CORE: KNOW THE SCORE

What does every guy want? (Apart from a hot burd) Shit-hot abs! Do they know how to get them? Nope!  Do they know the correct role of the abdominals? Are they familiar with the term “core”?  Are they insistent on doing a million different exercises a hundred times over to get that six-pack or eight-pack or whateverpack?  Yep!!  Do I blame these guys?  Well it’s not 100% their fault, I do blame gyms more. 

One of the biggest mistakes people make is they do not realise is that you have to be lean in order to have definition around the abdominal region, so stop eating those pies and pack on some muscle around the midsection.  It is important to have strength and muscle around the abdominals for health and strength purposes yet people are insistent on cheesy-ass moves which don’t do anything for them apart from making them look like a gimp.

What is it with instructors within this damn industry that insist on having their clients or inductees train their abs more than any other part of their body and why do they have to complicate things?!  “Aye mate, standing on a stability ball trying to do a squat, you’re the man, you’re defo gonna have the best looking abs that are super strong well done” Bullshit!!  This is the kinda crap over-emphasis and poor advice on training methods that annoys me and it is causing more harm than good.

Walk into any gym anywhere and I guarantee you that either on the gym floor or in a class some muppet is yapping on about the core-this and the core-that and they are teaching a bunch of people or a misinformed client some pointless isolated exercise which ultimately leads to a decrease in functional movement and does not in anyway get them strong whatsoever.

Looking at the core i.e. rectus abdominas, tranverse abdominas, internal and external oblique’s, multifidus and pelvic-floor they all work as a unit so why isolate them, it makes sense to train them as a damn unit! If you want proof use an EMG (electromyograph) and it will show that no muscle can work in isolation anyway so I don’t know where they get that, possible “Fitness for Muppets. Vol. 1”?

When the abs are worked they go through a lengthening and shortening phase on all three planes of motion i.e. frontal, sagital and transverse.  A good example of this is a footballer doing a throw in, is he gonna create more force in the throw by standing straight with hands and ball above his head or will he be able to launch that bad-boy by leaning back (eccentric lengthening) putting the ball behind his head (priming the core) then launching forward (concentric contracting) with the ball and letting go, hmm.. I wonder, so why do we still see muppets doing crunch after crunch? What does that achieve? Wait for it …
nothing. 

Get a medicine ball that is heavier than a football and shy/throw the f%$£er for 25 throws and you come back and tell me did it hurt and did it work.
FACT:  The abs is more efficient when they are eccentrically lengthened then contracted this will cause them to generate more force and power.
Quit doing bodyweight crunches, planks and twists or whatever else the current gimmick/fad is. Treat it like any other muscle, would you bicep curl thin air?  Strength training abs is the only way to achieve any results.
Here is a quote from one of THE main dudes:
“exercise training programmes should incorporate movement patterns on all three planes of motion and not isolate a joint or muscle group in only one plane.  If we limit the action on any exercise to one plane the exercise is not functional in respect to human movement within all three planes” (Chuck Wolf, 2007)
Many trainers talk about the core and how it protects the spine and they give inadequate training exercises, which most likely cause injury.  So, when training the core, don’t listen to any shit like “the core protects the back so it’s important to train it a lot,” the core does not directly protect the back.  The core along with the hip flexors, rectus abdominas, internal and external obliques, glutei and other pelvic muscles stabilise the pelvis and not the spine, so, basically, they relax the spine.  The erector spinae is in direct protection of the spine and any exercises that involve leaning forward or upright involves it and not the core.  Another classic bad example being taught is that by pulling in the abs you protect the back, this is one of the worst pieces of advice that can be given due to the fact you are promoting posterior pelvic tilting and rounding of the lower back i.e. relaxing the spine, dumb-ass. If you are going to contract any muscles to protect and strengthen the spine then they should be at the back and not the front.  Furthermore, too much emphasis on the core will weaken the spine therefore you will ultimately HAVE A WEAK CORE since you will then be susceptible to injuries and back problems.  “So much for thinking you have strong shit-hot abs”

To train the core correctly you have to involve exercises that move in multidirections and involve resistance e. g Russian twists, decline weighted sit-ups, flags, roll-outs, throwing actions, weighted planks.

The core should be trained like every other muscle so it should be trained in all types of fitness and not just muscular endurance i.e. strength, speed, power etc so repping out on ab crunches after the initial phase won’t do jack for you.
Emphasis on the core should be counterbalanced with emphasis on the spine but not through isolation either, examples of exercises would be deadlifts, squats, glute-ham raise, bent over rows from floor, good mornings and all your variations to these exercises.

So next time you’re in the gym and you’re training your core think about what you’re doing.  Remember this: the people with the best looking abs might not necessarily have the strongest abs.