errr beg to differ
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I just knew one of you bastards was going to come with that counter, but we all know that anything a cross-fitter does is not a real thing.
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Now we finally see eye to eye
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Mate, we agree on most things. It’s just that disagreeing is more fun.
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Mate, we agree on most things.
I assumed he was bringing up height when he mentioned seeing eye to eye…
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Was going to call that a Low Blow, but if memory serves you are also on Team Midget. In which case, you probably had to punch upwards a bit.
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That is rather relaxing in appearance.
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Quoting this in my log because I’m about to make this about me, but feeling you here - I’ve cut down several times and always been disappointed at my abs, I know a large part of that will be genetics, another component will be not being lean enough. But there is also the fact that abs training has been inconsistent and abs can be hypertrophied so they shouldn’t be neglected. I’m down with bigger blockier abs!
Which leads me to program selection - getting stronger in the big 4, an outsized emphasis on back training, a heavy dose of ab work, and not neglecting conditioning… Sounds like a Brian Alsruhe program to me! I failed to complete linear progression earlier this year due to injury. It’s time to take another run at it.
I’ll pay more attention to recovery and life stresses this time round, I know @Koestrizer mentioned that could have been a factor in my injury last time, there was a pattern of poor sleep, over-caffination just to get my butt in the gym, pushing myself when I wasn’t recovered just because it fit my schedule etc.
This time round I’ll make a conscious effort to really listen to the subtle feedback my body provides and if I only make two or three sessions in a week, so be it. I want to hit 40 in peak form, not having had a year of regressing due to injuries.
Maybe I’ll have learnt to listen to my body by the time I make it into the 4th decade!
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I hear you mate, i have rarely ever trained abs for more than a few sets a week and they are always my first movement to drop when I am in a rush. I actually added 2 Ab movements to this new training block and after doing them for only a few easy reps on Wednesday I now have significant Ab doms already (its Friday morning). I am taking this as a sign that I need to keep training abs.
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All it takes is to miss a 500lb squat twice in 2 separate meets due to a weak core to make you never neglect abs again
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I think abs come more naturally the bigger you get.
Like I was sitting high teens in bodyfat and still had 4 abs.
I have a 6 pack and i think im still at like 12% or more.
I also have a lot of muscle.
Were I a lot smaller, I think my abs would not show up at these bodyfat levels.
I neglect abs regularly.
n=1
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It really was, more of that to come!
Also I finished a couple of books already, one was recommended ages ago by @SvenG - the intentional father, really valuable book. Wondering how much of it you’ve managed to implement? What sort of impact it’s had on your parenting? I’m conscious that I’m on holiday and I’ve just read it and keen to get it started, but also recognise that in the busyness of life I’ll struggle to have the level of commitment that the book implies. As Sven mentioned it’s a fairly faith focused book but actually it’s really good parenting even if you’re not a Christian.
Another book I read that was The Greatest Story Ever Told, by Bear Grylls, another faith book, this one tells Jesus story in a fairly unique way, really brings the story to life, lovely book, easy read.
I’m mid way through a novel, and also reading No more Mr nice guy (recommendation from @Andrewgen_Receptors) also an interesting read but annoyingly it’s only digital I could get so on my phone, and trying to avoid that too much during the family holiday, even if it is for reading.
Next up will be a painfully hard read that I’ve started 3 times and never finished, Prevenient Grace, by Brian Shelton, some people can take really complex subjects and make they really relatable and understandable, this book is the exact opposite of that, so why read it? I was challenged to by my pastor as a challenge to my theology (I’d generally hold a Calvinistic position).
Nice to have the time to read!
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feel free to reach out if you come to any revelations. The Covert Contracts part of that book is by far the biggest one for most guys… takes a long time to discover and undo them. At least, it did for me.
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Long post sorry to clog up your log but this is a great topic. My neglect of abs (and honestly most of my weak points, namely pressing) came largely from training for sports. I played baseball my whole life, and they preached not to do a lot of pressing to not cause shoulder issues. Looking back that is an idiotic wives tale that is peddled by high school coaches. Then I played college rugby and it was deadlifts, squats, and sprints, all of which are still my strengths. My issue was I stopped playing and continued training like this (with less conditioning). Why can’t I bench a lot and my abs are small? I never trained them seriously!
Exactly. I lost weight and had an outline of my abs and what I could see just looked small, so I am going to crush them like it’s any other body part. No more falling for the abs are made in the kitchen saying. Revealed, sure, but they’re undoubtedly built in the gym.
Definitely true. On top of strengthening big lifts I think injury prevention is huge too. I have been having some lingering lower back issues and have done a ton of reading on it and found a ton of info that lower back issues are often due to the back overcompensating for a weak core. Wendler and Louie Simmons both have articles on getting your abs insanely strong to prevent injuries and to brace better on those big lifts.
You were a military guy from what I’ve read I believe…This is anecdotal, but I have a few buddies who were military and are now big runners, but they have solid abs and barely lift. They all credit the years of military PT and hammering sit-ups. Wonder if it’s a similar case for you, which is awesome if so, haha.
Long winded way to say that it seems obvious to train abs, but it falls to the wayside sometimes. I guess both of us will see if training them heavily will provide the benefits we are looking for! Should be a fun fall/winter of growing.
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Honestly I barely ran and barely did sit ups. This has not changed.
Military PT was basically shitty training with no programming or goal other than for it to suck. It did not make you better at anything except suffering.
Its why I dont trust anyone who says “I learned how to train in the military”.
Like, my brother in christ, they had us doing burpees in a sand box.
Sorry, trauma dumping.
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….but I don’t want you to get stronger.
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Glad you enjoyed the book—I really appreciated the perspectives and ideas it offered. I was (and still am) feeling a bit daunted by it, because as you point out, the level of commitment required is… quite high.
But if we don’t aim high, what’s the point?
My son turns 13 next March, so we’ve not done too much just yet. I have spent time planning—things I want to instill in him (either because my father did or, sometimes, exactly because he didn’t!), books to read together, outings and activities to do, and even the “initiation” to a certain extent—but we won’t kick into high gear until next year.
As silly as it might seem, we’ve started reading two books about puberty already, one faith-based and one secular (but with perspectives I can get behind): He’s on the cusp, and it’s one of those areas that my dad and I never dealt with—and maybe we both subconsciously avoided it—so I’m trying to be “intentional” here.
I’m 99% sure my son hates every minute of it—he’s modest by nature and he’s admitted it’s awkward for him—but I’m forcing the issue a bit now because I think it’ll help as he gets older. (I’m definitely praying that’s true, anyway!)
Like everything else in my life, this is a work-in-progress. But even thinking about “intentionality” is itself a step above what I’d likely do if truly left to my own devices…
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Good for you! When I was 12 my dad sat me down and told me I was going to grow hair on my balls. Of course watching NFL games on Sunday he would start hooting and hollering when the Cowboys’ cheerleaders were on the screen. “Look at those!” He would yell. It is good to read that you are a good father and roll model.
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Thanks, @Friedrich!
Your anecdote about Cowboys’ cheerleaders is pretty funny—my dad is amazing, and I fall short of him in so many ways, but with respect to stuff like this, he was exactly the opposite.
In fact, I remember there was a giant Budweiser billboard on the main road near our house that we would drive by several times a day… And, of course, it depicted a very shapely beach volleyball player diving for the ball—shown from a provocative camera angle, particularly given the tiny bikini she was wearing—and not once did my dad make any kind of comment.
Not once.
For months it stood there.
Not.
Once.
It drove me crazy, because as a 13 year-old boy (or something close to that), she was the most beautiful, amazing thing I had ever seen—and oh man, did I want to comment, haha!
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