said - primarily for stabilizing s*** while you do stuff…
Going back to our sit ups and crunches… We all need a certain amount of flexion and extension of the trunk - in fact it is vital in sports like gymnastics for power generation - but we do not need much of it for lifting and moving objects… Something we all do a lot of, whether we realize it or not…
I won’t bore you with talk of intra-abdominal pressure or by listing the true functions of your diaphragm, pelvic floor, obliques [internal and external], rectus, transversus, erectors, etc - let’s just all agree that for the most part your core acts as a stabilizer in real life, and therefore should be trained accordingly…
This means more: - Single arm deadlifts - Heavy carries - Single arm presses - Etc
This is what you need to do to effectively train your core, and the better you get at these, the easier everyday tasks become…
Tasks like: - Putting heavy, awkward s*** up on the shelf - Carrying heavy, awkward s*** from the car - Looking good naked - Punching obnoxious, preachy CrossFit bloggers - Being useful…
As for specific ab sessions - a monkey could think up ways to make your abs sore…
Just off the top of my head... 150 GHD sit ups for time *Every break of more than 5 secs = a 10 burpee box jump penalty at the end…
*Note: maybe don’t actually do this one… Firstly it looks f***ing horrid and secondly you might get rhabdomyolysis or something…
A monkey can get you sore and have you do sit ups in field or on a vibration plate [pervert]… But a monkey can’t program intelligently or instruct you on the finer details of an overhead yoke carry…
I suppose what I’m saying is if you’re going to train your core, you might as well train it correctly… Choose your ab sessions, trainers and pastimes wisely - you won’t get your time or money back.