Which is more beneficial? Why or why not?
Sit-ups vs. Crunches
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Participant
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Participant
Hanging leg or knee raises
Agree 100%
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Member
I feel that crunches are good for strengthening the abdominal region but they must be combined with planks for any functional use.
The crunches serve to strengthen the abs. Then the planks use that strength in a functional way to stabilize the core.This is mainly anecdotal from the fact that I can notice that it is easier to hold planks after training crunches for a while. But training planks does not make it easier to do crunches.
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Participant
i prefer sit ups..my favourite core exercises would be Hanging leg or knee raises sprinter sit ups v ups
What are sprinter sit-ups?
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Participant
When doing sit-ups, is it OK to have someone hold your feet down, or should you do them without aid?
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Participant
When doing sit-ups, is it OK to have someone hold your feet down, or should you do them without aid?
I like someone on my feet, as it works my thighs and hip flexors as well as my abs. I like doing all out sets of 30s on 30s off x 10-12 sets – going for 40 reps per set. Great core workout.
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Participant
situps are probably the best core exercise not associated with a skill. Crunches in my opinion are absolutely worthless.
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Participant
do crunches with leg raises at the same time.. just make sure ur chin is trying to go straight to the roof not the useless ones people do with ur chin going towards your toso
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Participant
Crunches in my opinion are absolutely worthless.
This is precisely the reason I started this thread. I couldn’t agree more. However, I wanted to bring it up in a thread in case I was missing something.
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Participant
[quote author="Jay Turner" date="1251272000"][quote author="dan1990" date="1251263018"]i prefer sit ups..my favourite core exercises would be Hanging leg or knee raises sprinter sit ups v ups
What are sprinter sit-ups?[/quote]
i do them with my hands on my head[/quote]
Oh I know what those are. I actually have my athletes do them all the time. Just different nomenclature. I call them bicycles. Thanks.
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Participant
i prefer sit ups..my favourite core exercises would be Hanging leg or knee raises sprinter sit ups v ups
Does hanging kneee/leg raises work a specific part of your ab/core, or does it strengthen your ab/core in general?
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Participant
Anyone here ever do dragon flags?
Never heard of them. Please explain, or post video of it.
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Participant
[quote author="star61" date="1251315130"]Anyone here ever do dragon flags?
Never heard of them. Please explain, or post video of it.[/quote]
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Participant
[quote author="dan1990" date="1251263018"]i prefer sit ups..my favourite core exercises would be Hanging leg or knee raises sprinter sit ups v ups
Does hanging kneee/leg raises work a specific part of your ab/core, or does it strengthen your ab/core in general?[/quote]
hanging knee raises target the hip flexors and abdominals..i use a dumbell (between knees) to add weight and strengthen hip flexors..hanging leg raises hit the abdominal muscles more and to a lesser extent hip flexors
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Participant
[quote author="Jay Turner" date="1251312747"][quote author="dan1990" date="1251263018"]i prefer sit ups..my favourite core exercises would be Hanging leg or knee raises sprinter sit ups v ups
Does hanging kneee/leg raises work a specific part of your ab/core, or does it strengthen your ab/core in general?[/quote]
hanging knee raises target the hip flexors and abdominals..i use a dumbell (between knees) to add weight and strengthen hip flexors..hanging leg raises hit the abdominal muscles more and to a lesser extent hip flexors[/quote]This is why I asked about dragon flags. Unless there is hip flexion at the spine, leg raises are mainly targeting the hip flexors, correct? By eliminating hip flexion, it seems the load is entirely shifted to the abs during a dragon flag. Does this seem correct? I’m not a biomechanics expert, obviously.
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Participant
[quote author="Daniel Andrews" date="1251275198"]Crunches in my opinion are absolutely worthless.
This is precisely the reason I started this thread. I couldn’t agree more. However, I wanted to bring it up in a thread in case I was missing something.[/quote]
I guess I should expand on the thought a little more. Crunches don’t involve the muscles in hip flexion to the extent needed in track and field. Crunches aren’t dynamic enough. Situps can provide an alternative means to energy systems training on rainy or cold days.
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Participant
Aren’t sit-ups bad for your lower back? I’ve read many sources that say sit-ups can give you a herniated disc in your lower back due to rounding your lower back while performing the exercise.
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Participant
[quote author="Jay Turner" date="1251315673"][quote author="star61" date="1251315130"]Anyone here ever do dragon flags?
Never heard of them. Please explain, or post video of it.[/quote]
[/quote]
Just as I said about another exercise in an earlier post, I’ve seen it, and I use it alot in my sessions. Just different names are used.
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Participant
Aren’t sit-ups bad for your lower back? I’ve read many sources that say sit-ups can give you a herniated disc in your lower back due to rounding your lower back while performing the exercise.
Can’t sprinting maximally cause hamstring strains, quad strains, torn muscles, etc… There is a certain amount of risk involved in sprinting, jumping, and throwing and one of the major problems as I see it is lower back pain. This lower back pain is the result of a weakened or strained psoas muscles. The psoas muscles contribute to anterior pelvic tilt, having too much anterior pelvic tilt can be a bad thing for sprinting, but having anterior pelvic tilt is what helps create some mechanical efficiencies in sprinting.
That said, situps train more muscles and do them more dynamically than crunches do. In my opinion they also don’t confuse the firing patterns and sequencing in running as much as crunches do. The worst thing a sprinter can is have strong back extensors, strong abs, and weak hip flexors because this will cause all kinds of problems.
The truth is most athletes don’t do enough work with hip flexion to offset gains in strength in other “core” muscles. So-called “core” work must involve hip extensors, hip flexors, spinal extensors, spinal flexors, hip rotators, and spinal rotators. The other truth is you don’t need to be sitting around doing crunches and ab work 15-30 minutes a day, its a waste of the training schedule.
Now on a personal note, I did situps (fast ones) and so did everyone else in USMC boot camp, some of us probably approached and surpassed Herschel Walker’s 1000’s Situps and Pushups on a regular daily basis. Not one time did any of us ever report to sick bay or become injured because of it. We also did them everywhere, parade deck (asphalt), sand pits, sidewalks (concrete), barracks floor (tile covering concrete and concrete), and grass if we were lucky. Not one time in my 4 years in the Marine Corps did I know of another Marine who reported to sick bay for a herniated disc suffered from physical training either. In over 5 years of coaching only my first season was filled with back problems with athletes, from that time forward I haven’t done “core” work on a regular basis and had less and less back problems as I phased out specified “core” work in the training plan. It’s now lumped in under general strength circuits and strength training as well as sport specific skill training. The other thing I find crucial in all this is my athletes aren’t doing much “core” work unless it’s sport specific when they are already fatigued. If you really think hard about it, you are going to hit the “core” in everything you do, so why place it at the end of a training session?
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