Well done Wullie -
I’ve dropped back to between 3 - 400 a day x 6 at the moment as I’ve had a sore back ( injured during Indoor world Champs lol - sitting glued to the box 4 2 long 
)
I don’t think I’ll being going much higher than that now - but when things get back to normal I’ll do some more extreme stuff like jacknifes etc
Well done Wullie - 400 a day.
I just started back into abs struggling to do 150 at the moment.
How’s your toe?
Why do 100’s of reps for rectus ab and obliques? They are active for most of the time throughout any sprint distance, (although to a far lesser extent after 30-40m), but so are hamstrings. Hamstrings are not trained in this rep range. I really do not understand.
OorWullie,
what is you ab routine. with such high volume im assuming you do differnt crunch variations.
My routine,
Giant set - repeat twice. Minimal rest between sets
25 - Toes Up
25 - Crunch
25 - Side Crunch to left
25 - Side Crunch to right
25 - Russian Twists
25 - Reverse Crunch
25 - Crunch
I have followed Charlie’s advices regarding ab training. Basically, the receive indirect high intensity work during sprinting and also weight training. Since we have only a limited amount of energy, why do extra high intensity work for the abs, which we may not be able to recover from.
Also, they are primarily stablizers, so we should train them as such.
Ben did 1000 or 500 reps per day (depended if it was a tempo or a speed day).
Any thoughts on developing ab strength in a whole-body framework?
Standing with back to pin-loaded stack, gripping cable with hand close beside shoulder and twisting torso through a fairly small range of movement (maybe 6inches in distance). Hard to explain without showing movement.
The abs do a lot of the work, but not in isolation.
This exercise can be done with or (mostly) without hip involvement (for variation).
Charlie your thoughts please. Validity in this one?
Seems to me the idea has great merit.
I think I know the exercise you are describing KitKat - can it be done kneeling also?
Originally posted by no23
I think I know the exercise you are describing KitKat - can it be done kneeling also?
I’m sure it can. With most of the things we do and plan, it’s open to our own imagination.
Doing this kneeling would tend to elimination hip rotation which would put greater emphasis on the trunk, although I’d like to do a portion of the work engaging the hip/trunk mechanism which is what happens when we run/jump/throw.
KitKat, I remember that DC used to hit the heck out of the punching bag. There are very few exercises that work the abs harder than the heavy bag!
I know this sounds weird but the two exercises that I have found that really tax my abs are … wait for it … chopping wood and using a heavy sledge hammer !!!
(and NO I’m not going into the story of how I found out)
The action of raising a weight over ones head and controlling it as it falls is all based around the ab section.
I’m definitey not reccomending it as an exercise, but some books/‘experts’ reccomend a similar exercise. [see: Stronger Abs and Back - Greg Brittenham & Dean Brittenham]
One other exercise I have tried is as follows:
Stand facing the Lat pulldown machine
Arms length away from machine
Select light weight
Arms out, shoulder width apart, slight bend in elbows, palms down holding bar
Bar starts at eye height
Push bar down as far as it goes contracting the abs at the same time.
Do not change angle at elbows
Slowly let weight fall back down & repeat.
Chopping wood and sledgehammer work is great for the abs. Another exercise that hasn’t been mentioned is the barbell rollout, one of Mel Siff’s favourites. As you get stronger, you can attach bands to the bar to increase resistance on the way back.
Can you describe that one Neospeed?
No23,
have you tried ‘Woodchops’ with a heavy med ball? Similar action to the real thing.
No,
What’s it like?
no23, the barbell rollout is similar to the movement done with the ‘ab wheel’, but with a barbell instead of the wheel.
The elbow joints should be locked neutrally and the bar is not meant to be rolled out with the arms. The hands should remain almost vertically in line with the shoulders throughout the entire movement while the body is lowered and ‘piked’ back during the movement. In order to return the bar to the starting position once it has been rolled out to the position where your body is parallel with the floor, you must squeeze your abdominals as hard as you can. Make sure not to roll out with the hands beyond the head, or you will unnecessarily stress the shoulders, elbows and back.
Start with a light weight and gradually increase it. I remember the first time I did barbell rollouts, I did 3 sets of 6 reps with 2 50lb plates on each end of the bar and my abs were killing me for the next week!
I’ve now worked up to some serious weight and as a result, have added some solid mass to my abdominal region. You’ll be surprised how much your abdominals will hypertrophy as a result of this exercise. You’ll also find that you will be a lot more stable under heavy loads because of the huge increase in core strength.
Thanks Neospeed - just one more silly question -
Do you start in a kneeling or standing position?
RE: woodchop for abs
I thought this was done sitting on a swiss ball, next to the cable pulley (or lat pull down) and traversing it across your body (i.e. from 11 to 4 o’clock, if the pulley is to your left)
personal discalimer: I do not do this exercise 
The woodchops I refer to are done standing with a Med Ball with an action similar to actual Woodchopping. They can be done on low intensity conditioning days as a good general excercise with some ab involvement.
Cool stuff Neospeed.
fjlee - don’t forget with one leg off the ground 
I have done, what I term “Barbell swings in corner”
Load barbell have one end of bell in air and other on the ground. Grab barbell with both hands around bar (I use a hammer throwers grip) and swing side to side.
It is onbe of the hardest exercises I have ever done for abs.