Topic: Ab and Core Exercises

[Paul LaDuke]

The latest NSCA Strength and Conditioning Journal had a great Point-Counterpoint article in it.  This regular column is moderated by Loren Chiu who is also the Chair of the Weightlifting SIG.  The debate was about "Are Specific Spine Stabilization Exercises Necessary for Athletes?."

In brief one author gave the opinion that healthy athletes would benefit from the use of core and spine isolation exercises while another author argued that the use of these exercises will not be of any transferred value in preventing injury or increasing athleticism.

My questions for this weightlifting community are this:

#1 - Is the prescription of core isolation/stabilization exercises necessary for succes in weightlifting?

#2 - Do you perform core isolation/stabilization exercises in your personal training.


I think this can be a great debate and l look forward to your input.

[Rex Kanis]

I have voted yes. my lordosed lumbar spine will punish me if i don't frequently train my abs.

[Shaun Le Conte]

I think "prescription of core isolation/stabilization exercises" is really a mouthful and I don't think we should take it for granted that the meaning is obvious. I mean, I had to try and look up myself. Basically its about training the deep muscles of the abdomen near the spine that help to a cushion of high pressure surrounding the spine during load bearing exercise.

IMO this should be incorporated into all weightlifting exercises by staying tight  , rarely using belts, and doing plenty of work with an overhead weight (snatches, jerks, overhead squats).

I don't think that abdominal "core" training is some special area that needs to be especially addressed for weightlifting training, unless there are some special, rehabilitative or maintenance needs as Rex Kanis mentioned.

Really to me the word prescription as it is used in the NSCA debate creates the impression that specialized experts are required in this area, and some will conclude that "because of the skill and complexity involved in setting up a core stabilization program, supervision by a physical therapist, athletic trainer, or a certified strength and conditioning specialist is usually necessary" (Donald Demay, see address below)

http://www.kerlanjobe.com/index.php~practiceId=1052&dir=article&lib=Article&articleId=10067.html

[Paul LaDuke]

Shane,

There is some debate in the athletic training and strength and conditioning fields on the training of these deep spinal and abdominal muscles.  Some believe that an athlete can voluntarily contract these deep muscles, others don't.  Some professionals see great dysfunctions within these muscles and their firing sequences, others don't.  In my training philosophy, I try to avoid isolation of individual muscles in healthy athletes and try to focus on training specific movement patterns.  These patterns may mimic their sport directly or may oppose a repetitive pattern in their sport to prevent injury.

My intent in this poll was to raise the question of wether specific isolation exercises for the abs and spinal muscles (popular in today's fitness world) are necessary to the sport of weightlifting.  Does a healthy weightlifter have to perform sit-ups, crunches, back extensions, exercises on the stability ball, etc. to improve performance?  I don't think they do.  Weightlifters train the core during the course of their workouts to great extent.  Especially if they don't use belts and wraps during the workout as you pointed out.  For a weightlifter to perform ab/low back exercises will reap no benefit nor harm, in my opinion.  My thinking is how is doing a bodyweight exercise for 30-40 reps going to help you hold 2-3 times your bodyweight overhead?

Rex, keep up with your training of the abs.  Your lordosis is reason enough to perform these exercises to keep from injurying your back.


Great comments.  I look forward to more opinions on either side of the debate.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

I believe that weightlifting can cause the condition of hyperlordosis in some percentage of lifters. Doing ab work can prevent this condition in many cases and mitigates its in others. I also believe ab work helps lifters keep the back flat or arched under load, helps lifters sit up straighter in the receiving positions, and helps prevent or mitigate back injuries. I see it a lot like stretching. It is possible that some lifters performances may not be significantly lessened by not stretching or doing abs, but many lifters performance will suffer. Is there a good reason not do a little ab work? Its not like it takes a massive amount of energy and effort.

[Jim Hooper]

Great topic Paul.  Here is what I believe to be the essential, state of the art, cutting edge core-training program for the Olympic weightlifter who needs to nudge that Snatch or Jerk to the next level of sport mastery.  I'd like to thank my athletes for experimenting and discovering these advances, the whole of which are greater than the sum of the parts.
  
(1) Thrice-weekly sessions on the Ab Lounger, until your fat jeans don't fit anymore (this one should go without saying, but there, I've said it);
(2) "Russo-Swiss Pistols":  One-legged Kettlebell Squats on a Swiss Ball;
(3) Super Turkish Get-Ups, starting with a .5 kilo plate, and working up over time to holding an actual Turk overhead;
(4) Latvian Get Ups -- same concept, but with a Latvian up top, to better engage the Lat-Core tie-ins;
(5) Hot Yoga done on the hot roof of a VW microbus, with optional live King Cobra or rabid pit bulldog up there with you for what I call "dynamic-reactive" core training (advanced athletes only, and remember to control your breathing);
(6) "Ab Plyos," wherein the trainee has his training partner perform plyos as per normal, but here using the supine trainee's 's midsection as the "plyo box" (palms should remain flat on the floor, advancing athletes may elevate the feet 6" above the platform; we like to start with the jumper doing "quiet" landings until a little callus has built up, and then up the intensity from there);
(7) "Banded Rippers," i.e., tearing a phone book wrapped in fitness bands in half, while maintaining a good pelvic tilt  (telephone books from smaller cities and the chartreuse bands are recommended for the novice Banded-Ripper-Trainee);  
(8) "UAS Crunches," which are nothing more than performing normal crunches while undergoing Unanesthetized Abdominal Surgery (the intensity of the contractions is like nothing else, and will really hit those deep fibers behind the six-pack);
(9) "Wet Russians,"  an Alexeev-inspired movement, essentially performing conventional weighted situps on the bottom of a fast moving river.    

I should add that I will be selling the implements and an instructional video, and publishing a series of articles on this new and exciting form of core training that hopefully will make me a big wheel in the NSCA,  in the near future . . . we also plan to carry Gel-filled Swiss Balls and Motorized Ab Rollers.  Weekend clinics can be arranged.   Tax, title, and dealer destination fees extra.

POINT:  Strengthening muscle groups -- any and all of them -- is a wonderful thing for anyone, but "Core Training" training has become yet the latest faddish, hyped, commercialized, gadgetized, overtheorized crock of doo-doo to come down the Muscle & Fitness pike.  It need not be complicated.  The Oly lifts themselves, and the squats, provide all or most all the core training that's truly necessary for our sport, but their drawback in terms of core-musculature conditioning is that the lifts and squats don't train the torso through full range of motion -- and the same is true for the shoulder-arm musculature -- in the lifts and squats, we lock the spine neutral, and pull and catch bars on fully extended arms.   Some supplemental, full ROM work for torso flexion and extension, and same for shoulder-arm flexion and extension, is probably a good thing for most lifters (prehab, variety, confidence, etc.), and not a lot of time or effort is required to achieve meaningful strength gains in those structures.  For folks with spinal column instability issues, and shoulder problems too, IMO, the need to supplement with full ROM stuff is obvious.  Simple, tried and true movements, easy to get done quickly with supersets or circuit schemes, work superbly well.  We do 10-15 mins of "PPT" (push-pull-torso) work at the end of almost every OLY training session, and are happy with that approach.   Various presses, pullups, rows, dips, situps, leg raises, hypers, glute-ham raises -- its all good, and you can rotate movements from each major movement pattern from workout to workout to add a little variety to the training experience. If anything, this year we will do a little more PPT.

[Paul LaDuke]

Jim,

That was hilarious!  Great stuff and well written - both the humor and your last paragraph.  

While I believe that additional ab/hip/core exercises aren't absolutely necessary to the Oly lifter, I still do them with my athletes anyway.  We always close our workouts with about 5 min of group led abs and a simple 5 min hip routine.  At the high school level this accomplishes more as far as education that actual aiding in performance.  Male HS athletes want to body build more than anything.  They can't seem to get out of their head that 4 sets of TENS (actually 40 bicep curls in 4 groups of 10 partial rep segments, etc.) aren't going to make them a better athlete.  They still want to feel the burn by using light weights to exhaustion.  This lifting won't make you a better athlete.  We always drill into them the importance of training the whole body and strengthening the core.  The 10 minutes we spend doesn't strengthen their core nearly as much as doing 6 sets of 2 full squats without a belt at 90% of 1RM but the education is a worth the trade off.   As Chris so aptly put "Is there a good reason not do a little ab work? Its not like it takes a massive amount of energy and effort. "

[Pete_Stewart]

For the likes of front squats or heavy cleans I often begin to round the shoulders and bend forward as I drive out of the clean.  Would this be due to a weak torso or am I just a lazy ass who is not focusing enough.  It feels as if my front squat could go maybe about 5 kilo heavier if I could stay straighter.