Although the majority of people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back, leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation.
In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression on the spine!
Boy, do I wish I knew all this in my teens and early 20’s when I did thousands of spinal flexion exercises per week, eventually leading to two herniated discs.
Not only are you risking long term back problems by doing all those sit ups, crunches, and all their useless variations but you are not even providing optimal stimulus to the abdominals. Research has proven that bracing actually trains the abs much more effectively than spinal flexion. To properly employ this technique you need to brace your abs as hard as you can like you are preparing to take a punch. You don’t push your abs out and you don’t suck them in. Sucking them in and trying to activate your transverse abdominis is a mistake if you want to lift heavy weights safely. You simply want to tighten and flex the abs as hard as possible. Be sure that there are no energy leaks and that your entire core is braced tightly. You can have a partner poke you or lightly whack you with a stick from different angles to ensure optimal bracing.
Not too many times in real life will you consciously flex your spine and contract your abs like you do in a crunch, so why bother doing it in the gym? If you are on your back in most athletic endeavors, it’s probably because someone put you there. It’s usually not where you want to be (unless you’re an MMA fighter). So why try to train your abs in that position?
Stop wasting your time and destroying your lower back with traditional ab training and instead focus your energy on the exercises listed below and their many variations.
Be sure to train without a belt, brace the abs and contract the glutes as tightly as possible when doing any standing exercises (and never do seated exercises). This will lead to optimal abdominal development and the avoidance of lower back injuries.
Plank
Side plank
Bird dog
Deadlift
Military press
Pushup and it’s many variations
Power Wheel Rollout
Farmers walks
Train smart and stay healthy,
PS. For more great ab training info check out HowToGetRippedAbs.com
20. Jan, 2010
at 12:20 pm #
Thanks for sharing these awesome exercises sir. As soon as I get rid of the soreness I’ll try them in my gym. I mean for God’s sake who doesn’t want 6 pack abs without back pains?
20. Jan, 2010
at 12:37 pm #
Yeah its funny when I get misinformed clients and start to educate them about this. THey look at me like I am crazy for saying if you want abs do squats/deads, standing abs exercises and everything else.
They dont get it till I show them mine and say to get get some sweet puppies like this you gotta squat heavy!…OK maybe I do not do that last part but still.
Keep it up Jay
07. Feb, 2010
at 8:28 am #
Great info like always, but i have one question – why is sucking your abdominis in and trying to activate your transverse abdominis one of the worst things you can do when lifting? Ive heard opposite obviously ; D
03. Jan, 2011
at 8:45 am #
In the field of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, the guard position is a good position to be in and some moves from there require a situp motion. Is it worth training the situp in this case? I tend to train my abs with hanging leg raises and planks at the moment, but at my BJJ and judo classes, we still do situp variations.
04. Apr, 2011
at 2:59 pm #
I have eliminated crunches and situps from my exercise routine and my clients for awhile now. I totally agree with this article. What about leg raises? I continue to do those and was wondering if those exercises place a huge amount of compressive forces on the spine?
05. Apr, 2011
at 10:09 am #
oooh great reminder. We’ve been doing some crossfit in the park on Sundays – .25 mile + hill run, push ups, hill down + .25 mile, sit ups x 4. I wondered why my back gets wack. We could swap the situps for any of those.
05. Apr, 2011
at 10:51 am #
Hi Jay,
I have a question… I had an opperation on my lower back 18 months ago.., the disc between L4 & L5 had prolapsed/slipped and damaged the S1 nerve that runs down the left leg. I have some lower back pain & numbness in the leg,,, but have managed to go from body weight squats to 155lb squats (I know thats not a huge amount by any means). Deadlifts give me loads of grief for some reason…., and you mention Deadlifts in this artical.
My question is,,, are they that important to overall developement & have i just got to grin a bear them or is squating the next best thing for me to do?
Thank you for your time and the fantastic information you give to us all.
Kindest regards,
Karl.
05. Apr, 2011
at 11:33 am #
What about Janda sit-ups / crunches? They are much more focussed on the abdominals and there is no need to do high repetitions? Would you take them out of the equation too? Also, what about Turkish Get Ups?
05. Apr, 2011
at 3:10 pm #
Yep totally agree with this article.
I dont ever give my clients crunches or sit ups, always use plank, side plank, kneeling kickbacks, lunges, bodyweight squats to work core mid section.
Amazing how many people still believe in doing 100′s of crunches to get great abs and mid section.
Good article
19. Apr, 2011
at 2:14 pm #
It’s crazy how so many personal trainers make their clients do only crunches so they can get better abs. The core is so neglected and that is an area that needs to be strong to take on exercises and workouts that will make you fit.
-Sam
21. Apr, 2011
at 1:03 pm #
I’d add also Swiss ball exercises. Believe it or not, but it can kick ass. Or rather abs.
22. Apr, 2011
at 3:31 pm #
Stuart McGill published two great books several years ago on this topic. He has dedicated his life to science based research and developmemnt of techniques to prevent and rehab low back problems. The above list of exercises are in his book along with the research why abdominal hollowing (sucking it in) is one of the worst things you can do to try to brace for a lift. He shows why most crunches are dangerous and useless unless you want to be permanently hunched over. He does go into some detail describing the way to learn to brace and creat a complete column of strength around the core. Even the QL and low lats come into the full brace.
thanks for publishing this once again for those that do not constantly upgrade their own research. No evolution….
07. Sep, 2011
at 2:50 pm #
I was reading a study recently that measured the activation on yours abs when performing a variety of exercise not generally thought of as abs exercises. Not surprisingly squats and deadlifts ranked highly, but the surprise was how much ab activation there was during chin-ups.
29. Dec, 2011
at 12:49 pm #
Great article!
I like holding a weight locked out above my head while walking in place using exaggerated high steps. Alternating legs forces you to adjust to the shifting center of mass, which is great for the core.