Ab Exercises

donjtomasco

I read that crunches are the worst exercise that one can do. I am 54, in good shape, play a lot of tennis and want to know what would be the best ab exercises to do, and how many different exercises and sets I should look to do of each. I work upper body one day and am close to starting lower body again as I am in month 8 of hip replacement and all is good so far. So, I am not looking for 6 pack abs, but I don't want to waste my time doing the wrong exercises either.

Thanks.

trigden1991

Direct abdominal training is not productive unless you are trying to develop your "six pack".

lauamy96

Do planks with weights. They work multiple large muscle groups at once.

psuLemon

If you just want strong abs, just focus on compound lifts (squats, deadlift, OHP, Bench Press) and make sure you engage your abs. If you want further exercises to develop your ab muscles, you can do planks, leg raises, leg extensions, bicycles, 6 inches, abernome, russian twist and much more.

donjtomasco

Trigden, can you explain what you said? No I am not looking for a "six pack" for sure, but if my abs can look better that is a plus. In conjunction with the other two comments, is it fair to say that:

With playing tennis, doing upper body and mostly power walking (I am not a runner), and starting to work in some lower body when doc clears me for it, that my abs will in effect get worked out naturally as part of my doing all the other exercises and activities?

Are crunches bad to do? I start with a set, do a set in the middle of my upper body workout, and a set to finish. I rest my legs below the knee on top of a bench and just crunch, nothing fancy. I read though that they are not doing much of anything for my abs and may be hurting other parts of my body. I find that hard to believe, but trust people in this forum over random hacks on the internet trying to get site hits to sell advertising.

pbryd

I wouldn't give your abs any direct work unless your wanting to walk around with sub 10% bodyfat.

If you want a flat stomach to improve the appearance of your abdominal area, lose bodyfat.

DancingMoosie

Are you doing free weights for your upper body? If not, then I would suggest that you do. (bench, OHP, row) Add in more compound lifts (squats, deadlift) when cleared by your doctor.

JBApplebee

I love my ab carver pro. That'll give you a workout that you'll feel.

donjtomasco

Yep, upper body is flat, incl & decl bench, curls, triceps, 3 sets of sit up crunches, shoulder press, row, fly, dumbbell solder raises, traps.

Pretty much the same workout I have done for 40 years plus/minus a few exercises.

Asking again, are ab crunches bad for you?

psuLemon

donjtomasco wrote: »

Yep, upper body is flat, incl & decl bench, curls, triceps, 3 sets of sit up crunches, shoulder press, row, fly, dumbbell solder raises, traps.

Pretty much the same workout I have done for 40 years plus/minus a few exercises.

Asking again, are ab crunches bad for you?

Not if you do them correctly.

CSARdiver

donjtomasco wrote: »

Yep, upper body is flat, incl & decl bench, curls, triceps, 3 sets of sit up crunches, shoulder press, row, fly, dumbbell solder raises, traps.

Pretty much the same workout I have done for 40 years plus/minus a few exercises.

Asking again, are ab crunches bad for you?

Current wisdom moved away from isolation and to compound moves. The action from ab crunches increases the risk of long term harm to the lower back. This caused the resurgence of planking, which has all the benefits, but with much less risk to the lower back muscles as holding this position requires all the muscles around the abdominal core.

Note that the military sill uses situps as part of their PRT, so if you are going to go through this motion, ensure you are going through the full range situp.

I still do situps, but ensure I'm doing enough squats, backups, etc. to maintain my lower back muscles.

joemac1988

donjtomasco wrote: »

Trigden, can you explain what you said? No I am not looking for a "six pack" for sure, but if my abs can look better that is a plus. In conjunction with the other two comments, is it fair to say that:

With playing tennis, doing upper body and mostly power walking (I am not a runner), and starting to work in some lower body when doc clears me for it, that my abs will in effect get worked out naturally as part of my doing all the other exercises and activities?

Are crunches bad to do? I start with a set, do a set in the middle of my upper body workout, and a set to finish. I rest my legs below the knee on top of a bench and just crunch, nothing fancy. I read though that they are not doing much of anything for my abs and may be hurting other parts of my body. I find that hard to believe, but trust people in this forum over random hacks on the internet trying to get site hits to sell advertising.

What he means is don't waste your time doing direct ab work (crunches, situps, etc) but rather do compound movements that use core strength. Not so simple with your hip situation as this would refer to deadlifts, squats, etc.

singingflutelady

I love paloff presses

ieroen

donjtomasco wrote: »

Asking again, are ab crunches bad for you?

Crunches aren't bad, as long as they're done correctly. For example: don't fold hands behind your neck. At the last reps, people will often subconsciously start pulling their head forward, which isn't good for the cartilage in your vertebra.

But to chime in with what's been said above, compound movements will train your core strength. Don't have to train abs separately.

lauamy96

Crunches aren't bad if you keep a proper form. Neck straight, looking up at the ceiling helps, and bend from your core, not your shoulders. Keeping your arms straight by your sides instead of crossed on your shoulders or behind your neck also helps.
A lot of people hurt their backs because they're not doing them properly.

richln

CSARdiver wrote: »

donjtomasco wrote: »

Yep, upper body is flat, incl & decl bench, curls, triceps, 3 sets of sit up crunches, shoulder press, row, fly, dumbbell solder raises, traps.

Pretty much the same workout I have done for 40 years plus/minus a few exercises.

Asking again, are ab crunches bad for you?

Current wisdom moved away from isolation and to compound moves. The action from ab crunches increases the risk of long term harm to the lower back. This caused the resurgence of planking, which has all the benefits, but with much less risk to the lower back muscles as holding this position requires all the muscles around the abdominal core.

Note that the military sill uses situps as part of their PRT, so if you are going to go through this motion, ensure you are going through the full range situp.

I still do situps, but ensure I'm doing enough squats, backups, etc. to maintain my lower back muscles.

To expand on this, Dr. Stuart McGill's research is often quoted by those recommending to avoid crunches. He is famous for the compressive force measurement studies and the pig spine studies he has done. His work suggests that over time, high repetitions of repeated spinal flexion motion may contribute to disc herniation or vertabral degeneration:
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11114441
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11415551
However, there are credible rebuttals that these risks may be overstated in humans:
https://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/1884/when-pigs-crunch-a-commonsense-approach-to/

In my opinion, there are so many good ab exercises that avoid excessive flexion that I would rather just avoid situps and versions of crunches that cause flexion. McGill even created a version of a crunch that he calls a "McGill curl-up" which minimizes flexion.

Spliner1969

donjtomasco wrote: »

I read that crunches are the worst exercise that one can do. I am 54, in good shape, play a lot of tennis and want to know what would be the best ab exercises to do, and how many different exercises and sets I should look to do of each. I work upper body one day and am close to starting lower body again as I am in month 8 of hip replacement and all is good so far. So, I am not looking for 6 pack abs, but I don't want to waste my time doing the wrong exercises either.

Thanks.

Crunches suck, but I don't think they are all that bad for you (I'm no expert, just someone with a bad back). Sit ups.. yea, they aren't so good. Last year I was doing 150 situps a day with a 10 lb plate on my chest. I did it for months until I managed to injure my lower back doing it. Once I healed up, I started back with crunches only and have not had an issue since. I do standard and side crunches daily right before I do my planks. Seems to be plenty to keep the abs in shape. If you're really trying to develop abdominal muscles you may want to consider hanging leg raises, and progression with weights may also help. Planks over time have done wonders for me though. I now do less crunches each day thanks to them. Again, if you're just looking to strengthen your core, consider planks. If you really want to develop those abdominal muscles it may take crunches and many other ab exercises with and without weights. From your original post I'd suggest planks.

trigden1991

donjtomasco wrote: »

Trigden, can you explain what you said? No I am not looking for a "six pack" for sure, but if my abs can look better that is a plus. In conjunction with the other two comments, is it fair to say that:

With playing tennis, doing upper body and mostly power walking (I am not a runner), and starting to work in some lower body when doc clears me for it, that my abs will in effect get worked out naturally as part of my doing all the other exercises and activities?

Are crunches bad to do? I start with a set, do a set in the middle of my upper body workout, and a set to finish. I rest my legs below the knee on top of a bench and just crunch, nothing fancy. I read though that they are not doing much of anything for my abs and may be hurting other parts of my body. I find that hard to believe, but trust people in this forum over random hacks on the internet trying to get site hits to sell advertising.

In my opinion, many people in the gym (many of whom are overweight or obese) spend a good portion of their workout training their abs directly. The irony is that most of them will never get lean enough to "reveal" them. There is nothing inherently wrong with some ab work but you would be better served doing compound movements (squats, deadlifts, lunges) that work your core and are productive.

valadez210

if you'd don't have any core strength the doing different core workouts will one benefit you because your core strength I essential as you progress through weightlifting. Doing core workouts as a "targeting" method is highly popular and to this day remains ineffective. You can engage your core in any workout you do. Half the battle is making the mental connection not just picking things up and putting them back down!

sijomial

I do a lot of core work including, but far from exclusively ab work, because:
a/ It helps support my damaged lumbar spine
b/ It helps my sporting goals. I cycle a lot and a strong core helps with both reducing fatigue and increasing efficiency. Heard a lovely quote recently - "you can't fire a canon from a canoe".

Not a fan of crunches though. Weighted sit ups on a gym ball, hanging leg raises and rotational work using a cable machine are my preferences.
As a tennis player would have thought rotational core work would be more beneficial to the OP than crunches.

BTW - compound lifts are the foundation of my strength workout, I guess you could say abs/core work is an accessory.
BTW2 - zero interest in getting a six pack, think I've left that a bit late!