MJ stated charlies idea correctly although it depends on the athlete…clemson dating? also here a link which gives charlies weekly totals…
http://www.charliefrancis.com/board/philboard_read.asp?id=452
400 - 700 x 6 depending on time and priorities - anything over that and I get back trouble .
zilla,
you are correct about the back. there must be a balance between abs and lower back.
You go Clemson. 
man i guess i need to step it up!!!
Why do you have to do so many reps??
Are abs so different to other muscles in your body??
Why can’t you increase the resistance and keep the rep range low (10-20 reps) to failure (or near failure) for 3-5 sets.
How can doing 500-1000 reps relate in any way to sprinting?
I always thought that to be a sprinter you must have an extremely strong core STRENGTH. Correct me if I am wrong, but high reps train more for endurance and don’t build strength as effectively as doing low reps with heavy weight.
I think that doing 1000’s of abs a day is the way it has always been and I would like to challenge it!
I just want to keep my torso rock solid for about 11 seconds (give or take a couple of tenths). That’s all.
AKM100 - I think from memory that Charlie has those high numbers so Abdominal training doesn’t affect CNS.
I think from memory the last time I actually 400 reps of crunches was 2 months ago.
I estimate. Clemson (I think) said some exercises may account for 3 reps a seconds.
Plank might be like that or Ab roller.
Another point.
I feel much fresher and not as tired from doing higher rep work for abdominals.
akm,
Your point is well taken and has been addressed numerous times. I’m sure it will be included in the new ebook coming out next week. The short answer is that the high intensity components of the core are already hit by the high intensity training such as sprinting, weights and explosive medicine ball throws. Therefore, there’s no need to overload them any more with specific high intensity ab exercises. The high reps of low intensity ab work parallels the 65%/35% split between low intensity and high intensity running. Search the archives, there has been a good deal of debate on this subject.
DMA - I don’t feel like the ab work’s stealing energy at present -
In fact it just seems too easy at present ( which is something I never thought I’d say )
I found that incorperating half of em into warm up made a difference - like Charlie said - spread em out
R u doin any ab work at present ?
Ty Mj - u must have a pretty strong back then looking at ur reps
Originally posted by mj
tempo days- 1500
speed days- 900
MJ,
is that 1500 per day or 500 on each of the tempo days i.e. 1500 per week. I think you mean per day - that is a lot of ab. work!
per day. lately, i haven’t stuck with this like i should. that many reps takes a while to do. last fall, i did my abs everyday and could tell a big difference in my squats. a strong core makes a huge difference while squating. Tunnelvision will agree with this theory.
I find doing 500 abs/core per day works my hip flexors as well, which I need for my 400m!
Besides, psychologically knowing I’m more fit & stronger in a 400m (by doing abs & circuit training) allows me to “run down” my oppenents over the last 100m (or at least try to)
The British are great advocates on circuit training (check out Iwan Thomas’s web site)
None.
you guys are either crazy or lying…
i do 150-200 a day…
but i do not do just crunches. maybee a 1/4 of them are crunches.
i do hanging leg raises, leg raises, decline situps, and things of that nature. If you just do crunches i see how you can easily bang out 500 but that is incredibly boring and i feel that if i did that my body would adapt to it and wouldnt benifit unless something in the routine changed…
mj you really do that many abs?
what EXACTLY do you do?
Gloop - I do abs - Yes
Last year most of my ab work was high intensity weight based work.
The lower intensity ab work I am doing at present has made be fill fresher.
My last workout was.
- Crunches 5 leg position x 20 reps
- Side Crunches both sides x 20
- Plank alternate leg off ground 2 x 30 seconds
- Side plank leg off ground and arm over head 2 x 30 seconds.
Whatever works best 4 u DMA - I know I wouldn’t really wanna go higher than where I’m at +
Yes Quick it is boring lol but it’s surprising how quickly u get used to it and I must have had really weak abs b4 b cos my stability is greatly improved - and ur right about adaption - so i always chuck quite a few med-ball variations in from time to time and I can never adapt to them
250 - cns days
500 - tempo days
Feel like this is plenty at the moment.
I have gotten a few U2U’s asking about my tempo days, so here is a rough outline. Note: all exercises are 3 x 100
Side crunches (each side) 600 total
Forward crunches 300 total
Fondas (bicycles) 300 total
Last set varies 300 total
*Sometimes Iron cross (great for obliques)
*Back hypers need to be added for a balance
*Physioball roll-outs
As you can see, variety is the key to core work in my opinion. Many, including myself find abs to be a boring exercise. It take a lot of work to see results, and the results can be lost quickly. I hope this clears up my routine somewhat. On SE days, I usually do the first two exercises only.
what do you do sets of? and how much recovery between sets?