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?
why so many zillions of abs? what does this DO for you?
I’m sorry guys, no one has yet convinced me that so many crunches is any better than 2/3 sets with 10 or 20 reps with a weight …
Maybe there is another reason.
Some even consider crunches unnecessary if one is doing Oly lifts…
1000 core exercixes and push-ups…
on average, I try to do 50 push ups and 50 core exercises every other hr starting at 5am to 11pm…alternating every hr…
I occassionally use weights but don’t like to go heavy and risk form / back tension so apart from med ball my ab workout - 1 set =
25 x trunk twists ( per side )
25 x full crunches
25 x lying leg raises
25 x mini crunches
then I sip some water do some arm rotations & start again & I concentrate on contraction / form not speed
this x 4 - 6/7 depending
as a variation I’ll do twists with medball or crunches with a wall throw at the top
I was doing weighted side bends too but these seemed to give me hip tension so I dropped em - there’s loadsa really masochistic ab work being done but like DMA said do what works 4 u - it’s not a competition is it lol
I think there is alot of BS being talked on this topic, lol… The ab work surely can’t be done with proper form from what the numbers you guys are coming out with…
I dunno no23 -
I just looked at the numbers from CFTS and figured I’d aim 4 half the amount - then started out doing sets of 15 reps for each x 4 which was 60 reps
as 4 it being BS Ricky -
I’m sure if u broke it down into small sets then added 5 reps per set occassionally and spread the whole lot over ur workout you’d soon be doing a similar amount . F*"k me! - It’s just a question of whether u think it’s worth the effort or not .
- I was doing 200 reps 3 x a week @ xmas and finding it hard
excuse my ignorance but what the hell is CFTS??? i figure its a book by charlie francis of something but what does it stand for?
Quick,
3 x 100
I don’t keep track of rest really. I try to keep it as short as possible and still get through the workout.
World Class,
CFTS = Charlie Francis Training System
Ricky Hatton,
Why the hell would someone lie about ab work? If it looks like BS to you, THEN JUST IGNORE IT AND DO YOUR OWN. Read CFTS and you will see what I do is not uncommon or some supernatural occurance. LOL.
I’m done with this topic. Maybe Charlie will talk about the benefits or Ricky Hatton can tell us what he does and why.
lol If I was gonna BS it would be in the areas of 100m times or bench press which could do with a large helping with side salad 
1.)WHy would MJ or anyone feel any need to “lie” about the volume of their abdominal/core work?
2.)And yes MJ is right there is a HUGE difference in your lifting when your core is strong.
3.) As for ab work “surely not being done with proper form”. Why would MJ, or anyone else spend the amount of time neccesary to do the type of core training he does only to half ass it?
Zilla,
My thoughts exactly. You can’t put a PR or max on abs. No one is going to lie abou that. I was merely answering questions directed to ME. I didn’t start the thread and wasn’t trying to boast.
As No23 also states, I’m finding it hard thinking of a benefit of performing hundreds of crunches etc. compared to around 20 rep sets with a weight.
The reason for not using low reps (<10) is to avoid extra stress to the CNS, but will weighted reps of approx 20, or maybe 30, staying short of failure really add to CNS stress compared to these very high reps? If not they are surely to make the abs atleast as strong and also give them sufficient endurance. Using these lower reps they wouldn’t need to done as often either…2-3 x week?
This subject was touched upon in the old forum and in a T-mag article Charlie did. In short, abs are red fiber, ie. endurance fiber, so train them that way. Maurice Green has also stated that he does “1000’s of abs.” That’s enough evidence for me. Right now I am up to 264 a day and hope to be at 500 by August. I know there is probably some sprinter out there who can run 10-flat with little or no ab work (Carl Lewis?) but unfortunately I am not so lucky.
http://t-mag.com/html/124rock.html
Abs are predominantly red fibres but they also contain white fibres. Sprinters need both strength and endurance qualities in their abs. Reps of around 20 seems a good compromise for red and white development and CNS stress consideration. When plyos, oly lifts, above 95% sprinting etc. is added, this no. of reps could be increased, since these exercises train the white fibres well, and also stress the CNS. Comments?