So, I came up with a core workout for the ages last night. I went to the gym around 8:30pm and executed this pattern 2.5 times before my back began to ache, and I was forced to retreat for the evening.
My form was good to excellent on everything except the pike. The pike still gives me problems. My weight on the Turkish Get Up increased to 12 KG (about 26 pounds) and I really could have done 30. There was a time when I couldn't even perform the Turkish Get Up. The first time I tried it, I looked pretty damn stupid. The reason was/is core strength. The TGU is a misunderstood exercise. It is thought to be a shoulder exercise. It is much more a core exercise.
I woke up with mildly sore (but very hard) abs & obliques. This is a sure sign of a good core workout the night before. I was so impressed with the results I decided to share it with you here. I am on my way to a 6-pack.
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry about abdominal/core workouts, the TRX suspension system has now become an indispensable component of my workout these days. Just in case you didn't read that blog post, I'll give you the cliff's notes: Suspension exercise is the key to developing a sexy six-pack. You won't develop a six-pack by doing sit-ups or crunches.
I seriously doubt you can develop one by using the Solution, the Ab-Glider or event the Rack in isolation. Put all three of these devices together, and you have a decent chance. However, I think suspension exercises (such as those done with the TRX straps) could probably get the job done without any other assistance or recourse.
This makes suspension exercises the prime mover in developing a six-pack. Suspension work is the most powerful ab work. Nothing else is as effective. Nothing else is as important. Does this mean you throw away the Rack, the Solution and the Ab-Glider? Hell no! Keep doing those exercises as well. Everything helps.
Now that you understand how important these straps are to my current program, consider my horror on Wednesday night when I discover that the gym coaches have locked up the TRX straps in the storage room treasure chest. The treasure chest is locked-down with a combination lock. I can't get in. I can't use the straps.
I ask the nice folks at the help desk if they can open the treasure chest for me. They apologize and say they can't. The treasure chest contains the private property of the gym coaching staff. They have the right to lock-up their private gear if they want to. They are often generous enough to allow the good people of the gym to user their stuff, but if they want to lock it up...
So there was no TRX suspension work for me on Wednesday or Thursday night. Neither was their TRX suspension work on Friday or Saturday, primarily because my brother's band was in town.
Naturally, I knew immediately that my workout cannot be made dependent on the vagaries of tender mercies of the gym coaches. I was going to have to take action. I needed my own straps. If this is an essential tool, I need to own it. I need to be able to use it at will.
Imagine my horror when I discovered that TRX charges between $199 and $250 for their average packages! What a shock! How can such a rude little device cost so much? It only goes to prove Yogi Berra's point: A dollar ain't worth a nickle anymore.
Naturally, this was the moment when I swung into consumer-mode. I began grinding the search engines, looking for a better price. I also began trolling the Amazon reviews, looking for an alternative. This is where I struck gold.
It turns out that the most helpful review of the TRX product was written by a very knowledgeable strength coach who rated the Jungle Gym XT as the most effective product in this category, regardless of price. He said he would select the Jungle Gymn XT over the TRX, even if it cost more than the TRX system. It was a better design product, and fabricated from better materials. Fortunately for us, the The Jungle Gym XT is less than half the price of the common TRX packages. It's about $97 bucks. This makes it a no-brainer choice.
I was excited. I bought the Jungle Gym XT immediately, on impulse. 20 seconds later I was wondering why I jumped so quickly. I decided to visit the YouTube to see what I had just purchased. About 30 minutes spent there convinced me that I made the correct decision.
Not only are the Jungle Gym XT videos on YouTube better done and more illuminating, they feature demonstrations of much more advanced & challenging exercises. Further, you can clearly see why any strength and conditioning coach would prefer this set of straps over the TRX straps.
What are the obvious points of improvement in this architecture?
The Jungle Gym XT consists of two independent straps, not one strap.
Each strap of the Jungle Gym XT anchors independently to your cross-bar
It is much easier to widen and narrow the anchors of the Jungle Gym XT on the bar
It much quicker and easier to shorten and lengthen the straps of the Jungle Gym XT.
The handles of the Jungle Gym XT consist of two V-Shaped hard-graphite stirrups. These stirrups will hold your feet much more safely and securely than the loose material of the TRX strap.
My Jungle Gym XT has not arrived just yet, but I am very excited and looking forward to using it for the first time. In the meantime, I am struggling to make due with the Ab-Glider, the Solution and the Rack. The Rack has become my primary focus, and it is doing a very nice job for me. Still, I want to get going with the Jungle Gym XT.
About a month or so ago, I became obsessed with developing my abs.
The reason was pretty simple. I was horrified by the fact that a deadlift of 135 pounds had become challenging for me. The proximate cause of the difficulty was the weakness of my abdominals. Good ab strength is necessary for a big deadlift.
Once upon a time, I would deadlift 315 pound bars off the floors of sports stores with no belt, no warm up, and ordinary running shoes on my feet. I would do this suddenly, without warning, and with one quick thrust so no one would have time to object. It wasn't particularly hard either. Given a warm up, and the right gear, I could rip 515 off the floor.
How pitiful I have become, I thought. Corrective action had to be taken.
The Ab Glider and the Solution
Step 1a was purchasing The Ab Glider. Yep, this is the device hocked by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. It's pretty good too. Step 1b was purchasing The Solution, offered by Body by Jake. This is a good machine, and I enjoy using it more than the Ab Glider.
My Apartment is such a clutter of exercise equipment it is preposterous. I don't know how I live here anymore.
The morning after my first combined use of two devices, my guts were pretty dang sore. That quickly changed. Both devices got pretty easy pretty quickly. At first, I could barely do the basics. Now I can pretty much do any of the movements pretty well. I know it has only been about a month, and I know I have gotten pretty good results from these two little devices, but at the same time, I have been disappointed.
I have been disappointed that my obliques have not developed at the same rate as my abs. I have also been disappointed that I still don't have a 6-pack... after just one month. I've also been developing a great deal of skepticism that a 6-pack can be developed by using these two devices.
The Rack
About a week or so ago, I decided to enter Stage-2 of the development process. I decided to buy the Rack, the device designed by Owen McKibbin. Before buying this inexpensive device, I had been convinced that there were (at least) 4 core exercises that would be difficult or more expensive to duplicate with other devices. What are those exercises?
The ab crawler
The reverse ab crawler
Inclined Yoga Plank Twists
Bicycle Kicks
Knee raises
I also thought it would make a nice anchor for sit-ups and (possibly) a decent platform for frog-kicks. In short, that was more than enough justification for it's minor cost. It turns out that there is much more you can do with it.
TRX Pro Kit
The TRX straps are something quite unlike anything I've seen or used before. I encounter them for the first time about a week ago, when I saw them just hanging around in my little CrossFit Gym in Woodland Hills. I wondered what they were and just how they might be used. As it turns out, it is an instrument of advanced core development. I was delighted when I discovered the following video that gave good instruction regarding how to use the device.
Tying it all together into a circuit
Tonight, I decided I was going to execute my first-ever ab-only workout circuit. I planned to hit my abs from every direction possible. I was going to combine all of these good exercises to make my abs respond. I wanted to do my first workout on the way to a great 6-pack. This is what I came up with:
Machines
The Solution Crunch
The Solution Obliques
Ab Glider Crunch
Ab Glider Pendulum
TRX
Suspended Crunches
Suspended Pike
Pendulum (Obliques)
Pendulum Crunch (knees to elbows)
Body Crunch (like an Ab wheel)
Standing Oblique Twist
Suspended Yoga Plank/Pike
Suspended Isometric Plank
The Rack
Anchored Feet Situp
Ab Crawler
Reverse Ab Crawler
Frog Kicks
Frog Kick twists
Yoga Plank Twists
Standing Knee Raises
Bicycle Kicks
I did all of this tonight. I can assure you, I can feel every inch of my mid-body right now. I have little doubt that if I do this routine a couple of times per week, I will develop a wicked 6-pack. Owen McKibbin and Ryan Gossling are in trouble now.
