Abdominals

           Let’s face facts. This is the trouble area that the majority of people hate. I know I do. If I never had to do any ab exercises that would be just fine with me and for the longest time, I ignored them and now I am suffering because that is the one target area that is farther behind everything else. I feel like if I could get my ab section under control, I could elevate my game to the next level.

           So, like everything else, I started putting my mind to it and started developing a Furyan Strength abdominals routine and I have to say, I am pretty pleased with the results. So let’s dive in…

           Strong abdominals and a solid core are essential and it is not just for the aesthetics. Medically speaking, the primary function of your abdominals is to stabilize your spine. There are many exercises that call for you to lift weights over your head. Once that happens, your spine naturally wants to fold over. Your stomach muscles all suddenly scream and leap into action to keep you stabilized and upright to protect that spine.

           What I found was that as you are performing things like an Overhead Dumbbell Press, especially when you are alternating your arm raises, that you are engaging your core. So let’s dive into some ab myths that I was telling myself.

           I believed, “Hey, technically speaking, you are doing ab stuff by doing those Overhead Dumbbell Presses.” And I bought into the theory of spot reduction, “Well, you cannot spot reduce. If you want your abs to show up, you have to reduce your overall body fat percentage.” So that was another excuse for me to avoid ab exercises. “Abs are made in the kitchen.” We are told that one too and this is why I am eating chicken from the crock pot by the pound.

           I was telling myself that I was doing things like the Overhead Push Press and other core-engaging exercises. I was limiting my rests and doing antagonistic sets to turn my weightlifting into a cardio routine. And I was trying my best to eat right. But my abs still just kept falling farther and farther behind and not developing as well as the rest of me.

           And then there was the pain issue (as I will explain later) in my hips caused by crunches. I fell back into my old routines of ignoring this problem area but I finally had to face reality. You cannot ignore the abs. Schwarzenegger trained abs, forearms, and calves every day and if I am going to get that Frank Zane vacuum, I had to find a way to hit my abs in a way that was pain free and actually fun. I put my mind to work. It took me a long time and I wish someone would have pointed this out to me two years ago! But that is what this blog is for, so let’s get to the breakdown.

 

Resistance is Resistance is Resistance

           I think most people assume that ab work is just boring sit-ups and crunches but I have found that it can be more than that and still be fun. The first thing I want you to imagine is the Decline Bench Press. In this exercise, you have lowered the head of the bench so your body is positioned at a -15 degree angle. This shifts the emphasis of the weight onto your lower pectoral. (This is what gives you a well-rounded chest. And Lord knows I love a well-rounded chest… ladies.)

           Now, let’s take that same exercise and look at it inverted. Imagine an Incline Push-Up where your feet are lower than your head. The plane of motion is the same. The only difference is that in the Decline Bench Press, you are looking at the ceiling. With the Incline Push-Up, you are looking at the floor. But that plane of motion remains the same and you are putting the emphasis on the lower pectorals through both exercises.

           So if this works for chest muscles, why can it not work for abdominals?

           I want you to imagine the muscles used when you are doing a stomach crunch on a decline bench. You want to imagine your muscles folding into each other like a lobster tail. Keep that mental image in your head of that “plane of motion.” Now, if you take a pair of resistance bands and loop them up high, you can then get positioned on your knees and perform a stomach crunch. With the handles held by your ears, your stomach folds in with the exact same motion as a crunch on a decline bench.

           However, as I was doing crunches and fatigue began to set in, I found the emphasis shifting to the muscles that run over the front of my hips bearing more of the weight. This is supposed to be an ab routine, not a hip routine! By shifting that focus to the resistance bands, my ab muscles are bearing more of the burden and the results are already becoming prominent three weeks into the clinical trials (which is when I am writing this article).

           These kneeling crunches are like Texas Hold’em. They take a minute to learn but a lifetime to master. When you are doing rep sessions around 25 to 300, you will have plenty of time to learn. Are there more exercises that you can simulate with the resistance bands? Cue the music, Ron Popeil. “But wait! There is more!”

 

The Anchor Point

           The wellness center that I work out at is limited when it comes to equipment so I have done some improvisation with their big squat rack for the next round of exercises. My gym doesn’t have a cable crossover machine so I started using the rack and resistance bands to simulate that cable crossover routine. And that got me thinking about using it for an ab routine.

           I usually reserve this for late in the day when either I am at the last one in the gym or no one is using the big rack because I don’t want to monopolize the equipment. (This is important, kids. Be conscientious of your fellow gym-goers.)

           Now, years ago, I was like so many and I bought those Billy Blanks’ Tae-Bo VHS tapes and he had a technique that worked quite well. If you are facing 12 o’clock, he would have you alternate punches between 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. You are twisting at the waist to hit those targets and you are so focused on delivering solid punches that you don’t really notice that you are engaging your core and triggering those stomach muscles and as Schwarzenegger taught us, resistance is resistance is resistance. So why not do the same punches but engage my core using resistance bands?

           The safety bars and the rest hooks for the barbell each feature a handle on the back side that is perfect for looping a resistance band around. Those bars are also adjustable so you can vary the height of that anchor point. Once that anchor point is adjusted, you can hit your ab muscles from a variety of different angles which is critical to stimulating the muscles as much as possible.

           By anchoring the resistance band at shoulder height, I then perform a twisting punch from 12:00 to 3:00 for 25 reps. I then switch hands, alternate my stance, and punch from 12:00 to 9:00 for 25 reps. Now, I could call these Furyan Knockouts and that could be a new brand name but you should customize these to your tastes. Batman Villain Punches? Ali Honor Punches? Ex-Husband Knock Outs? I am calling mine Captain America Shield Punches. I imagine Cap’s shield strapped to my arm and I putting the edge of the shield into the throat of a Hydra agent. But name yours whatever title gives you motivation.

 

Variations on a Theme

           The Stark Executioner: This is a variation of the StandingCable Wood Chop just done with a resistance band. You are delivering a sky to ground swing of the sword, going from your left shoulder, across your body, down to your right hip. I recommend placing a bench in front of you to give you a target to very lightly make contact with. If you want to keep with the Avengers’ theme, you could call it a Mjolnir Hammer Swing.   

The Orc Axe Block: You are an Alliance member defending Stormwind from the rampaging Orc Horde. That Orc is leaping off the roof of the bank (the one in the Dwarven District, not the bank that the noobs use) and you are raising your sword to deflect that incoming strike. This is a variation of the StandingCable Lift where you are lifting the resistance band from your left hip, across your body, up to your right shoulder.

           I think now you can start to see how I have developed this and you can adjust your routine to meet your needs and develop your own program.