Core Conundrum

[John Alston]

Hanging knee - leg raises, knees to elbows, whatever you call them. I also find these make the lower back feel happy after it's been under pressue from squatting, etc.

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

seems like "core" strenght is about as wide ranging and variable as grip. there are about a jillion ways and theories.... if you're looking for something that increases your total, you're going to have expirement a little. i don't think you can beat front squats, oh squats and pressouts for an overhead lifter. if you have access, i bet an upside down safety squat bar would work well too becuase it can approximate the classic narrow OL back squat position but the leverage is even worse than a front squat...

i do round back lifting of many flavors, standing ab work , medium heavy carries wihtout a belt, ab wheel and waiters walks....these approximate the discomfort of several events and movements...mostly i don't think about it though and that works really well.

This.

Go with the compounds especially OHS.


And why is it that you think your core needs work?

[Derek Weaver]

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

seems like "core" strenght is about as wide ranging and variable as grip. there are about a jillion ways and theories.... if you're looking for something that increases your total, you're going to have expirement a little. i don't think you can beat front squats, oh squats and pressouts for an overhead lifter. if you have access, i bet an upside down safety squat bar would work well too becuase it can approximate the classic narrow OL back squat position but the leverage is even worse than a front squat...

i do round back lifting of many flavors, standing ab work , medium heavy carries wihtout a belt, ab wheel and waiters walks....these approximate the discomfort of several events and movements...mostly i don't think about it though and that works really well.

I like your style Dave.

I have just have a tendency to pay attention to other lifts and adjust. I was seriously lagging going overhead and felt it was more a stability issue through the midline. I added in some targeted ab work, bridges and ab wheels and... voila. A push press PR after a couple weeks.

[Dave Van Skike]

what derek describes is well taken (not just becuase he's a complimentary bloke figure out if and where there's a weakness and address it

[Troy Archie]

Originally Posted by Patrick Donnelly

heavy-ass planks.

You're talking with a plate on your back, right?

[Garrett Smith]

A great thing about training front & back lever progressions is that they are training a "free plank" while also connecting the core to the arms.

Another thing I like about them is that they are "core" work that I don't really consider ab or low back work...I also seem to recover from this type of training better than when I used to do "abs". YMMV

[Chris H Laing]

I agree with Dr. G. FL and BL are great core exercises, but only after you can get farther than the adv tuck versions. One leg out, straddle, and full can be pretty taxing on the core.

Originally Posted by Brian DeGennaro

4 - Every session.

Just a small aside about this, but wouldnt training core every session, after doing things like heavy front squats, presses, and front levers (or any exercises that tax the core) be a little overkill on the mid section.

Wouldnt it be bard to recover for the next session?

[Patrick Donnelly]

Originally Posted by Troy Archie

You're talking with a plate on your back, right?

Yes, but more than one plate if you can handle it. I tried a 40kg plank sometime last week goofing around and got it for 49 seconds (on par with what another lifter was doing that day) and I know of one local lifter who likes to go as heavy as 100kg, but only for 10-15 seconds.

[Brian DeGennaro]

When I mean train core every day, I mean take 2 exercise and perform 2-3 sets of each, nothing more.

[Gant Grimes]

Get a chainsaw. Cut down large trees (get permission first). Cut the log up into smaller parts. Carry them--Zercher, shoulder, overhead, etc.--and throw them into a truck or onto a trailer.