Ab question

newby.204

http://www.shapefit.com/abs-exercises-plate-twists.html

Hey lads, need some advice.

when i do the exercise in the demo above, oblique plate twists, im getting pain in my lower back as the reps get higher. Now ive stopped doing it however id like to be able to do it. now i use a dumbell instead of a plate!!

any advice?

Vinnie K

Try the fitness forum dude!!

David Jones

My two penneth as a fitness instructor and PE teacher for the last 13 years. I wouldnt do that exercise as I would guess it suits a certain type of body, shorter legs and shorter body, would be ideal. For someone with a long back or long legs, short back long legs, or long back short legs, you are looking at an already stressful position for your lower back, (ie having to lift your legs and feet up off the floor and keep them straight) you are then adding a weight and twisting!?

There are all sorts of other ways of hitting your obliques, using a swiss ball and a med ball together or on their own, hanging knee raises with a slight twist at top of movement, ab wheel at various angles, side plank etc etc.

I can keep my feet off the ground in that position with my hands on my hips for a long long time (after years of been made do it in Karate Class, do I not miss those TMA days!) but it doesnt really hit anything I want, and I wouldnt dream of adding a weighted twist to the movement weather it be plate, dumbbell or med ball. google around various ab sites and try and find an alternative, if you get stuck PM me. Or Im sure some other people will have some ideas.

eoghan.geraghty

You're getting pain in your lower back because as your abs tire your other midsection muscles start taking up some of the strain, ie lower back.
A general rule with ab exercises is to stop if it starts hitting your lower back, as injury is only a few more reps away.
Honestly I wouldn't worry about targetting your obliques unless you're a competitive bodybuilder.

Dragan

I'm liking the advice given in the two posts above.

I'm not sure what art you are doing, but i honestly can't see any need to directly target the oblique muscles regardless of what sport you may be doing.

Don't get me wrong, core strength is important, but that excercise is doing very little for core strength.

That excercises seems to be quite literally taking the target muscles into such a place that you cannot really apply decent direct load to them, you spending so much time using the hips, quads, abs, lowerback etc to keep the body in the position it needs to be to do the actual twist itself.

I personally find that big heavy compound movements will hit the abs, and simple things like crunches and planks will do more than enough to directly work them. Grappling arts and wrestling are also fantastic for ab work as well if you do them.

Just as a side note i'm really lost on the whole "target the **** out of your abs" thing if you want a six pack. Moderate direct work will do the trick, remember having visible abs is all diet and getting down to a certain bodyfat. With regards to what targets the abs , your would be suprised. One day while training triceps i did 10 sets of rope push downs for about 15 reps with 100 kilos. The next days my abs were absolutely fried from keeping my body stable during them.

Long story short, your abs get plenty of work from the basics!!!!

David Jones

With regards to what targets the abs , your would be suprised. One day while training triceps i did 10 sets of rope push downs for about 15 reps with 100 kilos. The next days my abs were absolutely fried from keeping my body stable during them.

Totally agree. One of the crossfit workouts involves overhead lunges ie an olympic bar locked out above your head and 21 lunges as one part of a circuit repeated 3 times. Now yes it directly stressed my leg muscles but stabilising that O bar above my head made my core ache for two days. In fact I probably should have mentioned it earlier, try even one of the cross fit WODs a week a lot of them hit your core like above, and are far more beneficial than directly targeting obliques.

Colm_OReilly

For Core work nothing beats the overhead squat, pull ups and deadlifts. Anybody who has a decent amount of strength in those areas will have a solid core.

Factor in diet and you've got you a six pack!

But, if you must do ab exercises, these guys raise some interesting points on the whole sit up thing.

Colm