September Archives

I’m not a big fan of the word “core.” Unless of course, your name happens to end with “core,” then it’s completely awesome. However in the fitness world, the term “core” is often misused and misunderstood.

Your “core” is not just the front of Mens Health or Oxygen Magazine, with the cover model sporting a six pack that you could wash your clothes on. Walk into any gym in America and you will find many trainees seemingly working their core by performing endless repetitions of crunches or any other multitude of machines in an effort to attain said six pack. Walk into any gym in America and you will find that most trainees are still fat, despite training their “core.”

Walk into my gym (Cressey Performance Center, located in Hudson, MA) and you will find trainees performing deadlift variations, pull-throughs, glute-ham raises, supine bridges, squat variations, lots of single leg work, and as I have alluded to on several times in the past with this blog, ANTI-rotational movements. No crunches. No gimmickey machines. People look good.

Everyone looks at rear ends. Guess what? That’s your “core” too.

I am in total agreement with physical therapist/strength coach Gray Cook when he says that people need to pay more attention to “training the backside of the core” (ie: glutes, hips).

We should be hip based creatures. The hips are the engine of the core. Everything from force, power, to strength is transferred through the hips. The engine of your car does the same thing; gives your car horsepower. Your mid-section (abdominals) can be seen as the transmission or drive shaft of the core. You’re not supposed to bend or twist the drive shaft/transmission of your car. So why do we seem to think that that is the best way to train our core? Why do we totally neglect the engine?

In the end, training the backside of your core will lead to better PERFORMANCE. Learn to use your hips and glutes, and you will be able to handle more weight in the gym. You handle more weight, you burn more calories. You burn more calories, you burn more fat in any given 24 hour period (assuming your diet is dialed in). Presto: lean, firm mid section (and a nice rear end to boot. Yay you). No crunches involved.

Awhile back I wrote a blog on how much I dislike the abdominal crunch. If I had to make a list of things that I dislike the most, it would look like this:

1. Ben Affleck

2. Abdominal Crunch

3. People who don’t say thank you when you hold open the door for them.

4. Nutritionist who claim that diets high(er) in protein will result in your kidneys exploding

5. Poodles (my apologies to those who own a Poodle; but seriously, I’d rather have a rat as a pet before a Poodle).

As you can see, I’m not a big fan of the abdominal crunch. As for why, you can read that from the link above. Cliff Notes Version: when one performs an abdominal crunch, they’re essentially pulling the sternum closer to the pelvis hundreds, if not thousands of times, promoting a kyphotic posture (rounded back).

I’m a firm advocate of ANTI-rotational training when it comes to the abdominals, but another great exercise I like to implement with my clients is the REVERSE crunch.

Here, you get ALL the benefits of the crunch but without the disadvantages (which are many). With the reverse crunch, we’re able to train the entire abdominal wall (rectus abdominus, internal/external obliques), but without promoting all of the postural imbalances caused by traditional crunches.

A few key points to remember:

1. Keep your knees tucked to your chest throughout the duration of the movement.

2. Try NOT to use momentum to finish the movement.

3. You can start by holding onto a pole or table to assist you (for leverage). From there, use a medicine ball or 10 lb dumbbell (placed on the floor, above your head) as a counterbalance.

4. I routinely perform charity work rescuing puppies (not Poodles) from animal shelters and fight forest fires with my shirt off. Just wanted to let you know.

5. As you progress, you will soon be able to perform the movement without any “leverage” or assistance. Shoot for 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps two to three times per week.

I come across a lot of people who seem to think that they’re special. Don’t get me wrong, we’re ALL special in our own way. I mean, anyone who can sit through an entire evening of listening to the Presidential Debates and not want to punch their television would certainly constitute as someone “special.” That being said, I am here to tell you that you’re not that special.

You don’t have a thyroid issue and you’re not “pre-disposed to being fat,” despite what you may think (my apologies to those people who have actually gone to a physician and have been clinically diagnosed with hypo or hyper-thyroidism). Contrary to what many people believe, you can’t self diagnose yourself with a rare condition . Unless of course you happen to be me, and you self diagnose yourself as the sexiest man this side of the Mississippi River. It’s a curse that I have to live with. True story.

Nonetheless, it dumbfounds me that I come across so many people who seem to think that they’re the one case in all of human history that defies the laws of basic thermodynamics and physiology. The First Law of Thermodynamics (read: it’s a law, not a theory. In other words, it’s a fact) states: “The increase in the internal energy of a thermodynamic system is equal to the amount of heat energy added to the system minus the work done by the system on the surroundings.”

In our context: calories in vs. calories out.

If you’re expending (exercise) more calories than you’re ingesting, you lose weight. If you ingest more calories than you expend, you gain weight. If your caloric expenditure equals your caloric intake, weight stays the same. Granted it is a bit more complicated than this, but I am sure you get the point. And if you don’t get my point, let me break it down in more simpler words. Quit lying to yourself and making excuses. It’s been shown time and time again that when left to their own vices, people will OVER-report how much they really exercise and UNDER-report how much they really eat. Remember that piece of chocolate cake you had last night? How bout that six pack of beer over the weekend? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

As I stated above, you don’t have a thyroid issue and you’re body was NOT meant to be fat, and you’re not a human anomaly. You’re not that special.