I loved NROL, but haven't yet started any of the programs. Wondering what the perspective is on one complaint I have with the workouts.
My complaint is ab exercises. Research I've read and my personal beliefs are that crunches and situps aren't necessary and put too much strain on the back. I do ab work, but prefer things like stability ball jackknife, stability ball ab-pike, mountain climbers, plank, plank on ball, hanging knee raise, etc.
Can I just substitute a variety of ab exercises for the crunch-based ones in the workouts? Any particular guidelines to follow?
I've done NROL Break-in, FLI, FLII, and Strength I, and the only crunch type exercises I've come across are the swiss ball crunch and reverse crunch. In the book the author says that he's not crazy about crunches either, but believes that the swiss ball crunch is one that actually works.
The NROL routines generally start with the big muscle groups or full-body exercises, and they end with some sort of core exercise. It looks as if you already have a good core routine that works for you, so there should be no issue with substituting your core exercises for the NROL core exercises.
I personally like the lower body Russian twist that's in some of the routines. It's not a crunch, but it is a challenging core exercise for me, and at the same time it provides a great stretch for my spine and hips.
Yes, I even avoid swiss ball crunches and reverse crunches. My DH, who is currently doing NROL complained about reverse crunches in one of the workouts hurting his back, but he was hesitant to switch them out because he wanted to follow the prescribed program.
Swiss ball crunches are WAY better than regular crunches (both from a back support standpoint and from an effectiveness perspective), but I still prefer a no-crunch approach.
Skip the crunches and reverse crunches. We're not going to include them in the next book.
I don't think there's any harm to people in general to do them as prescribed in NROL, but you shouldn't do anything that hurts your back, especially when there are so many better exercises.
Since the two exercises in question are both for the anterior core, I'd substitute rollout variations for now. Mike Boyle showed a good series of progressions for TMUSCLE last year.
hi,
i just started the NROL program. i would like to know if there are other alternatives to the crunches. Also, how i can have a flat stomach and still have the abs, because i see some guys with abs but it's sticking out more than their chest and i find a weird...any thoughts?
Just an aside, Lou--I am wondering where the date is on T-Nation articles--I can never find it--and when did it become TMuscle?
To find the exact date, go to the "author" section, and look up the article there. So if you look for the article I linked to above in Mike Boyle's author section, you see it was posted April 10, 2008.
It became TMUSCLE some time after I started working there. I was as surprised as anybody!
hi,
i just started the NROL program. i would like to know if there are other alternatives to the crunches.
I linked to a Mike Boyle article in the earlier post. That should give you plenty of anterior-core work for the next few months.
Quote:
Also, how i can have a flat stomach and still have the abs, because i see some guys with abs but it's sticking out more than their chest and i find a weird...any thoughts?
If someone is truly lean, with visible separations between the sections of his rectus abdominis, and his ab muscles protrude beyond his chest, it's probably one of two things:
1. He has a really, really underdeveloped chest.
2. He has anterior pelvic tilt, meaning he has hip-flexor muscles that are too short or tight, pulling the top of his pelvis forward. That makes even a lean midsection protrude more than it otherwise would.
The opposite is a posterior pelvic tilt, better known as the "buttless" look. That's what you get when the hamstrings are too short or tight, pulling the top of the pelvis backward to flatten the lumbar curve.
I'm oversimplifying, but I think this describes the basic postural problems.
thanks a lot. i will visit the link you posted and take into account the posterior and anterior pelvic tilts, although i doubt i have them. The answer must be the underdeveloped chest. I shall work out that, but i will wait as i a get farther into the program. It should all work just fine.
Thanks, Lou. I appreciate the input. We'll skip the crunches and reverse crunches and substitute planks and rollouts, both of which are normal inclusions in our workouts.
Glad to hear crunches are OUT in the next book! Hooray for progress!
Glad to hear crunches are OUT in the next book! Hooray for progress!
Alwyn likes to say that changing our minds about something doesn't mean we were wrong the first time. It just means that research and practice have shown us better ways to do things.
Alwyn likes to say that changing our minds about something doesn't mean we were wrong the first time. It just means that research and practice have shown us better ways to do things.
I like to say that never changing your mind is often a result of never learning anything. Come to think of it, if you'd never changed your mind, you might have written "Old Rules of Lifting".
Abdominal exercises
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