An interesting Athlean X take on planks

[agape1111]

@tebo Yep, here ya go.

 

[maninan]

@azsosa What might those better and fun ways be to train abs? AFAIK, planks target the core moreso than the rectus abdominis, which is why people do them?

 

[azsosa]

@maninan Dragon flags, human flags, V-Sits, L-Sits and ab rollers are all examples. You'd prefer to use something that can be scaled.

 

[rohaniways]

@azsosa As a plus, they are less boring than planks. I like l sit pull ups personally

 

[hakatz]

@azsosa Use weights with them?

 

[dawn16]

@maninan Try the 22 day challenge by athlean x and come back lol

 

[maninan]

@dawn16 I'll check it out, thanks! As a beginner I'm sure it'll be tough but it's a good place to start!

 

[dawn16]

@maninan Hanging Leg Raises/Toes to Bar and Pallof Press for me.

 

[a8alphamale]

@maninan It's one of those beginner exercises that got branded as the only ab exercise you need.

Look at gymnasts, hanging straight leg raises to the face. But you have to have the grip and hamstring mobility to make that work and most people never train those.

 

[cabalauxz]

@maninan He has some dedicated ab exercises, and even whole ab routines... But he really puts a lot of focus on the "train like an athlete" branding.

That basically means that you should mostly be on your feet, doing compound movements. You can even cheat a little to help train abs. So if you're doing a one hand high cable row, you add a bit of a twist to get the obliques contracting. But not so much to where you're not getting a good contraction on your back. Sometimes it's as simple as an isometric ab hold, that gives you stability.

When you do this for the majority of your exercises, every day, your entire core will get good amounts of volume.

 

[elevangeliodehoy]

@azsosa Well hes aphysical therapist as well so he definitely is gonna look at research before putting it out there. Hes not like some other guys who are charismatic and say things they think makes sense and because theyre in good shape ppl believe them

 

[donetta]

@azsosa You can make the plank more difficult. I use weight on my back (like 10 to 20 kg) or i out my elbows way more forward which makes it super hard actually

 

[vengeanceismine]

@azsosa Like?

 

[hintofasian]

@azsosa Planks are simply a starter exercise that you use as a baseline to progress away from, if you're an intermediate in your sport you should not be starting with a beginner exercise for long as you may adapt quickly.

 

[annetteaa]

@hintofasian The best athletes train the most fundamental techniques not the other way around.

They are fundamental for a reason. They are the building block for everything else and should be trained as well as more advanced variations.

 

[maymcflurry]

@fullspinzoo If the purpose would be to activate primarily the rectus abdominus, then it's still a better exercise than the reverse plank. Doing a posterior pelvic tilt to avoid arching your back in a reverse plank isn't going to overload the abdominals much. As for the increased activation of glutes and back, that's a whole different discussion.

I strongly doubt the hip flexors will get tight from being isometrically contracted in an exercise with the hip in a fairly neutral position (or getting tight from any strength work at all for that matter). Low back issues from plank is from my experience (with injured people mind you) almost always from a lack of proper posterior pelvic tilt.

It seems like the argument is comparing apples and oranges? Like if we want to dissect which exercise is more beneficial than another it doesn't make sense to jump from talking about effective training for abs to effective training for posterior chain muscles.

 

[fullspinzoo]

@maymcflurry I think you're totally right in saying that it's an apples to oranges comparison. It seems that Jeff is merely debunking some misconceptions of a very popular exercise.

 

[maymcflurry]

@fullspinzoo Fair enough.

 

[cconversation]

@maymcflurry

I strongly doubt the hip flexors will get tight from being isometrically contracted in an exercise with the hip in a fairly neutral position (or getting tight from any strength work at all for that matter).

Yes this. Why wouldn't you want to strengthen the hip flexors? People talk all the time about muscles getting "tight" from strength training but that sounds to me like the old "muscle bound" nonsense.

As just one example, there are several studies showing that isometric strength training for the neck is an effective treatment for neck pain. The "don't train a tight muscle" theory would predict the opposite.

 

[sickseptor]

@cconversation Dude, who let you out of /r/streamentry?

But yeah you shouldn't be looking towards planks to strengthen your glutes, and if you have any inclination towards getting a Lsit then you're going to need some strong hip flexors.