The Best Way To Train Abs
First it’s worth defining what we mean by core muscles and core training. Muscles that make up the core are anything that have an attachment to the trunk, therefore the hip flexors and hamstrings form part of the core as they can effect the alignment of the hips and therefore spine. When it comes to what the core muscles do, the primary function is to maintain posture, create a stable (yet mobile) base and reduce / decelerate forces being placed on us.
Core training can start to encompass a lot more than what you think a traditional “ab” exercise might look like. It can be about stability, therefore the exercise would be more about resisting movement i.e. pallof press. Or it could be a more reactive / deceleration type exercise which would involve a hop or jump with a controlled landing i.e. jump squat. Core training could also be movement based which is where something like a crunch / sit up could feature.
Getting back to the question. Do you have to do direct core training? Let’s be clear, if when you hear the words core training you think ab crunches and side bends etc and doing anything more than 10mins a week on this type of training, then not really. It’s not going to be a big priority in your training unless you’re pretty lean in the first place and you want to make your abdominal wall really pop out and show through the skin.
You may have seen in the press already that excessive movement of the spine can harm the discs. This isn’t to say you should never do spinal flexion based movements like crunches it’s more how many, how often and is it as a component of a well rounded approach to core training.
If you really want to focus on strengthening your core muscles to be able to deal with the demands of your training and life then I believe there is definitely a need to do direct core training and I would start with anti movement based core training (which I will write a separate blog post for).
If you want more bang for our buck I would look to incorporate exercises into your workout that naturally challenge the trunk to stabilise. Single limb training is a great place to start with this style of training as the offset nature will make you work to hold posture. This isn’t direct core training in the conventional way of thinking but it saves time and if your looking to bullet proof your body it’s a great place to start. Check out next Sunday’s blog post for my top exercises.
Like lots of questions within the industry this ones pops up every now and then. Like most fitness related questions the answer is “it depends”.
Copyright © 2019 Andy Vincent PT
Created by DO Digital Marketing
