Everybody from elite athletes to a beginner to exercise or elderly person needs strength, power and core strength if they want to optimize there performance.
Clearly performance to an elite athletes is targetted at a medal, trophy or title, whereas an 80 year old lady wants to be able to move well and be able to stand up from a chair without assistance.
The principles are the same, it is only the intensity/weight/volume/movement pattern which changes.
Even the movement patterns still take the same path, they just might not be as explosive or dynamic.
Here’s a small sample of some of the exercises I use on a daily basis in my own training which should be a staple diet for any sportsmen.
Clearly these are not beginner exercises but the principles of learning to integrate your body to generate strength and power are critical for anyone of any level who wants to improve their strength, power and speed whilst reducing their risk of injury.
If I got a pound for every time someone asked me “what are the best abs exercises” or “what’s the quickest way to get a six-pack, this blog would be gold plated with jewels encrusted around the edging.
The problem seems to be that a lot of people simply don’t understand what the stomach muscles actually do!
First of all get one thing straight. If you only ever focus on the ‘6 pack’ you’re doing yourself (strength and looks wise) a great disservice!
You HAVE to consider and train the abdominals, the obliques (the diagonal ones!), and the inner core muscles which are pivotal in tightening up your waist as well as stabilizing the spine and protecting your back during movement, particularly heavy lifting.
You need to flexing, rotating, bracing and bending in a variety of different direction but overall the ‘meat and potatoes’ of your ‘abs’ training should involve integration of the entire body.
The truth is that if you are performing heavy squats, deadlifts or overhead presses properly, you HAVE to be putting a lot of pressure on the abs and core muscles in order to provide a strong link between your upper body and lower body.
Not only will this help you develop an impressive ‘6 pack’ but it will rapidly improve your strength in full body movements which have much more impact on improving your physique.
It will also greatly improve your sports performance as you’ll be much better able to stabilize your body when twisting, turning, sprinting, jumping and absorbing various types of impact.
Whilst this may be starting to sound a little complicated and you just want a flat stomach, the great news is that it’s actually EASIER and less time consuming than trying to do a typical ‘Mens Health’ abs workout which usually goes something like this…
3 x 50 crunches
3 x 25 side bends
3 x 50 V -sits
3 x 60 second plank
etc etc.
The list could go on.
Try this exercises and you’ll see what I mean about integrated strength. You should also be able to see from the video that not only is EVERY muscle in the ‘abs and core’ area under a lot of stress, but there is also significant challenge to the shoulders, hips and hamstrings.
Exercises like this will get you much better results, much faster and in shorter sessions so less time spent in the gym!
If you want to develop an athletic-looking body you MUST start thinking, training and eating like an athlete!
This is clearly relative to individuals! You may be very fit and looking for the edge or you may be a beginner.
That is largely irrelevant because it is the PRINCIPLES that count.
ANYONE can perform full body movements, learn to integrate their body better, eat clean food and train with short, intense sessions rather than mindlessly trudging to the gym.
The complexity and difficulty of the actual actions to be taken will differ between every single person but if you can get your head around the principles behind the actions, you’re on course for phenomenal results!
If you want to train with Jon or you’re interested in program design services, personal training or the Guernsey Fitness Camp, please email jon@stormforcefitness.com today as time is limited!
