Regardless of what you’ve read in magazines, seen on TV or heard from a friend, let me (as a qualified and experienced Personal Trainer) tell you something… sit ups aren’t a particularly effective core exercise. In fact, if you want to see your abs, all the sit ups in the world won’t help you. That’s a case of reducing body fat.
But that’s another blog post.
Today, we’re talking about ab workouts. When it comes to magazines, ab workouts are generally poorly-written, not very effective and in a lot of cases, downright dangerous. They can cause back problems and hip problems because they force an over reliance on hip flexors, rather than engaging the target muscles.
In this article I’m going to teach you about ab workouts - how the core works and how to train it properly.
Ab Workout Misinformation
If you read an article about ab workouts, you’ll probably see the same handful of exercises repeated in slightly different orders, with slightly different rep ranges. They won’t differentiate between goals particularly and there won’t be much in the way of regard for muscle balance and back health. They’re mostly written by journalists, not personal trainers with a deeper understanding of training, so they don’t go into proper details about what an ab workout should look like.
To combat the spreading of poor ab workouts, I thought I’d give you a template of what a good ab workout should look like and why. I’m not going to give away all of my secrets (you have to come and train at AdMac Fitness for those), but I’ll steer you in the right direction!
We’re going to talk about how we train the abdominals, what movements we need to focus on and what the science tells us about abdominal training.
The Purposes of a Good Abdominal Workout
It’s important that we cast aside vanity at this point, because although abs are synonymous with health, being lean and looking good, they actually serve a far more important purpose. They provide back and torso stability and they allow the safe and effective movement of the upper and lower body. They contribute to balance, to power transfer and spinal health. So yeah, being able to see your abs is great, but having abs that do the job they’re supposed to do is even better!
A good abdominal workout is more than just exercises to help see the abs though - it trains all of the muscles of the core through various planes of movement, testing them and strengthening them through a variety of movement patterns and loads. The benefits extend far beyond looking good as well…
A strong core will reduce injury risk, improve injury rehab rates, overall strength and power, posture, exercise technique, balance and general health.
Defining the terminology…
We have to define a few of the terms here as well, so to avoid doubt as we progress, I’m going to explain what they mean. These terms will be used throughout the article so it’s best I explain them before we go any further, that way you’ll understand everything we’re discussing as we go….
Abs - abdominal muscles. Multiple layers of muscle (top layers are known as superficial and the more hidden, internal muscles are known as deep).
Core - the connected system of muscles on the front and back of the torso, including muscles of the abdominals, lower and mid back, obliques (sides) and hips. The core muscles are also superficial and deep.
Torso - the mid section of the body, extending from the hips to the neck. Doesn’t include the limbs, neck or head.
The picture below will give you a good idea of what we are talking about when refer to an ab or core workout….
The problem with most ab workouts in magazines is that they focus purely on the rectus abdominis, neglecting the rest of the muscles. This can create back problems and leave you with a core that doesn’t function effectively because it only strengthens one area, not the whole thing.
What does a good ab workout look like?
To be truly effective a core workout has to strengthen all of the muscles in the region across various planes of movement that the core does most of its work in. Essentially, the core is responsible for three main movement functions…
Balance - keeping you upright
Hinging - folding you in half, then straightening you back out
Rotation - allowing your body to twist
So our exercises have to focus on these three movement patterns. We also have to make the muscles work with a variety of weight and rep ranges, meaning that a proper core workout won’t consist of just sit ups - it has to include exercises that involve weight transfer, hinging and rotation in order to be truly effective.
There is also a link between the type of exercise performance and the amount of core engagement. It seems logical to assume that exercises such as planks would activate the core more than back squats for example, but research shows that this isn’t true - squats engage the overall core more than planks.
Designing a Functional Ab Workout
Knowing what we do about abdominal form and function, we have to make sure that the exercises we pick include a balance element, a hinge element and a rotational element. With these in mind, the workout begins to look a lot different to most ‘core’ workouts you’ll see in a magazine.
Here’s a few exercises that will help you build a strong and healthy core, but also will offer crossover benefits to other aspects of your health and fitness. Experiment with them - start light, but increase the weights and reps as you get used to the techniques and the movement patterns….
The Front Squat
By front-loading the weight, your core is forced to work extra hard to maintain an upright posture and balance. This engages the core and the erector spinae, which are the muscles running alongside the spine. Also, it’s one of the best leg exercises you can do, so you kill two birds with one stone!
Barbell Rotations
The barbell rotation forces the core to engage as it rotates, forcing it to strengthen the oblique muscles, the rectus abdominis and the muscles of the lower back. It’s an excellent exercise when done well and translates well to sports requiring rotation.
Kettlebell Side Bends
These are an exercise that engage the superficial and deep muscles of the abdomen, plus they also train the oblique muscles down the sides of the torso. It’s a nice and simple exercise, but it’s also very effective. It’s excellent as a high-rep exercise too.
American Kettlebell Swings
This is a controversial exercise in kettlebell circles, especially amongst purists. They believe the only effective kettlebell swing is the Russian Swing, but a lot of people programme American Swings because they offer more in the way of core engagement. I like them because include lower back, core, balance, hinge and overhead stability elements to a workout. Be careful when you do them, but that’s a rule to follow with any exercise…
Functional Core Training - Concluded
There may be exercises here that you wouldn’t automatically consider with a core workout, but hopefully you’ve learned a little bit more about how the core works and what movements help to build a nice, strong and functional torso. Experiment with them in terms of weights you use, rep ranges, sets etc, but make sure you expand your thinking around exercises and you’ll see the benefits quickly.
These aren’t the only exercises we use for core training at AdMac Fitness, but if you want to know everything you do, you’ll have to come along and train with us!
Let AdMac Guide You Back to Fitness
As professional personal trainers, it’s our job to help you exercise safely and effectively. We also work out of our private studio in Bow, East London. We can operate in a safe, socially-distanced way and assure you that our standards of hygiene and cleanliness are second to none.
If you want to let us guide you back to full fitness in the best way possible, contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!