please Cathe, help with weak Abs

W

wendywyrm

Member
Dear Cathe,
Please could you help me set up an Abs strengthening program? I have most of your tapes and do alright except I can't do more than 8 crunches at a time. I also can't do the exercises where you have to raise your shoulders high off the floor (as in Leaner Legs).

Any encouragement would be appreciated because my fitness in this area relative to my other efforts really discourages me.

Thanks very very much,
Wendy

p.s. Edited to add that I do have a little bit of a sway back. I grew real fast as a kid and when I was 11 or 12 a doctor said I had lordosis from it.
 
Wendy,

I have this same problem. My core is weak. I've tried to build it up with standing leg work but need to get stronger. I can't seem to do more than a few reps at a time before my muscles are completely exhausted. Also, despite *really* working on my form, my neck starts to feel strained within a short time.

I have lean legs and arms and a short, thick trunk. Could this be one reason that Core work feels so torturous? :-(
 
I hear ya, Wendy! Prior to finding Cathe about 3 years ago, I had done Firm tapes since 1987 and after all those years could still barely get my shoulder blades off the floor during crunches. Although my abs are still my trouble spot, doing Cathe workouts plus nontraditional ab work has strengthened this area for me considerably.

Everyone's different, of course, but what works for me is working my abs six days a week. Specifically, I do stability ball work a la PUB and KPC once or twice a week, Bootcamp as produced once a week, Pilates once or twice a week and whatever miscellaneous ab work Cathe is doing on the workout I'm doing at the time. I think the Intensity Series has some of Cathe's best ab exercises and I noticed my abs really start to improve after buying this series when it first came out. Power yoga is great for the core too.

My advice to you is to doggedly keep at it but don't be afraid to modify, especially if you're straining your neck. Don't worry if you can't get high in a crunch, as long as you're feeling it in your abs. Progress has been slow for me but I have refused to give up and have definitely seen changes.

It is frustrating, though, when progress is so much faster in other areas. Oh well, we all have our strengths and weaknesses! Good luck!:)
 
Hi:
I have a good answer for abs, but despite being a doctor and a martial artist, I must admit that my wife taught me this one, and it's very important, for the health of your neck!! (She's been trained as a Yoga Instructor, so had analyzed this more than I had before she brought this up.)
Instead of putting your hands behind your neck when doing crunches, cross your arms across your chest, with your hands resting on the opposite shoulders. Thus your left hand is on your right shoulder, and right hand over your left shoulder. This keeps you from pulling up on your neck with your hands, and thus straining your neck and hurting yourself.
Of course, a real crunch only requires you to get your shoulders barely off the ground, because that's all you need to engage and challenge your abs.
Good Luck (and hope this isn't so old hat info to you that you're wondering where I came from)
 
Someone else gave me a suggestion and I'm posting it here for those interested. Someone said that the quality of the crunch matters a lot. I've concentrated on really sucking my stomach in as I crunch up and keeping my lower back on the floor. I think that doing crunches this way is helping me to strengthen my abs. I still don't know how to go about actually training my abs in terms of a program. At the moment I'm doing what Cathe does and when the pain is too great, stopping the tape. I probably stop the tape a zillion times before I get through it. I really wish I had more concrete info on this.

Wendy
 
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