I want to start doing situps more often, did some tonight in karate, I think three sets of ten, I only managed about 15 before I had to start missing three to get some wind back before doing two or three more, missing two or three, and finishing up like that. Not happy with that. I read ages ago that situps without something to counter it in the back will lead to poor posture and stuff, which is obviously undesirable, my posture is bloody awful as it is. Would rather have exercises I can do at home with dumbells or bodyweight, as I don't have any other equipment or much space, or money to get it. I know of the "dish" ('swhat it was called in school, where you lie face down and lift your legs and head/harms a few inches off the floor) but that's incredibly uncomfortable to hold, so I was hoping for a couple of options to try. Not 100% relevant but has anyone heard of this site? www.twohundredsitups.com will be trying to follow their program but don't want to start until I have something to balance it out. And speaking of balance, how do I get overall core strength? I know of crunches and sit ups, can the side (obliques?) be sufficiently worked by simple sideways crunches? Thanks a lot.
There'll be tons of things you can do. I'll chime in with supermans to counter the sit-ups and various planks for overall core strength. I've picked them because you don't need any equipment to do them. If you have access to a barbell you can do push-crunches and balance with good mornings and deadlifts. You can work rotational strength in a regular gym by attaching a handle to a pulley and doing wood chops. At home with a barbell you can do the full contact twist. You should be able to look all of the above up easily, with the possible exception of push-crunches, so here's a link to that: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/BBPushCrunch.html Shout if you do need more clarification though.
Ta very much. About to go out to sort out more stuff but will look up all the stuff you didn't link to soon. Also meant to ask how often should I work out with body weight exercises? Would it be fine to stick to the Monday Wednesday and Friday that's in the 100 sit ups site? I'm also planning to work toward the 100 press ups and 200 squats on the same days, using all three as a power set. Is this too much? Can't tell if I'm just being impatient or if that's a good plan lol
LOL! Never tried any of them myself, so I can't speak from experience. I'd say your best guidelines would be your own current state of fitness, any other exercises you're doing, how many times a week you do MA and how hard they work you, etc. As a general rule, bodyweight only exercises shouldn't be treated as being much different from barbell/gym exercises. The muscle still gets worked in the same way and needs to recover in the same way.
should do the trick. i second cosmic's post but i'll add hyperextension, (wothout actually hyperextending) http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/hyperextensions-back-extensions pretty easy to impovise with an armchair or sofa next to your window sill. if you can get hold of a swiss ball you'll find it invaluable.
Regarding the pushups/squats/situps thing, I had a bash at it last year (i also did the 20 pull ups) and i found that by end of week 3/ start of week 4 i was struggling to complete the sets (esp. situps and pull ups, but i've always been crap at them). I am planning to give em another go as soon as i'm healed but i'm going for push-ups and situps then once i'm through the six (or seven) weeks i'll do the squats and pullups and see how that works out. I think the four at once was too much for me as i was not exactly strong/fit when i started them (hence the reason starting). I like the setup of the program and it is easy and quick to do; Perfect for building basic strength.
sitting v-ups are a reasonably good exercise if you have difficulty doing sit-ups: http://www.trainforstrength.com/ex-3.shtml for core and/or rotational strength, planks are good, and you can try twists (russian, full contact) and windshield wipers.
my suggestion? dont counterbalance at all. relax you legs and you will not need to it will help your core more as well, and you wont be using those muscles above thigh whatever they are very much this is what we learn in systema, and it helps more than strength I really enjoy doing them
evidence? working your abs and not your spinal erectors and all the rest of them is bad idea no matter how you do it. doesnt matter how you lie on a bench press when using it if you dont do some back work you'll end up with some pretty poor posture.
its the same movement without extra help from those muscles on top of thighs i cant remember there name, idk what your talking with about back work you can do other things like deadlift
I don't think your quite catching my drift. By doing sit ups with your legs in whatever position you are working your abs and possibly obliques. This is good. However, when working one side it is nessisarry to work both. So not training the muscles in the lower lumbar area of the back (spinal erectors etc,) you A) wont acctually get a very good core (due to imbalance) thus wasting alot of time doing sit ups. and B) could potentialy damage your posture and more serrious isues. So to recomend someone to not counterbalance (therefore remove imbalance mentioned above) is a pretty poor desision IMO. When training the fron one must always train the back, hence my bench press example. I chose the bench press as it is a good way of explaining the need to balance one side woth t'other. EDIT: I think you mean hip flexors.
ya ur right, i was talking about how to perform situps i didnt see the part about back, i was just thinking how to counter balance your weight coming up while performing a situp, like feet flat on ground, knees up, or feet under something etc.
A winner is you! Nice one Steve, didn't think of gmornings Kuma, could you go into more detail with the bell swings?
well if we are talking about those, at one point i had too strong abs but my inner abdominals were not up to par. my physical therapist said that it is a common problem with athletic people who lift weights, because they rely on the outer muscles of abs instead of the ones that are connected to the spine. a good book on posture that shows little exercises to learn how to use these abs more and others is "the new rules of posture" i forgot the author some rolf practitioner. In terms of strengthening exercises for posture and to prevent injury i do things like bridges and ab wheels with feet on ground, not knees. For back i mainly do deadlift, sometimes hyperextension and rows.
This is with two kettlebells, but the idea is the same. You can use DBs if KBs aren't available, and you can just use one DB with either one or two hands on it. Either way, it works great.
I fail at life because I forgot to post this video for you. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX9FIkQ3zzk"]YouTube- Steve Cotter Kettlebell Swings Instructional Video[/ame]
does anyone else think steve cotter's shoulders look to long in proportion to his body? also his shoulders scare me
He's a pretty bad dude. I have his Full Kontact Kettlebell DVD set and it's pretty awesome. He can do some sick stuff: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdQ2wmx8_o0&feature=related"]YouTube- Steve Cotter practices on two bosu balance balls[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWIYau2YM&feature=related"]YouTube- Steve Cotter and flexibility exercises[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL_n0ITXxSw"]YouTube- Steve Cotter extrem pistols in Germany[/ame]
