Message Boards › Fitness and Exercise
Spadesheart
Posts: 396Member Member
Posts: 396Member Member
Should core be exercised to exhaustion? Adding effective volume? Other efficient weighted exercises?
Spadesheart
Posts: 396Member Member
Posts: 396Member Member
I've been working my core fairly hard daily for a few months. Went from planks to weighted planks, and further from body weight core work to weighted cable crunches and other machines at the end of all of my weight training sessions. I've even found myself able to do headstands up against a wall, which is pretty neat.
Functional core strength progress is pretty fantastic, as though the muscle groups seems to be low volume, it has a fast recovery that allows it to be worked daily.
At the start, I was working it really hard, until it hurt. I remember once i sneezed and it made me jolt. Since then I started doing a more regimented rep scheme of 3 sets of 15 at most, graduating the weight as I progress. Unfortunately, I've hit an unexpected wall. I'm out of weight to add on my machines. I've maxed out the cables for kneeling cable crunches, crunches with oblique twists and standing cable crunches. I've maxed out the weight on my abdominal crunch machine, the rotary torso machine, and some other things. I don't want to do a lot of decline crunches or leg raises like I used to do because there is a lot of lower back activation, and I kind of need to baby my lower back. Frankly, I don't really like as many of the other body weight core exercises.
I don't really feel much of a burn anymore, certainly nowhere near what I used to. Volume through sets doesn't really seem to strain it so much, at least in the sets. I often do the cable crunches back to back, so 6 sets at a time and it's not really that intense.
Should I start doing sets to exhaustion so I feel actual burn and strain?
Am I doing enough right now as it is?
Does anyone have any suggestions on other weighted exercises that may hit the muscle well in a more efficient way? The planks are great, but even those are getting kind of annoying as I'm getting close to being able to do those for 3 minutes with a half plate on my back. Some people find planks meditative, I'm somewhere in-between there.
Thanks!
Functional core strength progress is pretty fantastic, as though the muscle groups seems to be low volume, it has a fast recovery that allows it to be worked daily.
At the start, I was working it really hard, until it hurt. I remember once i sneezed and it made me jolt. Since then I started doing a more regimented rep scheme of 3 sets of 15 at most, graduating the weight as I progress. Unfortunately, I've hit an unexpected wall. I'm out of weight to add on my machines. I've maxed out the cables for kneeling cable crunches, crunches with oblique twists and standing cable crunches. I've maxed out the weight on my abdominal crunch machine, the rotary torso machine, and some other things. I don't want to do a lot of decline crunches or leg raises like I used to do because there is a lot of lower back activation, and I kind of need to baby my lower back. Frankly, I don't really like as many of the other body weight core exercises.
I don't really feel much of a burn anymore, certainly nowhere near what I used to. Volume through sets doesn't really seem to strain it so much, at least in the sets. I often do the cable crunches back to back, so 6 sets at a time and it's not really that intense.
Should I start doing sets to exhaustion so I feel actual burn and strain?
Am I doing enough right now as it is?
Does anyone have any suggestions on other weighted exercises that may hit the muscle well in a more efficient way? The planks are great, but even those are getting kind of annoying as I'm getting close to being able to do those for 3 minutes with a half plate on my back. Some people find planks meditative, I'm somewhere in-between there.
Thanks!
Replies
I will say feeling a burn is not a indication of appropriate volume or intensity.
I wouldn 't recommend failure as a optimal way to train as a whole. Near failure certainly has its place, but not as a random training insertion.
As far as "out of weight" to perform lifts. You either do more volume as sets, variations, frequency, or more weight in terms of performing barbell training.
Everything within the confines of a intelligently written program.
The current program really just says "No more than 15 minutes at the end of both of your lower body days." This seems insufficient considering how quickly it recovers so I have been working it weighted all of my gym sessions, and daily with planks.
I guess I'll just add a few sets and see if I can handle it. Sigh.
Knowing the goal and following a program that is designed to accomplish that will obviously give you direction.
As far as switching things up try any of these things.
Manipulate the:
1)Sets
2)Reps
3)Length of workout (duration)
4)Time and speed of reps (tempo)
5)Rest times between rounds/sets
6)Angle, leverage, grip, feet placement, bar type
7)Variable of exercise and goals(power, speed, endurance, strength, cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, flexibility, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy)
8)For distance or for speed
9)Intensity
10)Load
11)Volume
12)Frequency
13)Recovery (how long you wait before you workout again)
14)Exercise order
15)Modality/Tool (Body weight, external weight and objects, rings, TRX, bars, kettlebell, sandbag, ENDLESS OPTIONS FOR ENDLESS MOVEMENTS. MIX AND MATCH. GET CREATIVE.
It's due to other lifts often straining the muscle to the point of causing auxiliary rest days. Lower back gets work, but often it gets too much work which is why I don't want to strain it more with my core work.
Often, I am baffled by people who do ENTIRE core workouts of 20+sets whether he/she is really doing the exercises properly/getting effective muscle contractions. A few DIRECT sets of abdominal focused exercise should be all it takes to reach close to failure if done efficiently (towards end of lifting session/after compound lifts and not simply "going through the motions" like a mindless zombie🧟)
I would probably agree were it not for the dramatic increase in functional strength in a very short period of time. I can very directly attribute that to the extra focus there. Perhaps it was underpowered to begin with, who knows, but I can do a lot more with my core now than I could in February when I started. Just have to keep finding ways to progress. Core has been the second most dramatic strength increase.
I started out having a core day as you remember. Honestly, I definitely didn't like core exercises at all until I started incorporating weight, and that suddenly makes them lower reps by design, perfect for the end of a workout. I don't know if I wanna do a hundred weighted cable crunches, or 5 minute planks though hahaha
Ooo see this is one where I foresee myself sucking hahaha
That was my guess as well, but I was wondering if it was maybe different for core as the recovery was quicker, and I do the exercises at the end of my weight training sessions.
I'm guessing not haha
Recent relevant AthleanX video on rep quality/proper contractions & ROM
It's being babied unfortunately to avoid injury, yes, but mostly because squats and deadlifts heavily activate that area. I have to do those once a week, and those weights do get heavy, so I want to make sure I'm not interfering with that as a preventive measure. My legs are very strong, which makes it possible for me to complete these exercises even when the rest of me isn't quite strong enough. I had a couple weeks where I had niggling pain back there that stubbornly wouldn't go away, so I just want to be cautious.
If I didn't do squats and deadlifts, I think my overall workout volume would rather handily increase, and I probably wouldn't need to worry about it at all, but nothing really works out as much muscle
This has been suggested multiple times in multiple threads to this poster without effect.
I mean, it had effect. Training plan had changed and the mode of progression is more metered rather than haphazard. I took back and retrained the squats and deadlifts. Half the people commenting are in my friends list and see the work. I'd probably hear it from them first haha
Yes indeed. Well, OP isn't trying to do 38 reps/set *squats (not deadlifts) to match personal records several times a week now, so I'd call that some progress.