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3rdgensooner
8/17/2011, 03:43 PM
Are Crunches Worth the Effort? (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/are-crunches-worth-the-effort/)


The researchers had expected that the volunteers with the sturdiest cores would outshine the others on the tests of physical performance. But they did not. There was little correlation in this study between robust core muscles and athleticism. Despite the emphasis that many coaches, trainers and athletes themselves place on “core training for increased performance,” the authors write, “our results suggest otherwise” — and in the process raise some intriguing questions about just how core strength affects fitness and whether a rippling abdomen, while attractive, is worth the effort.

The role of the core in physical performance has been a topic of considerable interest and controversy among sports scientists, as well as coaches and trainers, for years. Most of us think that a taut midsection, achieved usually by multiple crunches and perhaps some medicine-ball exercises and side planks, will make us not just less self-conscious in our swimsuits but also better athletes.
No one needs to perform hundreds or even dozens of crunches, said Brad Schoenfeld, a professor of exercise science at Lehman College in the Bronx and an author of a newly published review article about core exercises titled “To Crunch or Not to Crunch.” (http://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Abstract/2011/08000/To_Crunch_or_Not_to_Crunch__An_Evidence_Based.2.as px) And while everyone needs some basic minimum of core strength — getting up out of a chair requires a certain amount of core strength; serving a tennis ball requires more – “six or eight crunches would be plenty,” he said, “and only a few times a week.”

It’s also important you perform them correctly, Dr. McGill said. “Don’t flatten your back into the ground,” he said. Instead, place your hands, palm down, beneath your lower back to lessen pressure on the spine. Bend your knees, and “pretend that your head and shoulders are resting on a bathroom scale,” he said. Lift them only enough to send the imaginary scale’s reading to zero. “You don’t need to crunch up very much” to achieve the desired workload on the abdominal muscles, he said.

Or forgo the crunches altogether. “Personally, I do not believe that it is necessary to specifically train the core,” said Thomas Nesser, an associate professor of exercise science at Indiana State and senior author of the study about core stability and performance. In most instances, if you “train for your sport, core strength will develop,” he said, and it will be the right amount and type of core strength for that sport.

But what about those taut, topo-map abs sported by celebrities like Mike Sorrentino, better known as The Situation from “Jersey Shore”? It’s all about low body fat, Dr. McGill said, and not the crunches.

sappstuf
8/17/2011, 03:46 PM
I will never stop crunching....

http://www.niftythriftysavings.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/nestle-crunch-bar.png

CrimsonKel
8/17/2011, 03:58 PM
I suspected that the core training movement was somewhat overdone. It seemed too precisian for my tastes if you must know.

I do swiss ball crunches but don't go overboard with them.

achiro
8/17/2011, 04:00 PM
That article is very misleading. Dr. Stuart McGill is on of the guys quoted but I feel like it is done in a way that kind of misleads the audience to his thoughts on the matter. While I don't agree with everything he says, Dr. McGill advocates core exercises for back/spine health. He is very specific though in the way they should be done.
As far as his quote on to have good abs just needing lower body fat. You can be skinny and show muscle definition but if you want a deep groove in the 6-pack, you have to build those muscles.

Fish&Game
8/17/2011, 04:13 PM
so crunching is not the new planking?

CrimsonKel
8/17/2011, 04:18 PM
I have read articles that suggested you don't need to do anything besides core training. I thought that was ridiculous. That may have come from the extreme fringes of the movement. I'm glad someone is pushing back a little.

Health and fitness can be very similar to religion. People can get really dogmatic.

3rdgensooner
8/17/2011, 04:19 PM
so crunching is not the new planking?Leisure diving is the new planking. But I'm considering starting a tower climbing movement.

GKeeper316
8/17/2011, 04:20 PM
I have read articles that suggested you don't need to do anything besides core training. I thought that was ridiculous. That may have come from the extreme fringes of the movement. I'm glad someone is pushing back a little.

Health and fitness can be very similar to religion. People can get really dogmatic.

not to mention the genetics of physiology... everyone's body is different. a diet and exercise plan that works for one person may or may not work for another.

GKeeper316
8/17/2011, 04:21 PM
so crunching is not the new planking?

no the new planking is sex with supermodels...

so go out and sex with supermodels as much as you can. doesn't count without documentation.

jkjsooner
8/17/2011, 04:24 PM
You can be skinny and show muscle definition but if you want a deep groove in the 6-pack, you have to build those muscles.

What about hairy people like me. It doesn't matter how skinny I am, the stomach carpet is going to cover up the six pack.

God, getting old sucks...

But seriously, if you do weight training and you're not doing everything on isolation machines then you are working your core quite a bit.

GKeeper316
8/17/2011, 04:32 PM
What about hairy people like me. It doesn't matter how skinny I am, the stomach carpet is going to cover up the six pack.



you dont own a razor or have the ability to purchase a waxing kit?

Fish&Game
8/17/2011, 04:38 PM
Leisure diving is the new planking. But I'm considering starting a tower climbing movement.
I'm so out of the loop...I miss all the fun stuff!

mgsooner
8/17/2011, 04:40 PM
I have a 12 pack but my arms look like DJ Qualls'

jkjsooner
8/17/2011, 04:42 PM
you dont own a razor or have the ability to purchase a waxing kit?

That's kinda gay - not that there's anything wrong with that.

I do take care of the back side though. Ain't nothin' gay about that.

Edit: I'm not really one of those freaky carpet type guys...

achiro
8/17/2011, 05:41 PM
What about hairy people like me. It doesn't matter how skinny I am, the stomach carpet is going to cover up the six pack.

God, getting old sucks...

But seriously, if you do weight training and you're not doing everything on isolation machines then you are working your core quite a bit.

I should have clarified a bit better, you don't have to do traditional crunches to build those ab muscles, there are alternatives. If you do crunches there are good and bad ways to do them.
and you are correct about building them while doing other types of lifting, the key is using great form.

CrimsonKel
8/17/2011, 08:54 PM
I just had a thought that gave me pause. I remember a time before crunches. I remember when the ab exercise of choice was sit-ups. Man, where did the time go?

Curly Bill
8/17/2011, 09:48 PM
I've found that keepin the core in good shape really helps my golf game. Plus it helps me look good in a speedo! :D

Peach Fuzz
8/17/2011, 10:04 PM
So core doesn't help athletics?? Yeah I'm calling bs on this 'study'

Curly Bill
8/17/2011, 10:08 PM
I'm not even reading the study, but if it says too much emphasis has been placed on core lately I'll agree. Core is an integral part of athletic performance, but I think over emphasising it lately has become a bit fadish.

Peach Fuzz
8/17/2011, 10:11 PM
I think core has a significant part in football. All the Olympic exercises and others help 'explosion'.

Curly Bill
8/17/2011, 10:13 PM
I think it's significant to most sports, maybe all sports if ya really think about it. I just think so much emphasis on core lately has been a bit overdone.

OhU1
8/17/2011, 10:17 PM
Articles like this make me feel good about the years of missed crunches. I am an avid non-cruncher and have the abs to prove it! :P

I speculate that lifting and carrying heavy and odd shaped objects (such as moving a hide-a bed) do more to develop core muscle than about anything. Those ab and supporting muscles are working very hard to keep your torso erect and provide a base for the other muscles to apply force. Anyone who has done heavy dead lift work, squats, or had to move heavy objects for a distance knows the feeling of "gut muscle" fatigue. Those "World's Strongest Man" competitors have thick slabs of abdominal muscles, I doubt they crunch much.

CrimsonKel
8/18/2011, 11:01 AM
The bicycle "crunch" is the most effective ab exercise according to the American Council of Exercise (ACE). http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises.htm

thecynic
8/18/2011, 11:18 AM
I thought this thread would be about eating cereal. my wife is the loudest cruncher of cereal (even with a closed mouth) known to man.

CrimsonKel
9/20/2011, 05:00 PM
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201109/3-awesome-ab-exercises

Romulus
9/20/2011, 06:01 PM
I do between 500-1000 knee ups or high knees a day while jumping rope and that works good for me

C&CDean
9/20/2011, 06:49 PM
I do between 500-1000 knee ups or high knees a day while jumping rope and that works good for me

Does it work the same on both boards?

Romulus
9/20/2011, 08:51 PM
depends on what you mean by works the same

colleyvillesooner
9/20/2011, 09:05 PM
That article is very misleading. Dr. Stuart McGill is on of the guys quoted but I feel like it is done in a way that kind of misleads the audience to his thoughts on the matter. While I don't agree with everything he says, Dr. McGill advocates core exercises for back/spine health. He is very specific though in the way they should be done.
As far as his quote on to have good abs just needing lower body fat. You can be skinny and show muscle definition but if you want a deep groove in the 6-pack, you have to build those muscles.

I think I'll wait until a real doctor chimes in...

GottaHavePride
9/20/2011, 09:31 PM
What does Dr. Spaceman think?