Not Just a Man's World

2 years ago I was still working away at my abs with little success.  I was trying every exercise I came across but my abs were so weak that anything that was too hard for them gave me lower back ache.  Lying on my back on a bench or the floor could even cause my lower back to ‘click out’ so that I would be unable to sit up again without assistance.

I could spend months working away at an exercise getting little or no improvement because I didn’t even have a basic level of strength.  I’ve found that most sites that recommend abs exercises don’t mention how much basic strength you need to be able to get some benefit from their exercises so I was often trying to run before I could walk and frequently finding my face plastered in metaphorical mud. 

Over the last few weeks, I’ve set out the exercises that I have tried and I’ve also provided a suggested progression order based on my experience so far.  The areas I’m covering are:

• Part 1:  Entry level abs exercises
• Part 2:  Building functional ab strength
• Part 3:  Advanced abs exercises

This is the final week and as you’ll see, some of today’s photos show Chris doing the exercises.  I’m still working towards straight leg raises so my feeble early attempts wouldn’t be good instruction on what the correct final position should look like!

Hanging leg raises

As with the hanging knee raise, hang down from a pull up bar and grip the bar tightly.  Keeping your legs straight (and pulling down on the bar), bring your straight legs up in the air in front of you.  Eventually you are aiming to get your feet straight up in the air above your head, but to start with you may only be able to get them out in front of you.  If this is the case hold this position before lowering your legs slowly so that you get maximum workout from the move.

Hanging leg raise - halfway up (Photo courtesy of Chris)

Hanging leg raise - final position (Photo courtesy of Chris)

This move is very much like dragon flags with the only key differences being that you are vertical and there is no bench behind you to stop you from swinging backwards away from your legs.  It’s therefore a good idea to keep working on weighted dragon flags alongside this exercise until you have got to the point where you can do a couple of complete straight leg raises.  That way you can continue building ab strength through the dragon flags.

Side bends with barbell

Put weights on one end of a barbell.  Put the bar across your shoulders as you would for a back squat but off centre so that you are at the end without any weight.  Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.  Breathe in, tighten your abs and bend sideways towards the weighted side.  Don’t twist forwards or backwards as you go down. 

Once you’ve bent over a decent amount (I aim to get the dumbbell near my knees) straighten up again.  This is when your abs do the work.  Repeat on the other side.

Barbell side bend - start/end position

Barbell side bend - bottom position, trying hard not to twist round

It’s difficult to recreate this exercise so that it is completely identical for several sets.  The laws of physics (moments) mean that you only need to be in a slightly different place along the bar for the same weight to feel heavier or lighter, so if you can find some way to mark the bar so you get the same place each time then I recommend doing so. 

A little weight also goes a long way – notice how tiny the dumbbell plate is that I’ve racked on the end of the bar in the photos above!

Weighted hanging leg raises

This is the same exercise as hanging leg raises, but attach a small weight to your feet.  This can then become a progressive exercise by slowly increasing the weight.

A way of attaching weight to your feet with a climbing sling threaded through a dumbbell plate (Photo courtesy of Chris)

Just as weighted dragon flags can be significantly impacted by only a small increase to the weight, I’m assured that this is even more true for weighted straight leg raises.  I’m still working to the point where I find it out for myself!

I hope this series has been helpful and has given you plenty of ideas for different abs exercises that you can include in your workout routines to build up core strength.  I’m always on the lookout for new exercises.  If you have other exercises that you’ve found work for you and which you recommend I would really like to know.

Related posts:

1. Core workouts (Part 1)
2. Core workouts (Part 2)
3. 15 Ways to Survive a Desk Job – Part 2 (workouts)
4. Glute Guy workouts