Core Article: Questions from the Group

For the latest core article, I asked the members of USAFit/Philly to send me their questions. The questions and answers are below.

Paula asked: How about some exercises that can be done sitting at your desk?

Here are two of my favorites:

1. Seated Reclining Curl: Scoot to the front edge of your chair; cross your arms over your chest and place your feet flat on the floor. Keeping your back straight, engage your core and slowly lower your shoulders and torso backward -- either as far as you can comfortably, or until your shoulders touch the back of your chair. Hold this lowered position for two seconds and then slowly return to the starting position. (Note: do not allow your weight to REST against the back of the chair! You should be supporting your weight via the contraction of your core muscles.)
This exercise works the rectus abdominis -- the muscle that runs up the center of your abdomen, creating the central line of definition in the coveted “six pack”.
2. Captain’s Chair: Scoot to the front edge of your chair. For added balance/stability, grasp the front edge of your chair with your hands. Take a deep breath, straighten your back and engage your core; as you exhale, slowly lift your knees up toward your chest as high as you comfortably can. Hold the position for two seconds and then slowly lower back to the starting position, while breathing in.

This exercise works the lower abdominal muscles. If you feel tension or pain in your lower back, try lifting your legs slightly less high; or try tilting slightly backward. Keep your back straight and focus on maintaining your core engagement.

If this seems too easy, try lifting your legs straight in front of you and holding them parallel to the floor for two seconds, then returning your feet slowly to the floor without bending your knees.

Pete asked: Are sit-ups worthwhile?

Yes! When completed with proper form and control, sit-ups are a great exercise that work several areas of the core as opposed to simply isolating the upper and lower abdominals (according to MayoClinic.com). Sit-ups engage the midsection to lift the entire upper body, and also require constant contraction in the engaged muscles to lower the body in a controlled motion as well.

Control is very important during the full range of motion of a situp. Unlike a “crunch”, which only lifts the body a few inches off the floor, sit-ups raise you from a prone position into an upright, seated position; then you return to the prone position again. It is important to engage the core throughout the movement, and maintain control throughout every phase of the exercise. Don't let your back sag or slouch when you're upright; similarly, don't let it arch off the floor when you're in the prone position.

Many people choose crunches over sit-ups due to lower back injury or pain; if you have a prior low-back injury, check with your doctor regarding the range of motion used during sit-ups before adding them to your workout regimen.

For general core strengthening, sit-ups are a good exercise to include in your routine. They should not be your entire core workout routine; variety is important to engage all areas of your core.

Mary asked: Other than planking and being conscious of my core during less active things like sitting at my desk and such, what other exercises can I do?

First, check out the exercises from the first question (Seated Reclining Curl and Captain's Chair). If you want another seated exercise, try these:

Seated Side Crunches: sitting at the front edge of your chair, take a deep breath, straighten your back and engage your core. While breathing out, focus on contracting the muscles along the right side your core (your “obliques”) and reach down as far as possible with your right hand.  Contract your left obliques to return to the upright position, then repeat the exercise with your left side. Continue to alternate back and forth; if this feels too easy, hold a paperweight or some other object in the reaching hand.

You can also review some of the exercises we practiced earlier this season, such as bird dog, plank (and side plank), mountain climbers, superman and mason twists. To see a description of each, check out this Google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XNMCKLREOApoTxETnJq5vWnxIQzgPg1QsySsn8um3oM/edit

Roy asked:  My coach from Cadence/Walton sent me information on core exercises being 10 reps at 3 seconds. Is that preferred to a long rep of 20-30 seconds?

There are many different theories out there about the best amount of time per repetition, and the best number of repetitions per set. My personal preference is VARIATION. If you do the same thing for every exercise, every time you do it, your body will get used to it; it will stop being challenged. Mix it up! Holding an exercise for several extra seconds at the peak contraction, or moving very slowly throughout the entire exercise is a great way to challenge your muscles. 

You can also mix up the types of sets you do; for example, instead of doing 3 sets involving 10 repetitions each, try doing 8 repeats of “Tabata” intervals. Each interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. Keep your focus on form, and on fully completing each movement with correct form, and keep a log of how many reps you can complete during the 20-second work intervals. A week or a month later, can you complete more reps (with correct form!) in the same amount of time?

Another good challenge is doing “ladder” sets. You start out with one rep, and each set you add a rep. The rest time between sets is equal to the amount of time it took you to complete the previous set. Count up until you feel like you wouldn’t be able to add one more rep to your count, then start reversing your count (ie, “go back down the ladder”.) An example of ladder sets might be something like this:

1 sit-up, then 3 seconds rest
2 sit-ups, then 6 seconds rest
3 sit-ups, then 9 seconds rest
4 sit-ups, then 12 seconds rest
5 sit-ups, then 15 seconds rest
4 sit-ups, then 12 seconds rest
3 sit-ups, then 9 seconds rest
2 sit-ups, then 6 seconds rest
1 sit-up, then 3 seconds rest
2 sit-ups, then 6 seconds rest

Keep going up and down the ladder until you cannot complete any additional exercises. It's not necessary to replace all of your standard rep workouts with Tabata or ladder intervals, but mixing them in to your workouts gives you challenging variety.