Core = back/stomach muscles
I’ve found that my stomach muscles are used quite a bit in nearly every upper body (arm/chest) exercise I do. So, I’ll always do my stomach last in a session and work whatever’s left of it. Seems like when I tire my stomach first, I won’t be able to really do other exercises very well. This how it’s supposed to be?
Thanks.
That would make sense, as your abdominals are mainly responsible for spinal stabilization. If …
… then you are OK.
If any of these 3 conditions are not met, you should adjust your training.
What do you mean by a “balanced” plan? Too much upper body work and not enough on the rest?
I think he may mean that when you do upper body you’re not just pushing but pulling and when you’re doing lower body the same applies. IE. during your session you do bench to work your chest but neglect your back. Then you move to do curls and neglect your triceps. When you look at this example. You will see you did the bench but did not do tricep exercise to help your bench and while doing rows you would have helped to strengthen your biceps in the process of working your back.
If you’re working your abs what else are you doing for your back?
Too long winded?
IME, doing abs first doesn’t hinder my workout unless I’m doing something REALLY heavy (singles/doubles work).
Wait a minute, your abs are firing/working on chest and arm exercises? I mean, if you’re doing a PL bench, I can see. Maybe chin ups, but rows? curls? dips? Explain this part.
[quote]Goggleman wrote:
Core = back/stomach muscles
I’ve found that my stomach muscles are used quite a bit in nearly every upper body (arm/chest) exercise I do. So, I’ll always do my stomach last in a session and work whatever’s left of it. Seems like when I tire my stomach first, I won’t be able to really do other exercises very well. This how it’s supposed to be?
Thanks.[/quote]
In my opinion this is how it is supposed to be. The core should be locked for every lift that doesn’t have the upper body supported (preacher curl or prone-bench rowing).
Given that the core is a supporting muscle group for almost every lift, it needs to have superior strength endurance because it will be recruited more than any other body part. I wouldn’t be alarmed by the fact that if you train it first, the rest of your session suffers, just consider that being able to train it first shouldn’t render the rest of your session a wash.
Have you considered adding an abs only working out to your training split? You won’t need to keep it in the mix for long because these muscle adapt very quickly (even if they don’t get much bigger the do get stronger and develop endurance in a short time).
There has been an article by Thib I think that stated you should do you core workout first then move to the heavy weights. Mainly because once you have finished your heavy weights you are going to be to turded to abs.
If you do compounds/primary movements then the abs will be working, hell they even are working for overhead press, and developing acordingly. If you find that your form is holding you back because you are arching your back/rounding spine then maybe do some core workout.
Working your core before going to other main lifts is a poor use of energy, will limit your strength development and can be dangerous.
Your core muscles protect your spine especially in the deadlift and squat. If you’ve exhausted them first, you’re in serious trouble.
Proper bench press form, you have a tight core to push from. If those muscles are jelly, the weight you can push will be limited.