Date: January 13, 2017 | Author: admin

Stop Doing Crunches & Sit Ups, Do These Instead

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Stop doing crunches and sit ups as your primary core/ab exercises.

I see it all the time and I was guilty of doing this as well for years and years, generally sit ups and crunches do more damage than they do good.

For many years while lifting weights and doing martial arts I would do countless sit ups and crunches, sometimes a thousand a day. Then in 2000 I herniated a disc and my back and training was never the same again.

According to Dr. Stuart McGill, if you do enough sit-ups you’re going to hurt your back. Our backs only have so many bending cycles in them–everyone is different based on genetics–but our backs are like wire coat hangers. Bend that coat hanger back & forth so many times and it’s going to weaken & finally break.

So instead of doing crunches and sit ups and chasing after “The Burn” start focusing on learning to contract your core by focusing on bracing and anti rotation type exercises.

 

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Do these exercises instead.

 

1. Plank, Side Plank and Plank Variations

 

2. Stir The Pot

 

 

 

Swiss Ball Stir The Pot

A post shared by Women Who Lift Weights (@womenwholiftweights) on

 

 

3. Paloff Hold & Press

 

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Be sure to check out Dr. Stu McGill’s books HERE.

When it comes to training your core/abs ditch the sit ups and focus on planks, side planks, stir the pot and single arm carries.  Sit ups and crunches are sometimes ok, but for most people these are doing more harm than good.

Give these exercises a try and let me know how you find them.

 

If you enjoyed this blog post please like & share.
Cheers.
Coach Rob

 

If you are looking for a fun, intense challenging ab/core workout check out my Hard Core Finishers 30 Day Challenge Program.

 

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