Strong abs are very important in the martial arts. We all know that the first step to a flatter stomach is an exercise and diet plan designed specifically to shed subcutaneous fat (that's the fat directly underneath your skin, as opposed to visceral fat, which surrounds and protects your internal organs). But stronger abs are just as important as flatter ones! In the words of Ken Shamrock..."...your stomach is one of the parts of your body most vulnerable to attack. You can get hit in the arm, shoulder, even the back of the head, and not suffer much damage. But, if you take a shot in the gut, you will most likely feel it. So protect your vulnerable belly by covering it with a hard shield of muscle." We all do some form of an ab work out either standing or on the floor, using a variety of exercises to work stomach muscles. What is your ab workout and how important do you feel ab training is?
I don't do a dedicated ab workout, but I do work my abs some each day. The "Janda situps" (most commonly gotten from Pavel Tsatsouline, but developed by a guy named Janda) are excellent for abs. Run a google search for "janda situp" and you should find a variety of articles discussing this exercise. There are some breathing exercises I do that target the abs. I'm not sure of the physical side of the equation, but what it feels like I'm doing is tightening my abs in an upward motion to compress my diaphram and push the air out of my lungs. I don't think that is physically possible, but that's the visualization I use. Also, when working knees, I sometimes focus on lifting my leg with my abs rather than on lifting the knee. Not only does this give my abs a more focused workout, it feels like I'm delivering more power with my knees. I haven't actually tested this feeling out to see if there's a physical difference, but that's what it feels like. There are other little things I do for my abs, but those are the primary ones. Mike
The "Core" of my ab work is the Swiss Ball Other than that I do quite a few crunch variations in the Scrappers Workout.
It's my MOST imp part I train on them heavily for at least six days a week if not seven BUT I don't make diet an important part of my routine, instead I focus heavily on exercises here they are, notice that I hav'nt given the names 'cause I dunno wat they are called - 1. Flutter kicks on http://www.trainforstrength.com 2. You lie on the floor bend the knee at a 90 degree angle and do sit ups in this position, it's not necessarry to come all the way up, just enuff so you can feel the crunch 3. Lie flat on the floor and bring your body and legs up and get them as close as possible hold for 3 secs and come down 4. your body is supported only by your legs which are PARALLEL to the ground and your torso hanging down, from here you perform sit ups you can also twist them making it another exercise. I had to rig some of my furniture in the house to make this possible 5. Stay in a v-up position for as long as you can 6. Need a partner for this one - Lie flat on the ground with the partner standing directly above your head Swing your legs up where your partner pushes them back to the ground with some added force while you avoid slamming them to the floor, at the next count the partner will push them to the right side and then to the left and these three counts are onne count. 7. Lie flat on the floow and bring your legs up for a tiny inch flexing your abs 8. Flex your abs whenever you feel like it or if you are idling around somewhere waiting There must be a few I forgot though, these are the oes I currently do... |Cain|
Oh ... and I completely overlooked the second part of your question I think strong abs are important not only so you can take a punch and other obvious things, but also for the lower back. This is the primary reason that I've started focusing (to the extent that I have) on abs over the past few months. My lower back isn't in bad shape, but it occasionally gives me problems. So the ab work is something of a preventative measure Mike
I've been doing the same exact "movement" lately .... it's called the vacuum. Doing this works several ab muscles.... the external and internal obliques and transverse abdominis. The obliques run down either side of your waist, while transverse abdominis acts a little like a corset, helping to hold your abs flat. You can't actually see transverse abdominis, as it "hides" under the other abdominal muscles. To do the vacuum, I take a deep breath in while lifting the chest. while keeping the chest elevated, breathe out while attempting to "suck in " your belly button as the lower part of your stomach flattens. You'll start to feel the some of the muscles in your waist getting tighter. Hold for a few seconds, then relax. This is one rep. Like cain_charlie said you can literally do it anywhere ...sitting in your car, standing in lines and even in bed. And as pesilat mentioned it is a good idea to incorporate core muscle training. Core muscles include the abdominal and lower back area. It's true that more often than not people who train their abs, tend to neglect the lower back. ... that is until they have a problem with it.
these are situps srtaight from the devil. Lie on your back. get your legs straight up, not slightly bent, not angled, straight up. Keep your head off the floor. Now let your legs fall to one side, separate your legs so they both hit the floor with out crushinganything important (don't cross them over, they should be "angled to dangle"). As your legs land you should roll over slightly and break fall with your hand. Then bring the legs back up the middle, touching your feet together, then fall to the other side. Do ten to each side. Then after those keep your feet in the air and head off the ground for about a minute, then touch your toes ten times. Then keeping your feet in the air for another minute. Then do another ten to each side. Touch your toes another ten times. This will make your hips and abs cry out in pain. Another painful variation is to have your legs straight up then point your toes and criss cross - one foot crosses on top then below - then slowly lower your feet toward the ground still criss crossing, then bring them back up. Repeat for a few minutes. As for needing strong abs, definately. It would be no use having uber strong arms and legs then hitting something and getting twisted because your stomach was weak. Also strong abs can help protect your organs from a throw by providing a nice solid shield for them.
my tested abs routine Begin on your back,begin with slow crunches, lift your legs straight out and up to a 90 degree position and hold while you crank out 50 slow crunches, when you have done 50 drop the legs to a 60 degree position and do 50 more slow crunches, when you have complated those 50 drop the legs to 30 degrees and do 50 more crunches. This strengthens the entire midsection. Try it and you will see the results.
I agree that strong abs are a must for protecting the internal organs and if you have weak abs then your kicks,punches,blocks and dodges will not be as effective either.Good abs improve posture too. I neglected my abs for years but i now realise that they are a VERY important muscle group. Good post kickchick because i think too many people forget about the abs and i found a few new ab exercises to do (thanks everyone). My favourite exercise for the top part of the abs is the cable crunch. It feels like someone is sticking a knife in your stomach after a while but it's the best ab exercise that i know!
My main ab exercises are weighted hanging leg raises and ab pulldowns. Strong abs help give a strong squat
Ab workout is the most important part in a Martial arts traning, one cannot spar with full confidence if his abs r not strong coz weak abs is the big weakness which a fighter can ever have . Sit-ups, V-ups and leg raise r the exercise which r done in most of the MA classes. My fav exercie for abs is sit-ups, leg raise and i also do leg raise while hanging to a pullups bar, here is how the exercise is done: This exercise is mainly for ur lower abs. If u have a pull-up bar u can do the ab exercise by hanging onto the bar with both hands and slowly lifting both legs until they r extended horizontally, keep them in that position for as long as possible and try to beat ur last record each time u do the exercise. Another way of doing this exercise is instead of holding the legs horizontally u can raise them as high as possible and then lower them this will be 1 rep, ucan do 4 sets of 20 reps Another way of doing sit-ups is to sit on the edge of the bench, have some 1 secure ur ankles, and lower ur body as far own as posiible towards the floor. This exercise stretches ur midsection much, more but it is more difficult to do. U can also do ab exercise while watching TV. Lie on ur back with ur leg straight in front of ur TV, now raise ur head slightly up and keep ur feet spread out and slightly above the floor, hold them in that position for as long as u can.
Not to be rude or anything, but have you considered that the leg raise puts undue strain on the lower back and works the abs only marginally? take a look at this: http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Myths.html and please read that mel siff article I just posted.
Ever since I started Kung Fu almost 2 years ago I have been really grateful for my pilates training. Not to brag, but I really notice the difference between myself and other students in the abs department. Not only does pilates strengthen your core so you can take punches etc. it is also crucial for balance. If you have a strong core, your ability to balance is vastly improved. Piltes excercises include your typical crunches, but also variations of the plank, sidelines for obliques etc. Almost everything you do (even if it doesn't really look like an abs excercise strengthens your mid section). A really good session of pilates can hurt for days
I do 2 sets of strict crunches at the end of all my workouts aswell as burpees, other then that not a lot. When I do train them I train intensly but no where near the volume of most peoples.
In wrestling we did this exercise that we lied on the ground, with our head betweeen our partners feet, and we had to try to kick them with straight kicks, and they had to push our feet away, and our feet couldnt touch the ground. We had to do 40-50 reps of that. I call it murder, especially after 45 min run up and down a flight of stairs.
I'm not a big fan of high-repetition abdominal exercises. Do you do 100-200 barbell rows with just the bar? No? So why should you work your abs like that? (To be fair, some gyms don't carry abdominal machines and people don't have access to equipment that lets you do weighted abdominal exercises) So mine I work just like any other muscle. Low reps (12-15) with high weight. This means hanging and incline knee raises, incline situp weight plate twists, lots of medicine ball work and the occasional swiss crunch (for a burnout). Anything that I can make hard enough (safely) that I can only do >20 reps. I find that my ab routines tend to give a lot better results than doing rep after rep of crunches, and all the medicine ball work makes me much more able to take a body punch, because it prepares for the impact as well as building the strength.
