Craft Your Core

I keep trying to write a different blog, and I keep getting side-stepped by posting things on my facebook page and then receiving many demands from people to show them what I’m talking about. One day I’ll get back to writing what I’ve been trying to write, but for now, let’s talk core.

First of all, I want to debunk the sit-up myth. Crunch, crunch, crunch. What’s that sound?

a)     Me eating cereal out of the box

b)    Someone walking on leaves

c)     Your spinal vertebrae getting worn down from too many sit-ups 

The answer, of course, is all three! Sit-ups are not the be all and end all, people, and in fact, too much reliance on crunches to sculpt a six-pack (rectus abdominus) can cause unnecessary wear on your spine. I’m not saying you can’t ever do a sit-up again, but if you’re doing the 600 crunch a day Britney Spears routine, I’d take it down a notch and pay attention to the other muscles in there that are actually far more important for things like standing, walking, sitting and general body inhabitance.

There is an endless amount of information to write about the many muscles that make up the core and their different functions, but I’m going to skip to the end and just give you the exercises (so that I might be able to get back to what I was trying to write in the first place).

But let it be said: these are exercises that will give you muscles, and healthy abdominal muscles stick out. This is not about determining your value from the number on a tape measure that you run around your waistline, but rather living in a body that is healthy and dynamic and vibrant. I was actually laughing the other day remembering the Special K “Can You Pinch an Inch?” commercial about love handles, and how if you could pinch an inch at your waistline you need to go on a diet and eat Special K for breakfast (questionable logic). I can absolutely, proudly pinch an inch. Of muscle! Which is how it should be. So build yourself a strong body and ignore the nonsense.

Again, I learned all of these from the awesome Sean Hampton of ADI Rehab.

And again, there will be drawings. They will be ugly.

First up: Obliques! We loves us some oblique work. Looks like this:

Sidelying on your left side, propped elbow under shoulder, knees start stacked and feet point behind you like the letter L. Straight line in the body from elbow to knees. Then take your top (right) knee and slide it to the floor in front of your bottom (left) knee. From here, lift the hips. Feel the side of the waistline (obliques) engaging. Hold for 20 seconds, release, repeat.

Part two is to add in lifting the left foot (bottom leg) off the floor by externally rotating the left hip joint.

Part three is to lift the right knee off the floor and match heels so you’re balancing on elbow and knee (as if you were doing that jaunty little heel click). Don’t fall over.

Second Transverse Abdominis!

Find your TA by coughing with your hands on your lower belly and feel the muscles push out against your hands. Then lay on your back with your lower back pressing firmly into the floor. Pull the bottom ribs into the body (you’ll get a little six-pack action here) and then also press the lower belly muscles out into your fingertips. Keep both actions, and then lift your legs to 90 degrees and alternate tapping the floor with your feet. Repeat as many as you can do and then rest. And then do it again. Make sure both the low back stays touching the floor and the lower abdominal muscles are contracting out like an inflated rubber tire.

Thirdly: TA again, with a little serratus anterior for flavor.

On elbows and knees, elbows under shoulders, knees a little wider than and behind your hips. Low ribs pull in as low belly pushes out (like #2), with neutral spine, and then add in serratus by pulling down with your forearms as if you were attempting to close a window, but without actually moving.

Comments

[dedicated hosting]

Your advice is excellent!