Strength Weight Training: Anything and Everything II

[spacejam]

What workouts/exercises are most effective for strengthening the core?

We got taught to try and lift our balls (The one's below your willy) while squatting apparently it switches on your core.

 

[Shupe]

lolwut

 

[Fletch Pewterschmidt]

Cheers for the responses;

The wheel barrow thing - is a hammersmith cradle I think its called, you can dead on it, its no replacement for the real thing ad you dont use anywhere near the same stabalization muscles and its more back oriented than the real thing which requires much more legs.

But do deads on that cradle gripping the lower handles,have your feet slightly forward not directly below you, push up through your heels and extend your chest at the top

Its not ideal and the weight is at a massive discrepancy - for example my one rep max barbell dead is 200 kilos but at jetts I rep 200 kilos for 8 on the cradle


It does the job though, I think

I used the hammersmith cradle (?) this morning; I'm no where near 200kgs (80kg) but felt it, especially post squats. I'll stick with it for the time being and see how I progress - single leg deadlifts and bulgarian split squats tho look a good option.

And there would be no way to void the contract due to lack of equipment - youre stuck there buddy

It's my first real complaint; I'm not lifting massive numbers at the moment so the smith machine plus the cable machines and up to 40kg db's (i'm not lifting 20kg yet) are doing the trick.

 

[Syphoncom]

Having said that, a gym without barbells isn't really a gym.

For core strength, I still subscribe to squats and deads. Planks (and all variations) and varying roman chair lifts seem to do well.

 

[spacejam]

lolwut

Keyword is "apparently", I think it's bs to be honest

 

[mcuzzy]

We got taught to try and lift our balls (The one's below your willy) while squatting apparently it switches on your core.

haha nice! who taught you?

 

[spacejam]

haha nice! who taught you?

A physio haha, no sure about his creditionals..
All the AFL players will be doing it in a few years, just wait

 

[Madison]

Keyword is "apparently", I think it's bs to be honest

Pretty sure its legit.

 

[cptkirk]

the ball raising activates your pelvic floor but not your core in the way you need to squat heavy...i would probably suggest never listening to that bloke again

 

[Madison]

the ball raising activates your pelvic floor but not your core in the way you need to squat heavy...i would probably suggest never listening to that bloke again

I don't know about doing it when squatting but I was under the impression that if done properly it's a good exercise for your core?

 

[cptkirk]

If pelvic floor is the only problem yes, if its that plus other core areas then no

 

[spacejam]

the ball raising activates your pelvic floor but not your core in the way you need to squat heavy...i would probably suggest never listening to that bloke again

He only came to training as a one off haha

 

[evo]

A physio haha, no sure about his creditionals..
All the AFL players will be doing it in a few years, just wait

how do they check your 'form', so to speak?

 

[spacejam]

how do they check your 'form', so to speak?

Well he went down and erm reached in... I'm sure you can imagine the rest..

 

[keyboard_warrior]

If pelvic floor is the only problem yes, if its that plus other core areas then no

pevic floor, multifidus and trans abs co-activate so it can be helpful for those deeper muscles as a group.

 

[lysp]

New PB again this morning

Gym got some bumper plates this morning so decided to do my deads using those.. was a lot easier on my arms lowering them - a lot less shock compared to rubber plates. But managed to pull 5x190, felt a lot easier than 187 that i just managed last week. So still think i have a few weeks of progression left.. if i can get 200 for reps in a few weeks i'm gunna be laughing.

 

[cptkirk]

pevic floor, multifidus and trans abs co-activate so it can be helpful for those deeper muscles as a group.

when contracting them in isolation for basic activation is different then how'd you contract them for a heavy squat/deadlift though

 

[Gee Dub]

I've got bad shoulders, like they strain easily and fairly innocuosly especially since I spent most of my time on the footy field wrestling the other ruckmen. What sort of stuff should I be doing to strengthen them and would strengthening them help? cptkirk

 

[cptkirk]

what do you mean "strain"?

 

[mcgarnacle]

Hey Kirky, i'd like some quick advice, please.

what IYO would be the best way to organise this microcycle? i'm doing 5 sessions with 2 rest days.

2 x lifting sessions
() = supersets

Lift session A
Deadlifts; (Floor press & Bulg SS); (Lunges & Pullup)

Lift session B
Push Press; (Back Squats & DB Shoulder Press); (Chins & Pushups)

1 x General body conditioning
several sets of bodyweight circuits such as burpees, pushups, mountain climbers, squat thrusts, inverted rows, rope jump, etc

1 x Sprint & Interval session
Sprints - 2 to 6 reps of 40-80m
Intervals - 4 to 8 reps of 400-800m

1 x Road Cycling inc Cat 3 and 4 climbs - 90-120 mins; or a 45' spin session if shit weather.

at the moment I'm doing it this way
Day 1 - Lift A
Day 2 - Sprint & Intervals
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - Lift B
Day 5 - Cycling
Day 6 - General conditioning
Day 7 - rest
Day 8 - Lift A

My concern is when to program the hip & leg dominant Lift session A? I'm finding that I'm I'm waking sore in the glutes and legs on Day 2 for my sprint/run sessions, from the blast on my core and lower limbs the prior day.

I'm not sure whether I should schedule that lifting session the day prior to a road cycle/spin either although low impact, considering the prolonged use of the legs in those activities. It's proper cycling/spin session with clipless pedals and proper use of the leg muscles on each rotation of the crank.

Furthermore, I'm not sure whether it's ideal to schedule it on days after a run or cycle as they might be fatigued from those activities.

How do you think the cycle should be scheduled?

cheers.

 

[Cats fan 16]

when contracting them in isolation for basic activation is different then how'd you contract them for a heavy squat/deadlift though

I would put this in the too hard basket to be honest. 99% of people who actively try to activate their core are going to be switching on the wrong muscles anyway. If done properly in isolation with real time ultrasound to switch on certain muscles it is obviously valuable, but when done in conjunction with a complex movement (eg. squat), what are the chances that they are accurately turning on their TA anyway? They're probably just bracing, increasing intra-abdiminal presure anyway. What are your thoughts.
I'm off the whole TA thing anyway, people went overboard with some research out of uni of QLD showing an association between decreased multif and TA strength in people with LBP, but was it cause or effect? TA has 6 different directions of fibres, and is primarily a rotator of the spine anyway.
I've given up trying to teach TA and instead try and get the person to not even think about their core and make movement less complex.

 

[cptkirk]

I would put this in the too hard basket to be honest. 99% of people who actively try to activate their core are going to be switching on the wrong muscles anyway. If done properly in isolation with real time ultrasound to switch on certain muscles it is obviously valuable, but when done in conjunction with a complex movement (eg. squat), what are the chances that they are accurately turning on their TA anyway? They're probably just bracing, increasing intra-abdiminal presure anyway. What are your thoughts.
I'm off the whole TA thing anyway, people went overboard with some research out of uni of QLD showing an association between decreased multif and TA strength in people with LBP, but was it cause or effect? TA has 6 different directions of fibres, and is primarily a rotator of the spine anyway.
I've given up trying to teach TA and instead try and get the person to not even think about their core and make movement less complex.

yeah, we teach intra abdominal bracing/pressure rather then specific muscles in regards to core activation especially during squats/deads...there's "different" core activation for different exercises too as you wouldn't brace like a deadlift for a prone hold as a deadlift lasts 3 - 4secs per rep where you can reset core bracing btw each rep compared to a prone hold that has a far longer time under tension so you can't just hold your breath

 

[cptkirk]

Hey Kirky, i'd like some quick advice, please.

what IYO would be the best way to organise this microcycle? i'm doing 5 sessions with 2 rest days.

2 x lifting sessions
() = supersets

Lift session A
Deadlifts; (Floor press & Bulg SS); (Lunges & Pullup)

Lift session B
Push Press; (Back Squats & DB Shoulder Press); (Chins & Pushups)

1 x General body conditioning
several sets of bodyweight circuits such as burpees, pushups, mountain climbers, squat thrusts, inverted rows, rope jump, etc

1 x Sprint & Interval session
Sprints - 2 to 6 reps of 40-80m
Intervals - 4 to 8 reps of 400-800m

1 x Road Cycling inc Cat 3 and 4 climbs - 90-120 mins; or a 45' spin session if shit weather.

at the moment I'm doing it this way
Day 1 - Lift A
Day 2 - Sprint & Intervals
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - Lift B
Day 5 - Cycling
Day 6 - General conditioning
Day 7 - rest
Day 8 - Lift A

My concern is when to program the hip & leg dominant Lift session A? I'm finding that I'm I'm waking sore in the glutes and legs on Day 2 for my sprint/run sessions, from the blast on my core and lower limbs the prior day.

I'm not sure whether I should schedule that lifting session the day prior to a road cycle/spin either although low impact, considering the prolonged use of the legs in those activities. It's proper cycling/spin session with clipless pedals and proper use of the leg muscles on each rotation of the crank.

Furthermore, I'm not sure whether it's ideal to schedule it on days after a run or cycle as they might be fatigued from those activities.

How do you think the cycle should be scheduled?

cheers.

on face value and no info on goals etc you have a few options:

1 - do sprints day 1 and gym session day 2...if the sprints don't make you sore then you'll be golden for gym the next day
2 - cut gym to lower and upper days and do sprints/upper gym/rest/lower gym/bike/rest/conditioning/rest

i'm not sure if the intervals are required with the longer ride you do either ans switch the push ups from day 2 and make it a heavy row of some sort

 

[Cats fan 16]

yeah, we teach intra abdominal bracing/pressure rather then specific muscles in regards to core activation especially during squats/deads...there's "different" core activation for different exercises too as you wouldn't brace like a deadlift for a prone hold as a deadlift lasts 3 - 4secs per rep where you can reset core bracing btw each rep compared to a prone hold that has a far longer time under tension so you can't just hold your breath

Fair enough. Have you read the article the 'myth of core stability'. It's a good read.

 

[cptkirk]

i think i have, who wrote it?