Relative Strength Advantage

Lower ab workouts are often the subject of infomercials trying to sell you fat burning gizmos such as the Self Electrocution Belt ™ and the Low Back Killer Swing™. On a more serious note, what we often see on TV in those commercial breaks is a successful attempt to give people what they want.

We want to burn the fat around our bellies. We want it easy and we want it fast. So the marketing geniuses brainstorm and come up with an idea that *seems* to work the lower ab region. Then they get sweaty and fit fitness models to demonstrate the gadget and flex their six pack abs – and this is where the scam happens.

The Lower Six Pack Abs Myth

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In the last post I introduced to you the full contact twist and shared a couple of tips on technique and proper form. In this post I want to point out a few mistakes that I’ve seen people make when I teach them the full contact twist. Mistakes are a normal part of the learning process but it is important to learn a safe and effective technique for each exercise.

We don’t want to hurt ourselves. What follows is a selection of videos I found online with people demonstrating the drill. If one of these videos is yours, apologies for using it as a *bad example* – I only want to help people get strong and stay safe.

Mistake #1 – Extending The Arms

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The full contact twist, the way I am going to teach it you, is an exercise that will give you extremely strong abdominal muscles as well as general full body strength. With this exercise you can’t help but feel the core muscles work.

You see, when you do crunches or sit-ups, you have to do countless reps, until you fatigue the muscles and finally start feeling them working. This is not the case with this drill. Here you feel the abs right away and this is part of the reason I like the full contact twist so much.

What is the Full Contact Twist

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A reader of this site, Andy, asked me in Part I of the renegade rows series what to do once renegade rows become way too easy. He says he doesn’t feel his abs sore after workout. I will answer this in two parts. First, I wanna make something clear regarding muscle soreness. It is a sign of only one thing – that your body was not ready or adapted for the stress that caused the soreness. Nothing else. So you may continue to workout, especially when training for strength as opposed to muscle size (these are two different goals!), without needing to blast your body so that it’s sore every time.

[She wanted to know if getting that tat was a mistake. Hm, let me think, girl... Tell you what - I like the ink, but all this other extra stuff covering your body needs to go LOL!]

The second issue is whether you do the renegade rows with proper form to ensure that your core gets maximum stimulation. So in this article I will address the issue of proper form in more detail.

Here Is A Video With A Good Explanation Of The Proper Form For Renegade Rows

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The renegade row, developed and named by coach John Davies, is one of the hardest and most effective abdominal exercises. The reason for this is that renegade rows force you to use the primary function of the stomach muscles – stabilization. In other words the exercise teaches you how to keep your body as rigid as possible. You have no other choice but to contract your abs as hard as possible. Otherwise you won’t be able to maintain a rigid body.

1. Technique

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What if it were possible to achieve the core and abdominal strength of a world class gymnast while training at home, only for a few minutes per day with no equipment or gadgets? Well guess what – it is possible to do it if you master the L-Sit.

1. Variations

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[Can't go wrong with a picture of a girl with a sexy body. Anybody disagree? Didn't think so lol.]

In Part 1 of the Core Training Series I discussed the Arch Position – a way to get a strong and healthy lower back. Today it’s six pack time. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you what happened today.

Met up with a buddy of mine for a quick talk at a bar. He happened to be friends with the bartender there. We started talking and I found out the bartender was also a model. He said he was training his abs thoroughly with various exercises and was quite content with their development. He also mentioned however that he was complaining of lower back pain. Said his lower back muscles were failing him.

Then it hit me.

He Didn’t Have a Clue About the Major Function of the Abs – Core Stabilization
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Have you ever had lower back problems? Like some sort of pain or pinching sensation? I know I have. In fact one of the first injuries I had was back in 8th grade when I started getting serious in my basketball training.

I was running and all of a sudden changed directions and felt something weird in my lower back.

A Kind of Pinching.

It was a very nagging sensation and I tried all sorts of things – like massaging my lower back and resting.

But the pain persisted.

I was going to a gym to workout on weekends. I didn’t have a clue about training so all I was doing was training my calves with calf raises (for basketball), my abs with leg lifts (for girls) and my arms with dumbbell biceps curls (I guess for myself lol). So anyway, after I got myself injured and having tried to alleviate my pain, I went to the gym as usual on the weekend.

A strange thing happened. (more…)

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