On a side note: The photo of the female's torso that you showcased near the top of the post could seriously be me (no joke). I've never seen a picture of another woman's midsection that was exactly like mine (almost eerily so). I don't know who the woman is in the photo but we are very genetically similiar…even right down to the belly button. Weird or what?!?

Thanks for all the good information.

Been checking your articles for a while now, interesting stuff!

I've read about planks from elsewhere as well and am doing those along with free weight training so I guess I got the core thing in check.

However, have you heard of inverted planks? It's where you lie on your back and then lift your buttocks from the ground, just a bit mind, basically you have your heels touching the ground and the other part touching the ground is your upper back. Arms can be held across the chest or at your sides or even behind the neck.

I don't remember where I read about those but they're supposed to be similar to planks but more toward the lower back area -ish.

I'd really appreciate it if you get the time to answer to this.

Anyways, keep up the good work!

I love new workout music so thanks to the person that suggested it in one of the above posts.

Love it, love it, love it!!!!!!!

My advice to anyone wanting to cut weight is to stop eating wheat/gluten products. I feel so much more alive and less poopie (literally) for ditching the gluten in my diet.

This kind of went to prove how running is effectively doing crunches and twisting at the same time while of course working your core muscles. Plus your legs and arms are getting a great workout because of the nature of the excersize!

Wow…That makes me realise i need to get running on a regular basis again to get my fitness and firm abs back!

Everyone does crunches, but no one does jack knives or torso spins.

I trained for years doing a full split routine with abs workouts and all the compound movements and everything, but one thing always lacked and caused problems and that was my ability to twist my upper body.

I didn't do any twisting exercises, so they were very weak.

My one arm bent over rows felt like cardio and I almost got stitches in the opposing side abs when I did them.

So when I realised the problem I started doing twisting exercises and it felt really good but wasn't enough, but then I realised that the best way to improve the twisting movement is by running!

Because you're twisting your upper body with each step..

So if anyone feels as though their mid section is still weak or their twisting power is not fast or strong enough, try running regularly and see what happens…

By the way, 2 minute planks are SO HARD! I did an ab strength test one day and 2 minutes was the minimum to even be included on the strength rating list as "very unfit".

It's such a mentally hard exercise! But if you can force yourself to do it every morning it certainly feels good for the rest of the day!

I have to say that I broadly agree. As I see it, if you're coming from a low base, you don't need to be doing a lot of these exercises. You need to build up some basic levels of performance before you have to worry about that stuff.

These core exercises with balls and such like are very useful for someone who has been doing a lot of multi-gym/fixed weight type exercises and nothing else. Those things allow you to work one muscle group without having to put any power along the length of your body, with the result that your muscles grow without you developing any real strength at all. Adding the balls is a great way for people to start to get over that.

That being said (and I here I agree with the author), a lot of free weight exercises are very good for the core: anything where you are standing up and having to use your strength to stop your body tipping. Some of the traditional power lifting exercises are superb in this respect- like dead lifts and squats.

Now.. on to the medicine balls. I have recently discovered these and I love them. I like them a lot for abdominals (like slams and figure 8s). As I see it their main use is for explosiveness, like doing press ups with your hand on one, and pushing up to switch the ball from one hand to the other. That's a kind of workout that is hard to get in any other way. But it's definitely not for beginners. For me it's more something just to shake up my workout a bit, as I get bored quite easily and need to mix in new things.

So, anyway… core exercises as we see them are probably mainly corrective for people who are victims of bad gym methods.

Best counterpoint yet. Great comment…and thanks for giving people a routine to follow. I listen and consider all comments and this is probably the best argument over a post I have made.

Basic planks work wonders for me…I guess I just like the simplicity of it all.

Have a good one,

Rusty

Turn a Bosu arse-up (so your standing on the flat…) take 80% of what you would normally shoulder press sitting down. Now squat until your butt hits the bosu and explode up through the squat and continue through your arms into a standing shoulder press. 8reps for 4 sets.

Work at standing up on a swiss ball…. ok now get someone to throw you a decent size med ball… 8-10kg… place the med ball in one hand and extend it all the way out to one side… then back across your body nice and slow to the other hand and then extend that arm…. do this until you physically cant do anymore!

Get a Bosu and a good cable machine… Bosu arse up again… Left leg on the bosu (yes just one leg, put the other one in the air). Set your cable machine as low as possible (angle wise)..Now take the handle of the cable machine in your right hand. Now, listen carefully… so do a single legged squat and as you explode up through the squat do a single arm row with the cable… 8reps, 3sets per leg.

Do your good ol' hyperextensions (4 sets of 25reps), your cable crunches (4×25)and your hanging knee raises(4×25) and finish with a plank until you collapse and it feels like your rips are ripping through your skin. (My record was a 8min 33sec bridge after this routine….. and yes i will brag because its taken me years to get this far

So instead of jogging away and watching people core train…. get out there and take core training to a whole new level, the only thing that limits us is the boundaries we set in our minds…. just use planks??? sounds like a boundary to me, what are you scared of? pain, failure or just hard work?

I am in total agreement with you. I do my planks on a swiss ball after doing them on the floor. I think they are a good tool, but just like you…I think it needs to be kept in perspective.

Rusty

I think the major difference here is that the main function of the abs is to stabilize, not functioning as a prime mover. This is why ROM doesn't come into the equation.

Rusty

Injury rehab is a different ballgame altogether. These balancing boards and exercise balls are great for this. I'll take a look at Paul Check. If his site looks good, I'll do a feature post on him. Sorry to hear about your injury! I injured my back badly about 18 years ago from putting on way too much weight on a leg press machine.

Thanks for the compliments…glad to have you as a reader and contributor!

Rusty

I'm kind of bummed on your comments about core training because I think you are right about a lot of it. However, I want to point out that it can be helpful for certain people. I used to be super fit. When I was a kid I was skinny (6 foot 1, 155 lbs) and then I worked out with heavy weights and go up to 175. About 6 years ago I hurt my back real bad snowboarding and basically couldn't walk without a cane for six months. I didn't work out seriously and slowly I gained about 50 pounds. My back got a lot better pain-wise even though I got way out of shape. I was pissed off about how fat I got, so I started to work out again. But, the doc said I'm not supposed to do heavy squats or even do serious running. Which sucked because that is how I got in good shape in the first place. I found a private trainer who does a lot of "core" stuff with me and it has really helped out my flexibility and strength. I also have lost 25 lbs since March. I'm at 195 now and hope to get to 170 by August. Anyway, I think a lot of standard bodybuilding and weight training exercises would be more effective but I'm stuck doing squats on a balance board holding a medicine ball for the time being. The plank is the best one, I totally agree with you there.

Also I was wondering if you had any opinion on Paul Chek? I was out of it for a while so didn't realize "core fitness" was such a craze. I only got into it because I read on Danny Way's website (pro skater who jumped the great wall of china) that he hired Paul Chek to get him back into shape after he broke his neck surfing. He seemed to do a lot of "core" stuff so I looked up a core trainer to help me out.

ok, that was a bit rambling but keep up the good work.

Jen gives great tips on cellulite. It will definitely help to drop body fat, but you can't always get rid of it 100%. I wouldn't stress to hard about this…men aren't nearly as obsessed as women about cellulite. We don't notice it unless it is out of control.

Angie,

Isn't it funny that people are so focused on this whole "core" deal. People talk about it non-stop these days in the gyms that I visit. About 10 years ago nobody was mentioning it. Nice to have you comment…I need to visit your blog and see how your "Women's Diet and Fitness" blog is doing. It looks better every time I visit. WAY more polished looking than my blog! I'm so lazy when it comes to changing up the theme on my site (I do have sweet photo's, but my theme is a bit dated).

Jen,

Yeah…I have heard of eating different ways for different body types. I haven't really looked into it too much. If you find out anything, let me know so I can do a post on it and point people to a good resource. I know people can get lean without the information, but perhaps this info would make it easier.

Thomas,

Your plan looks solid. What I would do is replace the oatmeal with a low calorie protein shake for the next 2-3 weeks. I would also use "Rice Vinegar" as your salad dressing for your dinner meal for the next 2-3 weeks. You lose that body fat for sure in short order if you follow this advice. Once you lose the weight you can go back to your normal diet and eat more calories to maintain.

Ason,

I would keep the protein steady for both days. So you would eat protein and veggies on low carb days, but eat protein and a bit of rice or potatoes on higher carb days. You would also add a bit more fruit on higher carb days. When you are trying to lose a lot of fat…I would do 3-4 weeks of low carb followed by a week of higher carb. Just don't go overboard on carbs during that week. You will gain back a little weight, but you don't want to gain all of it back.

Have a great one!

Rusty

thanks

ason

thanks jared

My meals are
breakfeast-oatmeal(300) cals apple(380)
lunch/dinner grilled chicken salad w/ chesse & blue chesse dressing

I was wondering what suggestions you could give me for losing the weight and then suggestions maintainence diet

Thanks i know its alot

tim