Subject: Re: Legendary Abs II Date: 10 Feb 91 20:25:16 GMT There were a couple of questions about this program, and someone asked me to post a paraphrased copy of the program to this group. So I thought I'd go ahead. As a preface: - I have a spondylolisthesis - slipping of the lowest vertebra forward on the pelvis - basically a "broken back", although a condition that quite a number of people have and live normally with. - I had, until starting Shotokan Karate, problems with my lower back, some part related to the spondy and some part related to INCREDIBLY flat feet. - I've always apparently had weak or underdeveloped abdominal muscles. Even when they're reasonably well developed, they may not seem so externally. - I've had a broken rib or three in the past year or so. These things are all related to each other and to Legendary Abs. To begin with, Legendary Abs was recommended to me to strengthen my lower back. Yes, back. Because the lower back and abs work together! This is one of the arguments AGAINST situps - when done improperly, they work the back and stomach against each other instead of together! One of the questions on this thread is "What does a discussion about strong abs have to do with this group?" There were a couple of answers, the main thrust being (1) strong abs enable you to absorb punches better if you don't manage to block them, (2) strong abs are better for your general health, and (3) if you have strong abs, you probably also will have less back trouble (at least in MY case). In addition, the abdominal muscles are connected to the muscles that cover the ribs and chest. While working only the abs will not necessarily build up those muscles well, when combined with a rounded (not lengthy, just rounded) program, building the abs also helps to protect the ribs and chest (see - I TOLD you they are all related! %^}). As for the program itself, here are some excerpts and paraphrasings. Note that I am trying to avoid violating HFL's copyright, that I advocate purchas- ing this book (yes - it's only 43 pages - about 33 cents a page), and that I recommend strong abs in martial artists. Now, on to the material: CONDITIONING ABDOMINAL MUSCLE To condition abdominal muscle most effectively, it's necessary to do exercises that... - TARGET THE ABS -- involve movements directly caused by the abs, not simply movements in which the abs play a supporting role (many traditional "ab" exercises *don't* meet this criterion) - OVERLOAD THE ABS--force them to do more work than they're accustomed to - WORK THE ABS FROM A VARIETY OF ANGLES--to ensure maximum fiber involvement. The Good Word On Sit-Ups: *Don't Do Them!* At first thought, Straight-Legged Sit-Ups and Roman Chair Sit-Ups seem to satisfy the requirements above. Both movements center around the midsection and both cause an abdominal "burn." Actually, though, the abdominals have a much narrower range of motion than either of these types of sit-ups require. Two-thirds of the Straight-Legged Sit-Up is the work of muscles other than the abdominals [I know it's legs, for me!!--sml]. And although the abs play a stabilizing role during Roman Chair Sit-Ups, they are in no way responsible for the Roman Chair situp *movement*. Here's the rule to know: If you lie on your back with your legs extended, your abs have the capacity to raise your shoulders about 30 degrees off the floor. No further. *Any exercise that involves movement beyond that 30 degree range involves muscles other than the abs.* [It goes on to explore whether it's bad to involve other muscles, and concludes that in this particular case, the answer is yes. The particular muscles are the *psoas magnus* and *psoas parvus*.] SYNERGISM: The Critical Element For a given series of exercises, there is always *one specific sequence* that affords maximum benefit to all the muscles involved. When performed in that sequence, each exercise becomes more powerful than when performed in other sequences or alone. This is *synergism*: combining elements to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. ... PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER At this point we have the three rules needed to begin putting together a synergistic abdominal conditioning routine: - Rule 1. Avoid exercises that activate the psoas muscles AND require a body position that allows the back to arch. EFFECT OF RULE 1: We eliminate many "standard" ab exercises... - Rule 2. Work lower abs before upper abs. - Rule 3. Do twisting (oblique) upper ab exercises before straight upper ab exercises. EFFECT OF RULES 2 AND 3: We sort the remaining suitable exercises into general categories reflecting the order in which they should be performed... [summary of individual exercises and programs follows] Hanging Leg Raises - hang from hands, keep back rounded, NOT arched, curl the pelvis, keep knees slightly bent. Raise the legs until the knees ALMOST touch the chest. Consider using wrist straps or arm slings. Hanging Knee-Ups - same, but fully bend knees. HFL Lying Leg Thrusts - lie on back, raise head and back, support lower back/buttocks with fists, and keep back flat on floor at start (rounded, not arched). Raise legs and try to push them straight up at the ceiling. Abdominal Crunches - flat on back, hands behind neck (don't use hands to pull head up), knees bents. Raise head and shoulders off floor to about 30 degrees using abs, NOT hands/arms. Cross-Knee Abdominal Crunches - same, but twist and point elbow at opposite knee. 1/4 Sit-Ups - start like crunches, but raise feet off floor so thighs are perpendicular to floor, lower leg perpindicular. Same as crunch from here. Knee Rock-Backs - start like crunches, but raise legs (knees bent) and shoulds and touch nose to knees. Pull-Down Ab Crunches - kneeling, pull weight down using abs. Needs weight machine or elastic strap on chinning bar. [routines] A. 15 HFL Lying Leg Thrusts, medium speed 25 slow 1/4 Sit-Ups 10 second rest 10 HFL Lying Leg Thrusts, medium speed 20 medium speed 1/4 Sit-Ups 1. 25 medium speed HFL Lying Leg Thrusts 15 second rest 20 medium speed HFL LLTs 25 slow Ab Crunches 10 FAST 1/4 Sit-Ups 2. 10 medium speed Hanging Knee-ups 15 second rest 8 medium speed Hanging Knee-Ups 25 slow Ab Crunches 15 second rest 20 FAST Ab Crunches This is where I left off when I broke my collarbone. This is a progressive program, where you start with routine A, and do that a few times a week until it seems not to be producing any more results. Then move on to Routine 1, same process, then Routine 2. There are also routines 3-7, but I'd feel REALLY guilty if I told you EVERYthing. If you like this stuff, BUY THE BOOK. I've found it quite beneficial. One of my 9-year-old daughter's favorite games is "butt daddy". She gives me warning, and then head butts me in the stomach a few times until I give up, each time harder. I'm NOT a masochist, but it's kind of interesting to see how much I can take. And as I mentioned in a previous posting, after doing this program for a while I was able to take a full power punch from a fellow student while demonstrating the value of Kiai in absorbing punishment. I think it works, although I'm no exercise physiologist. Just an older (well, not THAT much older! %^}) fellow who has foot and back problems and is in pretty good shape ANYway. I have NO connection to/with Health For Life, other than being a satisfied user of their program. Osu Steven Subject: Re: stomach Date: 17 Feb 91 19:56:50 GMT > >My problem is that when I have tried leg raises it strains my lower >back, and I tend not to do them. > >Is it because my lower back is weak, and the above exercises will >actually strengthen them as well as my abs, or, am I doing the >wrong leg raise exercises? > First of all, the abs are a group of muscles that run from the ribcage to the pelvis along your front and sides. The abs do not cross the hip joint (they do not attach to the thighs), so it is impossible to do a leg lift using your abs for the motion. The lower abs action is to tilt the upper part of your pelvis backwards, flattening your back. So, if you want to work your lower abs, you have to keep your back flat on the floor in some exercise. One way to do this is to lie on your back, thighs perpendicular to the floor. Put your hands on your lower abs, 1-2" below the navel. Now make your stomach muscle CONCAVE and flatten your lower back by tightening the muscles under your hands. If you want more challenge, start in the same position as before. Then, slowly bring one heel to the floor while your lower back remains flat. Then bring the knee back to the vertical. Repeat on the other side. A more challenging exercise is to bring one heel down, scrape the heel on the floor as you extend your leg, then bend the knee and bring the thigh back to vertical. All the time, keep the lower back on the floor. Most important is to keep the stomach muscle concave and to keep the lower back on the floor at all times. If you cannot do that, try a less challenging exercise. If the lower back lifts off the floor, your lower abs take a breather, and the ileopsoas muscles take over. If your stomach muscle bulges out during the exercise, you exercise your rectus abdominus in an elongated position, making the muscle very strong when it is lengthened, but you will develop a hard, round stomach. Good luck, Charles Cunningham Subject: Re: stomach Date: 18 Feb 91 19:02:34 GMT Excerpts from netnews.misc.fitness: 15-Feb-91 Re: stomach Kathryn Scholl@ > If anyone has any other leg raise exercises that don't stress the > lower back, I would be interested. If I am doing the above exercises > incorrectly, please let me know as well. Here's one more lower abs exercise. This on almost totally isolates the lower abs, if you do it right. (someone else mentoned this already, but it bears repeating:its important to remember that the lower abs function to curl your torso, and have nothing to do with hip motion) Lie on your back, and lift your legs until they are vertical. Tuck your fists under your buttocks, so that your lower back is flat on the ground. Now, concentrate on tightening up the muscles in your lower abs, so that your legs move upward, along with your lower torso. Your legs shouldn't move *back* towards your head, they should extend upwards toward the ceiling. It should be a feeling of curling your torso, and lifting your buttocks off your hands. Then lower your body back down. That's one rep. Hanging leg raises are good also, but you have to remember that curling your lower torso is the key part: if you don't curl your torso, you're just exercising your hips (and maybe straining your back) Subject: Re: Abdominal Muscle Exercise Date: 9 Jul 91 20:47:10 GMT (James Trammell) writes: >Hi. I am trying to build up my abdominal muscles. Unfortunately, the >only exercise I know of is the situp, and with me this seems to only build >the upper half of my abdomen. >Can anyone 1) recommend exercises that will help build up the entire >abdominal area, and 2) recommend exercises that concentrate on the >lower (in the navel area) abdominal region? >Thank you, >James Trammell OK, here comes my abdominal lecture: Your abdominal muscles run vertically from your pelvic/pubic area up to your rib area (I'm sure there is connective tissue involved - comments, anyone?). Anyway, what this means is that, when contracted, all the abdominal muscles can do is bring your ribs and pelvis closer together. The upper abdominals move the area to which they are attached - the ribs - like when you do a sit-up. The lower abdominals move the PELVIS (NOT the legs - those are hip flexors). Exercises to target the lower abdominals are trickier to learn than those for the uppers. Lying down and doing leg raises primarily exercises the hip flexors, while secondarily activating the lower abdominals as stabilizers. To really hit the lower abs, you need to move your PELVIS. Lie down on your back, bend your legs at the hips and knees so that your feet are off the floor and your back is flat, then curl your pelvis off the floor. You will be using your lower abs. I like to combine this movement with a more traditional crunch. First curl your pelvis, then raise your shoulders/ribcage off the floor. Another, more difficult variation of this is to hang (either from a bar or on one of those "rocket chairs" abdominal things), raise your legs up, knees bent, until they are above your hips. This is the "resting" position. From that position, tilt your pelvis up and forward. Return to the "resting" position. An even more difficult variation is to do this with your legs straight. Hope this helps, Jeff Sidell Subject: Re: Abdominal Muscle Exercise Date: 9 Jul 91 23:27:14 GMT >>Can anyone 1) recommend exercises that will help build up the entire >>abdominal area, and 2) recommend exercises that concentrate on the >>lower (in the navel area) abdominal region? >Your abdominal muscles run vertically from your pelvic/pubic area up to >your rib area (I'm sure there is connective tissue involved - comments, >anyone?). Yes indeed, the primary flexor of the vertebral column in the abdominal area is the rectus abdominis. It originates on the pubic crest and the symphysis pubis. It inserts on the cartilage of the fifth to seventh ribs and the xiphoid process. In addition, the rectus abdominis is assisted in a "situp" movement by the internal and external obliques, whose primary function is to flex the spine laterally. The linea alba is a tendonaceous structure running the length of the abdomen as well. It intersects the rectus abdominis, giving the "ripple" or "washboard" look to the abdomen. >Anyway, what this means is that, when contracted, all the >abdominal muscles can do is bring your ribs and pelvis closer together. >The upper abdominals move the area to which they are attached - the ribs - >like when you do a sit-up. The lower abdominals move the PELVIS (NOT the >legs - those are hip flexors). Since the musculature runs completely from the ribs to the pelvic girdle, there is no actual physical distinction between "upper" and "lower" abdominal muscles. As you state, they can only move the ribs and pelvic girdle closer together. Indeed, as in all muscles, however, you can act upon different areas through different exercises. >Exercises to target the lower abdominals >are trickier to learn than those for the uppers. Lying down and doing >leg raises primarily exercises the hip flexors, while secondarily >activating the lower abdominals as stabilizers. To really hit the lower >abs, you need to move your PELVIS. ... Exercise descriptions deleted... This does seem to be the best way to isolate the lower portion of the rectus abdominis. For most people, it is rather difficult. Indeed, the best exercise I have seen for this area is sort of a U-shaped situp akin to a crunch. I belive it is much like one of the exercises you mentioned. Lie on the floor and position your legs vertically under your own power (No walls here...). Now do a crunch while attempting to touch your toes. The knees should be as straight as possible, although they most likely shouldn't be locked out. As you are all the way up in the movement, you are in an extreme U (or V) shape and should attempt to raise your pelvis (push those feet to the sky) if you haven't already. (I s'pose it's possible... but the pelvic tilt kind of occurs naturally.) Another exercise that seems to work well (and is shown in many books) is the crunch where you have your legs raised, but bent at the knee. The position is thus: You are lying down, with your thighs vertical and your lower leg horizontal. You now crunch to your knees. Because the pelvis is already rotated forward somewhat, this tends to concentrate on the lower area. Don't use a wall to support the feet, though, as it moves the tension further "up" in the rectus abdominis. Don't forget to do stretches for the hip flexors, or lower back problems can result. Just my $0.02..... Patrick D. Buick EMT EET | (EMT: Emergency Medical Technician) Subject: Re: Abdominal Workouts Date: 15 Apr 92 16:38:48 GMT >In article o (Jim Wood) writes: >** a (Anand Raju (Temporary Account 97.589)) writes: >** >** >A friend lent me a booklet called "Legendary Abs" >** >... >** >Would I get results faster if I increase it to every day? I can >** >see why working out other day is preferred if you want to increase >** >muscle mass, but these exercises are to tone rather than build. >** >** I do abdominals 5-6 days per week religiously, and my goal is to >** *tone* rather than to build mass. For toning there should be no >** restriction to every other day, unless you just plain don't want to >** do it! I've been natural bodybuilding for a little over four years. For the first three years, I worked my abs a maximum of three times a week. This produced a bit of development, but certainly no washboard (fat wasn't the culprit - I was measured (immersion technique) to have a total body fat of 6%). I asked my friend, who has a perfect washboard stomach, what excercises he did. He told me he worked his abs six times a week, and essentially only did 1/4 sit-ups. So... I tried working my abs more often (4-5 times a week). It worked! Within two months I noticed a great increase in definition and strength. Here's my routine: 10x Hanging leg raises 5x Hanging knee-ups 15 second rest 10x Hanging leg raises 5x Hanging knee-ups 35x Lying 6" leg raises 15 second rest 25x Lying 6" leg raises 40x 1/4 sit-ups 10 second rest 25x 1/4 sit-ups 20x crunches rest a bit, then do a few more crunches until you can't do any more I work out two days on, one day off - so I end up working my abs every workout, a total of 5 days a week. This seems to be a nice middleground between how often I'm 'supposed' to work abs, and the possibly excessive 'every day' approach. According to science, I am overtraining. According to my results, however, I am not overtraining. Of course, as with all bodybuilding, what works for me might not work for anybody else. Mike. From: (David Wilson) Subject: Don't do leglifts (was Re: suggested books/exercises for ab work?) Date: 13 Aug 92 15:18:49 GMT The sports medicine column in Iron Man has addressed abdominal training three times in the last two years or so. The latest announced some research that had come up with a variation on the crunch that truly prevents involvement of the muscles that rotate the hips (the hip flexors) and pull on the lumbar vertebrae in the process. One of the earlier columns was very specific on the fact that leglifts in particular, and any excercises that depend on the same muscles, are to be avoided. Unless you are a gymnast you don't need great strength in those muscles anyway. The author said their clinic has never seen a gymnast who DIDN'T have serious lowback pain. He described a case involving a female sprinter who was doing leglifts to, she thought, strengthen muscles she needed to set better times. After getting her to quit the leglifts, her back pain was resolved, and she proceeded to set new personal bests. Leglifts do NOT work the "lower abdominals" as commonly believed, and are VERY BAD for the lower back. The object of training is to be stronger and healthier, right? You want your efforts to make you better off, not worse off, right? Don't believe 99% of the trash about developing the abdominals. Twisting exercises were another one debunked in a column a while back. I can't count the articles I've seen showing Joe Superstar doing hundreds of twists, seated to boot. You might just as well use a hacksaw on the disks between your lumbar vertebrae -- you would at least get it over with sooner. The sports medicine column in Iron Man is very valuable reading. There are many common excercises that are very damaging, while not doing much of the good they are commonly believed to do. There are others that can effectively work the intended muscles, and not do damage, if done properly (but some of the commonly practiced versions are not proper and cause problems). Dave Wilson From: (Don Roberts) Message-ID: <139776@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> Nntp-Posting-Host: phoenix.ocf.llnl.gov bandwen@eagle.larc (bando) writes: >This is probably a FAQ, but I would like to know what are the >best exercises for your abs. I currently do about 200 crunches >along with holding my body in the crunch position and peddling my >legs in the air like I was riding a bike. Any other suggestions? Okay, this'll probably get me flamed big-time, but from what I see in my gym, there are a lot of people with misconceptions about ab work--some of which can actually be harmful. In a recent Sports Medicine column in IRONMAN, Joe Horrigan claims that much of what we think of as "ab work" primarily works the hip flexors. Unless you do some serious stretching, this can lead to tightening and shortening of the hip flexor muscles, causing an excessive forward-tilt of the pelvis and subsequent lower back pain. (Note: Even stretching may not be enough: women gymnasts have extremely strong hip flexors, and the resulting pelvic tilt is why so many look "swayback"). Some examples of BAD (ie, hip flexor) "ab" exercises: - sit ups (especially straight leg) - Roman chair sit ups - hanging leg raises Some GOOD* ab exercises: - crunches with legs bent - crunches with legs up on a bench/chair - weighted crunches (done at a weight-stack machine) [detecting a theme?] * Horrigan says that the optimal cruch exercise should be done without *any* hip flexor involvement. To do this, he suggests lifting your feet slightly off the floor and having a partner *pull up* on the bottoms of your ankles. This causes the antagonist hip extensors to contract, preventing involvement of the hip flexors. If you don't have a partner, you can approximate the same effect by pushing the balls of you feet against a wall while your heels are on the floor. -- Donald W. Roberts From: (STEPHEN G. BUELL) Subject: Hanging Leg Raises Date: 11 Nov 92 18:49:07 GMT I've been using the Legendary Abs program (modified by me) for quite awhile and would encourage everyone to try the hanging leg raises. It is key that you see the book's illustrations in order to perform them correctly. You need to get your pelvis forward to decrease the help of the hip flexors and to take the stress off the lower back. They are tough to do! But the LA book gives you some other exercises that will build the lower abs enough that soon you will be able to do a few hanging leg raises. I'd recommend using straps as it gets tiring to continue to hold yourself without them. After doing as many as you can, try to do some crunches including a pelvic tilt. I think you will be surprised by the feeling. Your lower abs will be shot and it will be very difficult to do much of a pelvic tilt with your crunches. The leg raises are also funny in that you get little warning as to when you can't do any more. I'll get to 8 and think that 12+ will be cake. Often I don't even get the ninth one. It goes that quickly. Steve From: (Jabir Hussain) Subject: Re: Situps Date: 11 Feb 93 23:01:23 GMT Aa couple mental tricks that work for me when doing crunches (or any exercise): - Concentrate on squeezing the abs. Your upper body coming up is a side effect. Visualize the abs squeezing. Think only about the abs squeezing -- nothing else. - Squeeze the abs in stages. Imagine a wave starting at your lower abs and running up towards your ribcage. As the crest travels, squeeze that section of the abs. From: m (keith.r.smith) Subject: Re: Washboard abs and percent of body fat Date: 18 Feb 93 19:36:53 GMT >> >>Daniel Prince wrote: >>: Generally, how low does a man's percent of body fat have to be for >>: him to have "washboard abs" >> >> >> I have found that it has alot to do with the size of the ab muscles >> themselves, as well as the %age bodyfat. >> >> I am around 14 - 16% and have what my wife calls "ample covering", but >> my abs show through quite well because they're big. Some friends of >> mine who have much lower bodyfat %ages (eg a semi-pro soccer player >> who finds it hard to even pinch a bit of skin on his midsection) has >> completely flat abs with not one showing. >> >So how get you get them? Exercises, rep/set schemes, etc. > >Troy The best ab building exercise that I know of is the L-support. It is an isometric exercise from gymnastics. You support yourself upright on your hands, with your legs straight, your feet pointed and your body is bent at the hip (pike position) such that your feet are straight out in front of your waist/hips. Hold this position for ten seconds. If you have never done this before, you may have to do it on dipping bars until such time as you develop the strength required to hold your feet high enough to allow you to do it on the floor. This will build thick abs on _anybody_. Keith R From: (LASZLO Joseph F.) Subject: Re: Washboard abs and percent of body fat Date: 19 Feb 93 04:00:58 GMT keith.r.smith (krw@cbnewsk.cb.att.com) wrote: : The best ab building exercise that I know of is the L-support. It is an : isometric exercise from gymnastics. You support yourself upright on your : hands, with your legs straight, your feet pointed and your body is bent : at the hip (pike position) such that your feet are straight out in front : of your waist/hips. Hold this position for ten seconds. If you have never : done this before, you may have to do it on dipping bars until such time : as you develop the strength required to hold your feet high enough to allow : you to do it on the floor. This will build thick abs on _anybody_. At the gym clubs I've worked out at or coached at, dynamic exercises are usually the norm for building strength (and power). Holding an L or V support is a static exercise and tends to make you strong in that particular position, but not as strong overall as a dynamic exercise would. This is not to say that doing L-supports won't help overall strength at all (specially when you're not used to them), just to present some alternatives. A few decent dynamic ab exercises are: Leg raises (either hanging on a bar or in support position) When doing hanging leg raises, try to touch your feet to whatever you're hanging onto. . . . | |\o | o => |/ => o . . . | | | | | | When doing leg raises in support position, try to go past an L position (to a V position if your shoulders and triceps are strong enough to support you). Leg raises should be done fairly quickly but smoothly. The primary drawback of leg raises is that they require some kind of equipment (though a strong armchair will suffice :-). L-supports don't have this problem. V-snaps (my personal favorite) From a position lying flat on your back, raise both your upper body and legs to meet halfway (in a V position - upper body and legs vertical if you've strong/flexible enough), lower back down to a few inches off the floor and repeat. Hands can be held overhead and reach for the toes or be held at the sides and reach past the knees (the second allows for a faster motion): | => |\o => -------o-- |/ -------o-- V-snaps will be difficult at first (until you learn to balance well while doing them). Once you can do them properly, they should be done as quickly as possible while still doing them smoothly. A rate of 80 per minute is excellent (and quite possible - one guy at the gym did 2 per second!) Start out easy at first - sets of 5 for leg raises, sets of 10 to 15 for V-snaps. Work up to sets of 10 to 15 and 30 to 60 (for leg raises and V-snaps respectively). Two or three sets is sufficient. Leg raises and V-snaps can be made easier by bending the knees as the legs are raised (and straightening them as the legs are lowered). You should realize that building strength is not necessary the same as building mass, so the above may not apply to building 'bigger' abs, but every serious gymnast I've ever met had 'washboard' abs. Disclaimer: The above information is based soley on personal experience. Your mileage may vary. Joe. -- --------------------------- Joe Laszlo --------------------------- From: m (Scott Barvian) Subject: Re: Is this Lower Ab Exercise Worthwhile? Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1993 16:03:03 GMT Here's the exercise: Starting Position: laying on the floor or a bench, lift the legs straight up at 90 degrees, back stays on floor. Exercise: Use the abdomen muscles to lift the legs straight up, keeping the legs perpendicular to the floor. Return to starting position & repeat. Starting Legs Raised ~| ~| | | <-- legs | O_______| O_____/ Are these good, bad, OK, sissy, or what? The Legendary Abs II program uses this as a "foundation" exercise in the early stages of their program. They start with the feet about 18" off the floor, knees bent, and make it a two-step motion, first to the vertical position above and then raising the legs (trying to press the heels to the ceiling). They suggest putting your hands under your butt and lifting the head so as to prevent the back from arching. I've always found this exercise very difficult to do with proper form. But it does seem much more beneficial than leg raises. And I suppose "sissy" is in the eyes of the beholder. -- ==== Scott Barvian =============== Motorola Inc, Tempe, AZ, USA =========== From: a (Jason Patrick Fahy) Subject: Re: Is this Lower Ab Exercise Worthwhile? Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1993 14:42:15 GMT (G.K. Khalsa) writes: >Here's a question about an abdomen exercise a chiropractor gave to >me. >Here's the exercise: >Starting Position: laying on the floor or a bench, lift the legs >straight up at 90 degrees, back stays on floor. >Exercise: Use the abdomen muscles to lift the legs straight up, keeping >the legs perpendicular to the floor. Return to starting position & repeat. > Starting Legs Raised > ~| > ~| | > | <-- legs | > O_______| O_____/ >Are these good, bad, OK, sissy, or what? They're good, provided you know what the movement is supposed to be doing. (I find them too difficult to do, but even in my brief experiments I could tell they were working.) The rectus abdominis is intended to shorten the distance between the sternum and the pelvis. This is important to remember in any ab work, and particularly in this exercise because it's easy to get fixated on pointing your toes, getting your tailbone off the floor or whatever. What you have to concentrate on is rolling your pelvis toward your chest as your legs go up. Let me rephrase that - concentrate on rolling your pelvis toward your chest. This will raise your legs, but that's not important; what you want is to make your abs do all the work by drawing the pelvis up and back. Focus on the abs, and exhale during the contraction to really crunch the muscle. Enjoy... :-) Jason F. Subject: My ab routine (was Re: Abs every day) Date: 7 May 93 15:17:08 GMT Here's an ab routine I have had great success with. It sort of follows the Health for Life tradition of `synergy', with a giant set approach. Most importantly, it only takes about 10 minutes. I work my abs either every other day or two days on/one day off, depending upon the lifting routine I am using for the rest of my body. Exercise reps time/rep Hanging leg raises 15 2s Hanging bent-knee raises 5 1s lying 6" leg raises 30 1s (15s rest) lying 6" leg raises 20 1s reverse crunches 20 1s 1/4 `twisting' sit-ups 35 2s (10s rest) 1/4 sit-ups 35 2s crunches 20 0.5s Unless specified, no rest between sets. Make sure to breathe out during the contracting phase of the motion. Exercise descriptions: Hanging leg raises: Hang from a chinning bar (use wraps if you want), slowly lift your straight (slight bend at knees OK) legs until they are a little beyond parallel to the floor. Slowly lower the legs in a controlled fashion (no swinging!). Concentrate on keeping pelvis slightly tilted by maintaining a bit of an arch in your back throughout. Hanging bent-knee raise: Same as h. leg raise, only keep your legs bent at the knee, and concentrate on lifting your knees to your chest. lying 6" leg raise: Lie down on a mat, placing your hands beneath the upper pelvis/lower back. Raise your straight legs about 1' off the floor (this is starting position), and further raise your legs about 6", then lower them 6", etc... Think of pushing your back into the mat with your stomach muscles. reverse crunches: Lie on a mat, arms extended a little out from the sides of your body (for balance). Perform bent-knee raises from this position. 1/4 sit-ups: Lie on a mat, knees bent ('bout 110 degrees), feet about shoulder width apart, hands behind head, elbows out. Raise your upper body strictly as possible, just until your shoulder blades come off the mat. Hold in this position for about 1s. Always try to keep abs flexed. Concentrate on lifting chest to the ceiling (maintain a space about equal to the size of a grapefruit between your upper chest and chin). twisting 1/4 sit-ups: Same as 1/4 sit-ups, only twist a bit at the waist towards the right or left during the raising part of the motion. Repeat sit-up raising to opposing sides for each rep. crunches: Lie on a mat, knees bent at 90 degrees, feet off the floor so that shins are parallel with floor. With hands behind head, elbows out, lift upper body towards the ceiling, again, just 'til shoulder blades are off the mat. If the giant set approach is new to you, you will find that you make great gains for the first month or so. After this transition period, you still make gains, but at quite a bit slower rate. I have the muscle for the washboard, now if only I could make the effort and shed a couple % of fat :-) !! Mike. ------------------ Mike Cyze From: tino@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (allen.j.tino) Subject: Re: Are Ab Workouts Very Useful? Date: 25 Jun 93 13:13:06 GMT > A couple questions and comments on ab workouts as a supplement to a > powerlifting program. > ... > Is it true leg raises only work the hip flexors? Are they good to do > anyway? Leg raises done incorrectly will primarily work the psoas. To work the lower abs you must: keep the back curved (not arched), concentrate on contracting the abs and lifting the pelvis (the legs will follow). If you are doing it right, you will bend slightly at the waist, not at the hips. If you are doing it wrong, your back will be straight or arched, and you will bend at the hips. The "Legendary Abs" program from Health For Life has the best discussion of leg raises that I have seen. _______ Al Tino Subject: Better Lower Abs - Was Re: Abs proper form Date: 16 Sep 93 12:44:37 -0600 There were reponses from people that were interested in the lower Ab exercise suggestion that I had so here goes: This one was also shown to me by the Sports Physiologist that does classes to the instructors at our YMCA. - Lay on your back with your hands on either side just out from your hips. - Lift leg up in the air so that there is about a 90 degree angle between your upper body and your legs. - Point your toes up and push your legs straight up in the air. Try not to allow any rocking to occur. The most common mistake is rocking your feet more toward your head as you lift. - When you have lifted your rear off the ground, hold at the top position just as I described for the crunches in the previous posting. - Bring your rear down and repeat until your can't stand it any more. - Follow this up with the crunches that I expained - remember to tighten the glutes and hold at the top position of the crunches. If you can't push your toes straight up try rolling a towel up and putting it under you at your belt line. Only do this until you can get 15 reps with a 5 second hold at the top of each. When you can do 15+ reps (not sets as I mistakenly typed in the last posting) increase your holding time. Let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps. Let me know what you think. Bob Sleik YMCA Weight Training Instructor, AFLCA Certified From: echnology Support -- Calgary Board of Education) Subject: Re: Abs proper form Date: 15 Sep 93 15:54:42 -0600 > writes: >>My stomach is flat as a board. I'm doing crunches to *put* some bulges > in it! >> >>Murray > > In order to get ab muscle definition, you should probably use weights > when doing your crunches, as well as using some type of ab machines that > use weights (if you have access.) I don't believe that crunches alone > will really help define the muscle, especially if yours is flat already. > Then again, I'm not an expert, I just read alot. :) I don't think weight are necessary. One of the best methods that I have learned was shown to me by a Sports Physiologist that does classes to the instructors at our YMCA. I have found it very effective and do have 6 pack abs - 8 when I am a little leaner: - Get ready for a standard crunch with feet on the floor. - Curl up (trying to bring ribs together with pelvis) only as high as when the base of your shoulder blades are just bairly touching the ground. - As you do this above motion tighten your gluts (butt muscles) - this is the best way to perform what a pelvic tilt was meant to do. - Hold this position for at least 2 second, but preferably 5 seconds. - Come back down without letting your shoulders touch the ground. - Repeat until your can't stand it any more. When you can do 15+ sets increase your holding time. He described the reason that this is so effective is because we are meant to use our abs as support muscles. We walk around and carry things upright, not rapidly bowing forward and back. I will post a very good lower ab exercise if there is interest. Hope this helps. Let me know what you that try it think. Bob Sleik YMCA Weight Training Instructor, AFLCA Certified Subject: Recommended Abdominal Exercises Date: 21 Sep 93 15:10:16 -0600 It looks like my posting for lower abs got lost when part of our Internet link went down. This is for the many people that have been asking me about it. I have reposted it with my original posting: The best methods that I have learned was shown to me by a Sports Physiologist that does classes to the instructors at our YMCA. I have found it very effective and do have 6 pack abs - 8 when I am a little leaner: Upper Abs: - Get ready for a standard crunch with feet on the floor. - Curl up (trying to bring ribs together with pelvis) only as high as when the base of your shoulder blades are just bairly touching the ground. - As you do this above motion tighten your glutes (butt muscles) - this is the best way to perform what a pelvic tilt was meant to do. - Hold this position for at least 2 second, but preferably 5 seconds. - Come back down without letting your shoulders touch the ground. - Repeat until your can't stand it any more. When you can do 15+ reps increase your holding time. He described the reason that this is so effective is because we are meant to use our abs as support muscles. We walk around and carry things upright, not rapidly bowing forward and back. Lower Abs (Do before above crunches): - Lay flat on your back with hands on either side just out from your hips. - Lift legs up until they are at about a 90 deg. angle to your upper body. - Point toes up - Lift legs straight up in the air without allowing your legs to rock towards your head (that is easier said than done). - The lift should be enough to raise your rear end off the ground. - Hold as with the crunches (5 seconds is optimal, but longer when 15 reps can be achived) - Lower then repeat. If you can't achive this motion, roll up a towel and put it under you along your belt line. Try without the towel when you can get 15 reps at 5 second holds on each. Hope this helps. Let me know what you think. Bob Sleik YMCA Weight Training Instructor, AFLCA/YMCA Certified From: (Max Heffler) Subject: Re: Dieting & Water Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1993 03:27:25 GMT >> 1) Is drinking water while dieting and after exercising a GOOD thing? >> >Personally I have found drinking water the single most contributing factor in >my weight loss for the reasons you have outlined. After more than seven years of exercising religiously four times a week, I still was having problems getting my washboard to stick around after a meal. A friend suggested two things: 1. Eight glasses of water a day 2. Rubber stomach wrap for sweating I had always heard that those stomach wraps don't do much good and that you only sweat off the water and put it back on after the first meal. My friend suggested that if you drink enough water you won't retain it. I finally have a washboard that stays around the entire day. I think the 6 to 7 glasses of water a day had more to do with it than the stomach wrap, but I still work out in the wrap because the combination is working so well. Now if I can just keep it up for the next 22 months. Several people say it takes two years to get used to the extra water. Maybe than I won't have to pee all of the time... -- From: Thomas Richard Hummel Subject: Re: When should I do Abs? Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 14:50:33 -0500 Scott, There are several philosophies as to when to do abs. A professional bodybuilder friend of mine does them before his workouts as a warm-up. Many people do them after their workouts. Still others do them at night as you mentioned before going to bed. Each method has it's own benefits, so you'll need to decide which is best for you. Some of these benefits are: Before the workout: This will save you time. You can integrate your abs workout with your warm-up (which we all know we should be doing.). If you want to get in and out of the gym quickly because you are a busy person this could be best for you. After the workout: An ab workout can be a decent cool-down. Also, if your a big fan of synergism (Read: Secrets of Advanced Bodybuilders by the same makers of Legendary Abs I & II.) than you'll know that your abs are used in most exercises as stabilizers, so by saving them until the end you can pre-exhaust them. Before bed (Or some other random time): This allows your body to be fully rested so that you can really concentrate on those abs and make them hurt! Which method you choose depends on you. During the school year I do my abs before my workouts to save time. During breaks I like to do them after my workouts, or before bed, or even both (It's hard to overtrain abs- but not impossible so be careful.). This also lets me shock them a bit. Hope this long winded response helps you. -Tom. From: u (Tim Mansfield) Subject: Abdominal Training FAQ Summary: Information about Training The Midsection (Monthly Posting) Date: 19 Dec 93 19:00:41 GMT Archive-name: abdominal-training Last-modified: Dec 20 1993 Version: 0.2 **************************************************************************** THE ABS FAQ **************************************************************************** This FAQ is intended as an introduction to the basic principles of training the abdominal area, sometimes known as the belly. The creation of this FAQ was motivated by frequent questions on the topic in the newsgroup misc.fitness. I. INTRODUCTION AND CAVEATS II. QUESTIONS QUESTION 1: I want abs like giant ravioli, what do I do? QUESTION 2: If I want to reduce my spare tire/love handle/fat around my middle, should I do lots of situps? QUESTION 3: So, how do I reduce the fat covering my middle? QUESTION 4: I've always done situps, what's wrong with them? QUESTION 5: So what are good ab exercises? QUESTION 6: Is there a specific order I should do these in? QUESTION 7: How do I structure a routine? QUESTION 8: How often should I train abs? QUESTION 9: I have pudgy love handles, should I do side bends to make them smaller? QUESTION 10: Gee, I heard that you have to balance your abs with your spinal erectors, how does that work? III. REFERENCES IV. CONTRIBUTIONS OR COMMENTS V. CONTRIBUTORS I. INTRODUCTION AND CAVEATS The information in this FAQ is based on - Health For Life's _Legendary Abs_ booklet - endless threads re: abs - in misc.fitness and - on the weights mailing list - and sundry other sources. See the references list at the end for how to get hold of these things for yourself. II. QUESTIONS QUESTION 1: How do I get abs like giant ravioli? Getting visible abs depends on reducing the amount of fat covering the abs, see Question 3. Getting hard, lumpy abs depends on developing the underlying muscles, for details, read on... QUESTION 2: Should I do lots of situps to reduce fat around my middle? No. Exercising the area from which you want to lose fat is called "spot reduction". Spot reduction is now believed to be a myth. Research shows that fat is lost all over your body, not just in the area that you work. Situps are also bad for for your lower back (see Question 4). QUESTION 3: How do I reduce the fat covering my middle? The answer comes in two parts 1) diet and 2) aerobic exercise. DIET This is controversial, but most people agree that eating very little fat and lots of complex carbs (like rice, pasta and potatoes) helps ensure that you don't add additional fat. Then you have to work at using the fat you already have stored which involves... EXERCISE Again a bit controversial, but it's widely agreed that regular, moderate, aerobic exercise 3-4 times per week works best to burn fat that's already stored. "Moderate" because intense exercise burns glycogen not fat, so keep the intensity at about the level where you are beginning to puff a little. "Aerobic" means (very vaguely) the kind of exercise that requires you to inhale more. Some suggest that building more muscle through weight training helps as well, since muscle burns fat just by being there and moving your body about; so some weight training couldn't hurt and will probably help. Many misc.fitness people agree that exercise periods of more than 20 minutes work best. QUESTION 4: What's wrong with situps? Two things: they're inefficient and they grind vertebrae in your lower back. They're inefficient because a muscle (muscles?) called the psoas which runs from the lower back, around to the front of the thigh does a very similar job to the abs: it pulls the torso towards the legs. It works best when the legs are close to straight (as they are when doing situps), so for most of the situp the psoas is doing much of the work and the abs are just helping. Getting the psoas muscle out of the way involves putting the thighs at a right angle to the torso. Situps also grind vertebrae in your lower back. This is because to work the abs effectively you are trying to make the lower back round, but tension in the psaos encourages the lower back to arch. The result is the infamous "disc pepper grinder" effect that helps give you chronic lower back pain in later life. QUESTION 5: What are good ab exercises? For the lower abs, in order of difficulty: 15cm lying leg raises vertical lying leg thrusts hanging knee ups hanging leg raises For the upper abs: ab crunches 1/4 crunches cross-knee crunches pulldown crunches 15cm Lying Leg Raises Lie on your back with you hands, palms down under your buttocks. Raise your legs about 30cm off the floor and hold them there. Now trying to use just your lower abs, raise your legs by another 15cm. Do this by tilting the pelvis instead of lifting the legs with the psoas. If you're big or have long legs or both, you should probably avoid this exercise. For people with legs that are too heavy for their lower abs strength, this exercise pulls the lower back into an arch which is bad (and painful). See Question 4. Vertical Lying Leg Thrusts Lie on your back and put your legs in the air vertically over your pelvis. Now, just using the lower abs raise your pelvis off the ground. If you have difficulty straightening your legs, that's OK, but make sure you're doing the work with your abs, not by thrusting with your legs. Hanging Knee Raises You need a chin-up bar or something you can hang from for this. Grab the bar with both hands with a grip a bit wider than your shoulders, cross your ankles and bring your knees up to your chest (or as close as you can get). Your pelvis should rock slightly forward. Pause at the top of the movement for a second and then slowly lower your legs. Make sure that you don't start swinging. You want your abs to do the work, not momentum. Hanging Leg Raises Just like knee raises except you keep your legs straight. This requires good hamstring and lower back flexibility, see the Stretching FAQ (stretching) for details. Ab Crunches Lying on your back, put your knees up in the air so that your thighs are at a right angle to your torso, with your knees bent. If you like you can rest your feet on something, like a chair. Put you hands either behind your head or gently touching the sides of your head. Now, slowly raise your shoulders off the ground and try to touch your breastbone to your pelvis, breathing out as you go. If you succeed in touching your breastbone to your pelvis, see a doctor immediately. Do these fairly slowly to avoid using momentum to help. 1/4 Crunches Same as an ab crunch except that you raise your shoulder up, instead of pulling them toward your pelvis. You can do these quickly, in fact it's hard to do them any other way. Cross-Knee Crunches Like ab crunches, take the lying, bent-knee position, but this time crunch diagonally so that you try to touch each shoulder to the opposite hip alternately. At the top position, one shoulder and one hip should be off the ground. Pulldown Ab Crunches Drape a towel or rope around the bar of a pulldown machine so that you pull the weight using it instead of the bar. Kneel facing the machine and grab hold of the towel and put your hands against your forehead. Kneel far enough away from the machine so that the cable comes down at a slight angle. The exercise is the same movement as an ab crunch, but using the weight instead of gravity. The emphasis is still on crunching the abs, pulling the sternum (breastbone) towards the pelvis making sure you exhale all your air at each contraction. QUESTION 6: Is there a specific order I should do exercises in? According to the Health For Life people, you should exercise the lower abs before the upper abs and do any twisting upper ab movements before straight upper ab ones. Twisting exercises work the obliques as well as the upper abs. QUESTION 7: How do I structure a routine? - Try to do sets in the 15-30 rep range. - Follow the two golden rules in Question 6. - Pick easy exercises to start with and when you can happily do about 2 sets in a row of an exercise, try picking harder ones. - Only rest when you absolutely must, so take a short (10-15sec) rest between two sets of the same exercise, but none between lower and upper abs. - Try to take about 1 second for each rep, except for ab crunches which you should always do slow (2 secs/rep) and 1/4 crunches which you should do fast (2 reps/sec). QUESTION 8: How often should I train abs? Three to four times a week. QUESTION 9: Should I do side bends to reduce my love handles? Nope. Love handles (the pads of fat above the hip bone at the side of the waist) are fat and only shrink with a low fat diet and general aerobic exercise (see Question 3). You can't just remove the fat from that area on its own. As well as that, side bends build the obliques under the fat and will make your love handles look bigger. Direct oblique exercises are generally considered a bad idea for that reason, but if your aesthetics for the human body include big, meaty obliques, then go right ahead. QUESTION 10: Gee, I heard that you have to balance your abs with your spinal erectors, how does that work? Thanks for asking. If your develop your ab strength without similarly developing your spinal erectors (the muscles that straighten your lower back), you will end up with strange and possibly damaging posture. A fairly good lower back exercise is hyperextensions, which are best done on a hyper extension bench, but can be done on a bed or ordinary bench with something (or someone) holding down your ankles. Lie face down, with your hands touching the sides of your head, your body draped over the edge of the bench and with your hips supported so your pelvis can't move. Slowly raise your torso to the horizontal position, but no higher. Keep your head, shoulders and upper back arched through the whole movement. Try to do a couple of sets af around 12 reps after each ab routine or after each back routine. Don't eaxercise them more than about three times a week. If you already do deadlifts that's probably exercise enough. III. REFERENCES Legendary Abs and Legendary Abs II Health for Life 8033 Sunset Blvd. Suite 483 Los Angeles, CA 90046 (800)874-5339 (U.S.) +1 310 306 0777 (International) +1 310 305 7672 (Fax)