Oooh.. me and rock climbing go way back..[snip]..the mates I did manage to go out with being obsessed with leading and refusing to do any top roping

That wasn't with me was it?…

Did a bit of climbing myself lately, just indoors – was good to get back into it after 7 years of not doing any at all. Seems to make a bit of difference to the core body strength, and I see now how much upper/ core body strength I had lost. Swimming keeps me in reasonable shape too when I can be disciplined enough to go…

Does your gym have a powerplate? If so, doing the plank on the powerplate should help. I've been doing that for a couple of months and notice a huge difference, compared to the usual sit ups I do. The powerplate just makes the plank harder. I also like using the bosu ball, use the firm side, hands at each side at bring opposite knee up to elbow. Just standing on the ball is good as well (again on the firm side)

>What I find good about pilates, apart from the increase in strength and balance, is you learn how to use your core, rather than your back, to stabilise yourself. That's why this comment makes me shudder:

Well put 🙂

>>tho' a lot of Pilates is specifically aimed at core >>strength/stability and dealing with muscles imbalance

>True but it does seem highly dependent on the instructor.

IMO that *ought* to be the one consistent thing beteen instructors, since it's (ahem) core to the method.
But certainly a several years ago (I was vaguely thinking about doing an instructors course myself) it was possibly easier/quicker to do some sort of matwork qualification and call yourself a Pilates instructor – or at least the bigger 'schools' – or possibly more accurately, 'brands' – currently seem to have more rigorous training requirements

Dance vs remedial ? – well, I guess there's quite a bit of crossover, and it was initially devised as a remedial method – but I suspect it could be easy to continue going to a class that tends to stick at something around beginners level and not progress.

I've probably been spoilt by the our instructor – she came to it as an injured fitness instructor, swaps things around quite a bit, and is a bit of a taskmaster 😉

BTW – re the bulging stomach that a lot of blokes have, about 20 years ago I noticed a few mate with a similar physique that had the beginnings of one, since then I've always (now unconciously) maintained a little tension in the abs, belly-button-to-spine stylee but not trying too hard. I can't say what the effect would have been if I hadn't, but I don't have the belly bulge…

nedrapier – Member
Obi, if you can do chin ups withour using your abs, I'd be impressed.

You must be pretty easily impressed then.

Either way rectus abdominis is not a core muscle, so why are you talking about it?

ugh, there's so much dogma in the fitness world.

😉

>Either way rectus abdominis is not a core muscle
Well, it is, and provides some stability when you 'zip-up', but it's only part of the picture.

Eh – No it isnt.

The distinction is that it's not a *deep* core muscle, but a core muscle nevertheless.

See above.

Yeah the rectus abdominis does form part of the core musculature.

Nope.

I will mention at this point that I don't care what your top few hits on google tell you about core muscles – they are wrong.

My wife agrees with me as do my colleagues.

See above ?

Ok, put it another way – why exactly do you say it's not part of your core, rather than a simplistic yes/no exchange…

Fair enough Obi, can you explain further?

I could explain further, but will not waste me time telling people something when they will not take it in. Go get a book on the subject instead of looking at wikipedia.

Ugh, I wouldn't have asked if i wasn't willing to listen!

>Fair enough

I might get my colleagues to agree with me, not sure I'd take fitness advice off a bunch of crisp-eating sw engineers tho' 😉

>I could explain further, but will not waste me time telling people something when they will not take it in.

Bit of a cop out – put yer money where yer mouth is 😉

Oh, and reading recommendations, whilst yer at it…

Crunches are brilliant but don't forget your obliques. To see abs, you need a bodyfat %age under 12.

trythis

Much as I hate to agree with Obi, he's technically correct.
Tranverse Abdominis is the true core muscle, slow twitch (Type I) and directly supports and braces the spine; rectus abdominis is fast twitch (Type II), a "power" muscle which is why doing sit-ups does nothing for core strength.

The problem is that a lot of people (even in gyms) refer to all muscles in the main body/trunk as "core".

Bloody hell IanB, where'd you come from? 🙂

And yes btw I was talking about you 🙂 I must've seen you set up a top rope about once ever. I seem to remember asking once, and you said it was boring…

Btw there's a new climbing wall in Cardiff – or at least new since you and I last went climbing.. 🙂

Crazy-legs, a much better answer than Obi, ty.

IMO the whole concept of core strength has become conflicting through years of poorly trained PTs giving bad advice. Training the midsection muscles largely in isolation then expecting people to be able to function in multi-joint movements is asking for trouble.

If anyone's still reading…

>Tranverse Abdominis is the true core muscle, slow twitch (Type I) and directly supports and braces the spine; rectus abdominis is fast twitch (Type II), a "power" muscle which is why doing sit-ups does nothing for core strength.

Thanks for that, not exactly difficult to digest 😉 – so is the definition of core primarily 'bracing the spine' ?

>IMO the whole concept of core strength has become conflicting through years of poorly trained PTs giving bad advice.

It's certainly improved in recent years.
Regarding 'core' confusion – I can think of things where the RA certainly appears to provide some significant stability (or at least, appears significantly engaged together with other muscles) – shoulder bridge with one foot raised, for example. The 'zipping up*' you do in Pilates engages everything in the trunk (almost wrote 'core there 😉 ), including the RA, but never aiming at the RA exclusively (if that makes sense)

*Come to think of it, I think the term's usually 'zipping up the midsection',rather than using the c-word.

Whatever the scientific jargon, who has a proper six pack and who can take a roundhouse kick/hook punch to the stomach without flinching? 😉

That's the sign of the "correct" workout, not some dodgy references to core muscle training…

Surf mat you sound like a nob in this thread 🙂

The best results are obtained by maintaining a full range of motion during exercises, e.g. full sit-ups.
Crunches are for strippers, to get a six-pack you need to reduce body fat.

Mens Health is full of tat, myths, and half-facts gathered from the internet.

If you have sufficient strength to use free-weights with a full range of motion and correct form this will strengthen your "core" muscles, or fixers and stabilizers as they should correctly be called.

One of the best exercises to do is the Back Squat. Performed correctly it uses over 250 muscles. As it uses so many muscles it is a good fat burner. Performed incorrectly, it lands you in A&E.

Heath and Fitness is an industry selling products, just like any other industry. Most of it is marketing and pseudo-science.

Mol – who cares? I'm just having a little dig at those who endlessly spout regurgitated and googled drivel about certain fitness stuff when they clearly have no personal experience – i.e. never had a six pack and have no evidence of having strong abs.

I've had a six pack since my teens and have done tonnes of fairly brutal martial arts training involving a lot of impacts to the abs. Also surf a lot (great for core strength/balance) too and therefore maybe, just maybe speak from experience rather than from Google/Wikipedia. And in my experience, simple training and dietry tips are heaps better than advice from some one pack waffler who likes to read Mens Fitness every month.

core strength and a six-pack are not the same thing.
And you'll probably get a stronger core from marital arts training. 🙂

core strength and a six-pack are not the same thing.
And you'll probably get a stronger core from marital arts training.

I know – hence doing a fair bit of pilates as well as six pack maintenance.

And lol!

And all ladies should do regualar pelvic floor strengthening too…

Mol – who cares?

Just letting you know, Mat 🙂

'm just having a little dig at those who endlessly spout regurgitated and googled drivel about certain fitness stuff when they clearly have no personal experience

Seems to be some pretty well informed people on this thread.. not sure what you're talking about.

Although, re your post – I am not sure that HAVING good core strength means you automatically know how to train your core specifically… It just means you do sports that are good for your core.

PS the title of this thread is meant to be a joke taking the mick out of teh internets.

For some reason, I was sent a free copy of Men's Fitness last month. And yes, it tells you how to get ripped abs – now there's a surprise…

My core strength and abs were both at their best when I was powerlifting – deadlifts with good form and big weights will work wonders.

My core strength and abs were both at their best when I was powerlifting – deadlifts with good form and big weights will work wonders.

Indeed. If your core strength is pish you'll soon know when squatting reasonable weights! The trouble is most people can't squat for toffee and so its not something easy to recommend over the interwebs.

Introduce overhead squats (taught correctly) and a person can obtain all the core strength and joint mobility they'll ever need in the real world.