CORE CONFUSION: TO CRUNCH OR NOT TO CRUNCH, THAT IS THE QUESTION
Contrary to popular belief, your abs and your core are not one and the same. Your abs are that sculpted set of superficial muscles that, when bodyfat is low enough, typically grants you the elusive six-pack. Your core on the other hand, while encompassing your abs, is the term that refers to the 360 degrees of stability around your spine including your hips and lower back.
Sadly, having great abs doesn’t mean you have a strong core. And on the flip side, having a strong core won’t guarantee that you’ll be able to see it. But it is possible to have both - a six-pack to make you look like a Superhero, and a strong core to make you perform like one.
Here’s what you need to know
The reason a lot of people fail to develop abs can often be down to a lack of understanding of basic anatomy.
Starting with the outer muscles, we have the Rectus Abdominus which is primarily responsible for Spinal Flexion or moving your ribs towards your hips (and the six pack look), and the External Obliques whose main jobs are rotation and lateral flexion ie bending your torso towards one side or the other. The deep inner unit is made up of the Internal Obliques aiding their external brethren from underneath, the Transverse Abdominus (TA) which is responsible for stabilizing your spine and works to pull your midsection in, and the lumbar multifidus (kind of like the TA of the lower back.)
Fun Fact: The number of bands within the Rectus Abdominus can vary with genetics, so not everyone has a six pack of three upper bands on each side.
Below is a 4 pronged approach and surefire way to tick all the boxes and build a strong core, supercharge performance and turn heads. So whether you’re Camp Crunch or Camp Core, I’ve got you covered.
1. WARM UP “THE CORE” WITH ANTI-MOVEMENTS
From a “functional” perspective, the goal of core training is to prevent unnecessary movement through the spine, and therefore lower your risk of injury. Your mid section must be able to safely and efficiently transfer force between your lower and upper body. If it can’t do that, your lower back will cop it. Pick 2-3 exercises from the following categories to include in each warmup, and perform 2-3 sets.
Anti-Rotation: Pallof Press Variations, Cable Chops/Lifts
Anti-Lateral Flexion: Side Plank Variations, Single Arm Carries
Anti-Extension: Plank Variations, Rollouts/Walkouts, Bear Crawls, Dead Bugs
Anti- Flexion: Bird-Dogs, Back Extensions, Reverse Hyperextensions
2. BRACE YOURSELF FOR SOME STRENGTH SETS
The meat of most workouts, and the way in which you build total body strength and power – including that of your core - is through your big compound movements. Think Squats, Deadlifts, Bench, Rows and Pullups. And It’s the deep Tranverse Abdominus (TA) that is the one that has to do most of the heavy lifting while lifting heavy. This is like the spanx of your abs and the muscle that acts like a natural weight belt for your spine, with the activation enhanced by your breathing. Lock in the ribcage, take a deep breath before you move and then use that breath to expand your stomach into your sides like you’re prepping to take a punch.
Top Tip: You can recruit more core through changing the way you load your hinge, squat and lunge movements with goblet, dual rack, zercher and front loaded variations being incredibly effective. I’m yet to experience a day after I’ve done Front Squats where my obliques don’t complain every time I laugh.
3. OFFSET YOUR ACCESSORIES
Uneven loaded carries and lifts (ie weight held on only one side) are excellent accessory movements for any training program, with the offset loading forcing your core to resist moving to the side to compensate. Whilst you can perform squats and deadlifts in this way, my favorites are the Single Arm Floor Press (have the legs straight and together for the biggest challenge), the Renegade Row, the Bird Dog Row and a heavy Suitcase Carry (carry one DB/KB down by your side). Pop them all together in a circuit for an indirect but incredibly effective and comprehensive core workout in itself.
Top Tip: For an even bigger challenge, you could perform your floor press in a hollow rock position with your chest lifted and legs off the ground.
4. END IN ISOLATION
Remember your abs are still muscles, and if you want them to pop, they need to be built using the same tried and tested rules of hypertrophy that you would use for any other muscle group. 10-20 sets of loaded direct ab training a week is a solid start. Pop 3-5 exercises at the end of each workout and complete 3-5 sets circuit style, trying to make sure you hit ALL the things - the lower abs, the upper abs and the obliques. Ab rollouts, Bicycles, body saws, reverse crunches, Turkish get ups, hanging leg raises, landmine twists, rope/cable crunches and weighted swissball crunches all came up trumps in the EMG (electromyography) tests for peak ab activation.
SAMPLE SESSIONS
Session 1: Lower Body Focus
1. Warmup:
20 x Dead Bugs
10 x Side Plank Hip Taps
5 x Bird Dog each side
2 rounds total
2. Main Strength Set:
5 x 5 Deadlifts. 90 secs rest between.
3. Accessories:
8 x Single Rack Hold Reverse Lunge each side (whatever side you’re holding the weight on, step back with the opposite side).
50m Suitcase Carry each side
3-4 rounds
4. Isolation:
20 x Bicycles
15 x Hanging Leg Raises
10 x Roll Outs
3-5 rounds, minimal rest.
Session 2: Upper Body Focus
1. Warmup:
30 secs Pallof Hold into 10 x Press each side
10 x Side Plank Rotations each side
30 secs Plank Hold
2 rounds
2. Main Strength Set:
3 x 6-8 Pullups (eccentric pullups). 60 -90 secs rest between.
3. Accessories:
8 x Single Arm Floor Press each side
50m Single Arm Rack Hold Carry each side
3 rounds
4. Isolation:
15 x Reverse Crunches
15 x Weighted Cable/Rope Crunches
12 x Landmine Rotations
3-5 rounds, minimal rest between.
If you like this style of training, you might like to check out the programs on my exclusive online training platform TRACTION.