I frequently (once a week usually) do a little tough guy training for my abdominals. I find it toughens me up, and works my abdominals a bit. Anyway I usually do medicine ball drops from 6 feet high, where my partner throws a 10lb rubber medicine ball at my abdominals. The ball is thrown pretty hard, as no one in my gym will do this with me except my regular training partner b/c they think that throwing it with that force will hurt me. We also do an exercise I call “RAmbo Torture,” where you hang from the chin up bar, and your partner throws chops or punches at your mid section. Again no one except my training partner will do this hard enough - usually, if your nails aren’t trimmed up, you will draw a little blood from a finger or two from hitting their mid section - to give you an idea of the force used. Sometimes we also kick eachother in the midsection while the guy is on all fours, not very often though.
Anyway I was wondering if any of this stuff will damage my internal organs? I haven’t pissed blood yet btw.
The reason no one in your gym will help you with your “tuff guy” ab training is because they don’t want your parents sueing them after you get out of the hospital.
Okay, you are 19 according to one of your posts. Excessive blows to the abdoman can cause internal organ damage. I was fortunate enough to spend some time working with a former heavy weight boxing champion.
This person informed me that because of all the punches that he took around the mid section that he has permanent kidney damage!
I suggest that in the future you listen to that little voice in your head that is saying to you “this is stupid, why am I doing this”? I mean, you are talking about excessive punishment to the midsection. Did you think that this would help your internal organs?
WTF!!, of course prolonged ‘excercise’ of this kind may well damage your internal organs, dropping a medicine ball i have heard of but full out punchin and kicking, u r nuts!!!
“The reason no one in your gym will help you with your “tuff guy” ab training is because they don’t want your parents sueing them after you get out of the hospital.”
ooooooook then thrasher, I doubt anyone in my gym could inflict such damage to hospitalize me. I believe the real reason why they won’t is b/c they think it would hurt me since it would obviously inflict pain on them; however it doesn’t hurt me since I am already conditioned to it.
I actually find this stuff fun to do, I started doing it to take the boredom out of ab training, but maybe I’ll slack off of it a tad bit if it has the potential to damage internal organs.
I thought Rambo torture was a funny name for it. Common doesn’t anyone else do anything like this every once in a while to spice up their training? Heck, sometimes I even throw logs around for the fun of it. Actually I want to do some local highland game stuff, so it’s a good start.
I do this in fight training. It’s not uncommon among fighters, but doing it only once a week is a joke. If you want to “toughen” your abs up, you would do it all the time. Once a week won’t cut it.
All I can say is that I like unconventional exercises, and yes they let me do that in the gym. LAtely though it’s been rehauled with a new pansy Cybex section. Before we had no one working there, as it was an old football gym, now there’s women running it who insist on running it like the Curves down the street. Pretty soon they’ll be telling me I can’t do one arm BB snatches.
BTW we don’t beat the shit out of eachother like some of you guys make it sound. I only do a couple sets of this stuff at the end of one of my normal workouts.
This form of training is fairly common among some Martial Arts, particularly Rossi Kun Tao. I’ve taken it myself, and part of our daily routine consisted of pairing up 2 of us face-to-face - one would then punch as hard as possible while the other contracted the abs maximally while exhaling (and I mean really push that air out of your lungs fast)
We did this 2-3 times per week. Believe it or not, we never damaged anybody’s organs, and the next day the soreness rivaled that of a great ab workout.
The originator of ROSSI Kun Tao would line his students down on the floor and then jump from stomach to stomach, while his students contracted their abs maximally to absorb the shock and protect the organs, while exhaling.
The purpose? It was not to toughen you up mentally, although it was a great side benefit, BUT to TEACH YOU how to take a punch or a kick. A punch to the kidneys will cause an ensuing massacre if you dont know how to take the punch - you’re now in agony and your opponent(s) will eat you for breakfast.
The purpose was to teach you to ALWAYS contract your abdominals as if a tractor trailer was about to drive through you, so as to protect your organs, and keep you in control. Anyone can endure the soreness from a punch, especially if used to the feel, but NOT the pain of the organs being stricken, particularly the kidneys.
Anyhow, as a weightlifter, there is no need for this training, unless you
a) plan to compete in Ultimate Fighting
b) make it a hobby of getting into fights regularly
c) there’s also the possibility you’re actually sane and simply want to be prepared. Nothing wrong with it as long as you do it right , don’t abuse it , and dont wind up in the hospital with a damaged pancreas.
I’ve done this type of training for martial arts. It’s not uncommon in Japanese arts if you get an old school teacher. If you are in a Japanese art and you aren’t getting punished, your teacher isn’t teaching you traditionally (not saying that tradition is the best way to train). If you are doing this I suggest you seek guidance so that you learn how to take the blows w/o getting hurt. I don’t see that taking a 10lb med ball is really going to do that much damage and I seriously doubt these guys are hitting each other hard enough for real damage.
I find it hard to believe that two teenagers kicking each other in the stomach at their local gym were training their abdominals properly, or as you put it: “doing it right”. Ha.