When you carry out an intense workout such as a lactate-stacker session and you pile up prodigious quantities of lactic acid in your blood, what happens to that lactic acid after your workout is over? Should you try to do things which facilitate lactic-acid removal?
In the world of running, the belief that the excess post workout lactic acid can do destructive things has been popular.
One well-accepted view has been that lactic acid percolates around muscle cells following a strenuous bout of running, damaging muscle membranes and making the fibers quite sore within 24 hours. Fearing the destructive power of lactic acid, one well-known coach even suggested that speed training should be confined to no more than six weeks in any major training cycle. If continued for longer than that, the coach contended, speed training, with its high lactic-acid build-ups, could seriously harm aerobic structures within muscle cells and diminish endurance capacity.
Of course, we now know that such precepts are pure poppycock. A more-scientific explanation of lactic-acid's fate has been that the controversial stuff was grabbed by the liver after a rough workout and then converted into glucose, which could be dribbled into the blood later, as needed, to maintain blood-glucose concentrations.
Although this scientific exegesis has been considerably more appealing than the lactic-acid-mayhem theory, we now know that it is also a bit off the mark. What really happens to lactic acid after you hang up your running shorts to dry? Pure and simple, most of the stuff is simply oxidized, i. e., broken down to water and carbon dioxide, with a consequent vast release of fuel for cellular processes. Your heart loves to see you do your lactate stackers, because it snacks on the resulting lactic acid at a feverish pitch after the workout is over. Your muscles, too, get into the act, using lactic acid at high rates, at least partially to kick-start the post-workout recovery process. It is now believed that 70 percent of the lactic acid which floods your blood after a spiky workout is oxidized; 20 percent is probably converted to glucose (which can then be used for glycogen formation), and-somewhat surprisingly to many-about 10 percent is utilized to make protein.
You may be surprised to learn that the blood-lactate clearance process can go on for a fairly long time after a demanding workout ends-and that some forms of exercise can actually speed the rate at which lactate disappears from the blood, while others do not.
For example, let's say you have just completed a lactate-stacker session (with one-minute work intervals at close to all-out intensity and two-minute, easy-jog recoveries in between). For your cool-down, you could just walk around and chat with your running friends who have similarly chastised themselves with the stacker session, or you could jog along-on well-worn legs-at a moderate intensity. Which form of recovery would cause your heart and muscles to clear lactic acid from the blood more readily?
If your blood-lactate levels reached about 12 millimoles per liter at the end of the session (a pretty reasonable guess for many runners) and you decided to jog along at a light intensity of around 40 percent of maximal aerobic capacity (perhaps 60 percent of max heart rate), your blood-lactate concentrations would commence a steady decline as soon as you began jogging and would be back at baseline levels within 45 minutes or so. In contrast, if you stood around and chatted, your blood lactate would still be elevated after 45 minutes, probably resting somewhere in the four to six millimoles per liter range (baseline is about two millimoles).
What is the reason for this? Light exercise increases the rate at which the heart and muscles oxidize lactic acid for fuel (this should make sense, since with light exercise you are forcing the heart and muscles to increase their work rate above resting levels). Thus, lactic acid disappears from the blood more quickly. Additional lactic acid does not pour into the blood, since your cool-down is so light in intensity. If you pushed the intensity needle up significantly during your cool-down, however, the story would probably be completely different, as the higher intensity might spew lactic acid into the blood's "pool" of the stuff. The bottom line, however, is that you don't really need to worry about lactic acid after your workout is over; your heart and muscles will take care of everything for you. You should cool down, of course, but the purposes of your cool down are to relax and reflect on the good work you have done, to ease your ticker back into normal-beating mode instead of subjecting it to an elevator drop, and to smooth your muscles' transition to the quiescent state which will follow the workout.
Looking to improve your running in 2010 running velocity at lactate threshold (RVLT) is one of the best predictors of performance at distances ranging from 800 meters to 100 kilometers, for runners of all ages and ability levels.
For the past twenty-five years, Running Research News has been the leader in providing scientific information about training, sports nutrition, and injury prevention. We have consistently helped runners reach their highest-possible levels of fitness, without getting injured. What started out as a small newsletter handed out to runners after races has grown into an international publication which is considered to be the most authoritative source of information about running and strength training. Along the way, Running Research News has created a cutting-edge running camp in Malibu, California and has launched three additional publications: Cycling Research News, Swimming Research News, and Weight-Loss Research. As Aristotle said over 2000 years ago, the best kind of friendship is one in which each party reaches his/her true potential. We see our clients as our friends, and we do everything possible to help them reach their ultimate goals.
Become a Better Runner in Your Sleep
By Nancy Averett
Runner's World
In October 1989, just five days after calf cramps had forced her to slow her pace in Minneapolis's Twin Cities Marathon, Kim Jones experienced a vivid dream. The 31-year-old saw herself gliding along the New York City Marathon course, floating up hills, passing competitors and, most important, running pain-free. Jones decided to enter New York—never mind that it was less than four weeks away, hardly enough time for a proper recovery.
Jones went on to place second and post the fastest American women's time on the course at the time: 2:27:54, a nearly four-minute improvement on her Twin Cities race. "I carried the dream with me," says Jones, now 49. "I had this clear image of myself running well, and it made me feel confident and strong."
Today, the masters athlete and running coach who lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, encourages her clients to pursue their dreams as well. An increasing number of sports psychologists also are endorsing dreams as a training tool that can boost confidence and performance. "There's so much untapped potential in our dreams that can be applied to all kinds of endeavors, including athletics," says Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. In her book The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem-Solving—and How You Can Too, Barrett cites how legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus and boxing champion Floyd Patterson dreamed their way to better performances.
While you sleep, your brain processes the thoughts, actions, and emotions of your day and mixes them with experiences from your past. The result is a screenplay of sights, sounds, and interactions that might seem chaotic and nonsensical, but Barrett says they can offer a window into your subconscious. This can help you uncover obstacles, develop an inspiring picture of success, and even work out on a virtual training ground.
Night Vision
You can't learn from your dreams if you can't remember them, so the first step to unlocking the power of your subconscious is to learn dream recall. To develop this skill, Veronica Tonay, Ph.D., a psychologist in Santa Cruz, California, and author of The Creative Dreamer, recommends keeping a journal next to your bed and recording the details immediately upon waking. The journal will help you identify ongoing themes, which Tonay says are often signs of a problem that your mind is fixated on.
Tonay once worked with a runner who had a recurring dream: He was running on a trail that was blocked by a boulder; each time he encountered it, he'd quit. He concluded that it represented his tendency to give up whenever his training became difficult. After making this connection, he joined a running group, which gave him the support he needed to stay on track. Another runner had bad dreams leading up to a marathon: He was stuck in traffic and missed the race; he forgot his timing chip; he threw up at the start. "With dreams like that, you should question if you're emotionally and physically ready," Tonay says. "It could mean that you aren't properly trained, your goal is too ambitious, or you're putting too much pressure on yourself."
Occasionally, dreams can be so striking that they seem automatically engraved in your mind—no journaling or analysis necessary, as was the case with Kim Jones. These dreams may appear to be random, but there are ways to encourage your brain to create them, says Steven Ungerleider, Ph.D., a sports psychologist in Eugene, Oregon. Ungerleider's research shows that athletes who envision themselves performing well throughout the day tend to have these positive visions at night, most likely because they are reinforcing the image of success in their brains. "Athletes who do a lot of mental training and visualization exercises have quite prolific dreams," Ungerleider says. "They take the inspiration they get from those dreams and apply it to their training the next day, recreating the cycle."
Another way to influence dream content is through lucid dreaming, a practice that involves training yourself to become aware you are dreaming without waking up. Once you learn this technique, you can shape your dream, because your awareness allows you to dictate what happens. "Maybe you want to work on lengthening your stride, so you dream that you are jumping over hurdles," says Dominick Attisani of the Lucidity Institute, a Palo Alto, California, organization that teaches the technique. "Or you could work on your speed by turning into the bionic woman."
Lucid dreaming may sound fanciful, but Attisani says athletes who rehearse skills in a dream can perform them better upon awakening because they're strengthening the neural pathways between brain and muscles. Even though your muscles appear still during a dream, experiments have shown that your brain is firing messages and the muscles are responding. For instance, Lucidity Institute researchers have asked subjects to make a fist while dreaming. They don't make the full movement, but electrical impulses are recorded in their hands, indicating that the muscles have responded.
Lucid dreams can also provide a mental boost. Athletes can conjure up a scene where they beat a competitor, giving them confidence to actually do it. "It helps you get past that tape recorder in your head that says you can't do something," Attisani says. What's more, when athletes have lucid dreams, Barrett says they tend to feel unusually happy, which can be channeled directly into a workout. In 2001, Barrett studied collegiate swimmers who had lucid dreams. All reported feeling elated upon waking and they posted faster times at future practices.
"I have this feeling of freedom and joy," says Martin Spies-Sweetland, 43, a German track-and-field athlete, adding that later, when he is awake and is running, this positive charge helps him run faster. He says it's also helped him improve his long jump. "It occurred to me in a lucid dream how important it is to bring the hips up," he says. "I never realized that before. So I applied it to real life, and it improved my performance." Spies-Sweetland is a father of three who doesn't have time to train as much as his competitors. But he says lucid dreaming gives him an advantage: "I consider it my personal secret of training."
Runner's World
In October 1989, just five days after calf cramps had forced her to slow her pace in Minneapolis's Twin Cities Marathon, Kim Jones experienced a vivid dream. The 31-year-old saw herself gliding along the New York City Marathon course, floating up hills, passing competitors and, most important, running pain-free. Jones decided to enter New York—never mind that it was less than four weeks away, hardly enough time for a proper recovery.
Jones went on to place second and post the fastest American women's time on the course at the time: 2:27:54, a nearly four-minute improvement on her Twin Cities race. "I carried the dream with me," says Jones, now 49. "I had this clear image of myself running well, and it made me feel confident and strong."
Today, the masters athlete and running coach who lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, encourages her clients to pursue their dreams as well. An increasing number of sports psychologists also are endorsing dreams as a training tool that can boost confidence and performance. "There's so much untapped potential in our dreams that can be applied to all kinds of endeavors, including athletics," says Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. In her book The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem-Solving—and How You Can Too, Barrett cites how legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus and boxing champion Floyd Patterson dreamed their way to better performances.
While you sleep, your brain processes the thoughts, actions, and emotions of your day and mixes them with experiences from your past. The result is a screenplay of sights, sounds, and interactions that might seem chaotic and nonsensical, but Barrett says they can offer a window into your subconscious. This can help you uncover obstacles, develop an inspiring picture of success, and even work out on a virtual training ground.
Night Vision
You can't learn from your dreams if you can't remember them, so the first step to unlocking the power of your subconscious is to learn dream recall. To develop this skill, Veronica Tonay, Ph.D., a psychologist in Santa Cruz, California, and author of The Creative Dreamer, recommends keeping a journal next to your bed and recording the details immediately upon waking. The journal will help you identify ongoing themes, which Tonay says are often signs of a problem that your mind is fixated on.
Tonay once worked with a runner who had a recurring dream: He was running on a trail that was blocked by a boulder; each time he encountered it, he'd quit. He concluded that it represented his tendency to give up whenever his training became difficult. After making this connection, he joined a running group, which gave him the support he needed to stay on track. Another runner had bad dreams leading up to a marathon: He was stuck in traffic and missed the race; he forgot his timing chip; he threw up at the start. "With dreams like that, you should question if you're emotionally and physically ready," Tonay says. "It could mean that you aren't properly trained, your goal is too ambitious, or you're putting too much pressure on yourself."
Occasionally, dreams can be so striking that they seem automatically engraved in your mind—no journaling or analysis necessary, as was the case with Kim Jones. These dreams may appear to be random, but there are ways to encourage your brain to create them, says Steven Ungerleider, Ph.D., a sports psychologist in Eugene, Oregon. Ungerleider's research shows that athletes who envision themselves performing well throughout the day tend to have these positive visions at night, most likely because they are reinforcing the image of success in their brains. "Athletes who do a lot of mental training and visualization exercises have quite prolific dreams," Ungerleider says. "They take the inspiration they get from those dreams and apply it to their training the next day, recreating the cycle."
Another way to influence dream content is through lucid dreaming, a practice that involves training yourself to become aware you are dreaming without waking up. Once you learn this technique, you can shape your dream, because your awareness allows you to dictate what happens. "Maybe you want to work on lengthening your stride, so you dream that you are jumping over hurdles," says Dominick Attisani of the Lucidity Institute, a Palo Alto, California, organization that teaches the technique. "Or you could work on your speed by turning into the bionic woman."
Lucid dreaming may sound fanciful, but Attisani says athletes who rehearse skills in a dream can perform them better upon awakening because they're strengthening the neural pathways between brain and muscles. Even though your muscles appear still during a dream, experiments have shown that your brain is firing messages and the muscles are responding. For instance, Lucidity Institute researchers have asked subjects to make a fist while dreaming. They don't make the full movement, but electrical impulses are recorded in their hands, indicating that the muscles have responded.
Lucid dreams can also provide a mental boost. Athletes can conjure up a scene where they beat a competitor, giving them confidence to actually do it. "It helps you get past that tape recorder in your head that says you can't do something," Attisani says. What's more, when athletes have lucid dreams, Barrett says they tend to feel unusually happy, which can be channeled directly into a workout. In 2001, Barrett studied collegiate swimmers who had lucid dreams. All reported feeling elated upon waking and they posted faster times at future practices.
"I have this feeling of freedom and joy," says Martin Spies-Sweetland, 43, a German track-and-field athlete, adding that later, when he is awake and is running, this positive charge helps him run faster. He says it's also helped him improve his long jump. "It occurred to me in a lucid dream how important it is to bring the hips up," he says. "I never realized that before. So I applied it to real life, and it improved my performance." Spies-Sweetland is a father of three who doesn't have time to train as much as his competitors. But he says lucid dreaming gives him an advantage: "I consider it my personal secret of training."
Marathoning Is Mental
Marathoning is mental -- not just in the "crazy" sense but mostly in the "mind over matter" sense.
Here are seven characteristics that prove that marathoning is mental in the latter sense:
#1 - Planning
Marathoning seems to requires more planning than many other sports.
A field sport such as football or soccer requires that you show up at a particular location and train there -- and only there -- on a given day. In contrast, marathon training requires you to plan your training routes, plan when to start so that you finish a given route at an appropriate time, and so on.
Many sports have several competitive events throughout a sports season, so the training is interspersed with the competitions. In contrast, marathon training requires planning for one "big event" in a season.
Many sports let you compete repeatedly throughout the year without ever leaving town. In contrast, given that most cities host only one marathon a year, if you want to compete more than once a year, then you also must plan for travel.
#2 - Persistence
Marathoning requires persistence in at least three ways:
You must have persistence to finish your long training runs or walks.
You must have persistence to train for six months or more.
You must have persistence to complete a marathon.
#3 - Patience
Marathoning requires patience in at least five ways:
You must be patient to wait six months or more between when you start training and when you compete in a marathon.
You must be patient to wait for sustainable improvements in your speed and endurance.
You must be patient to wait days, weeks, or months while recuperating from a running or walking injury.
You must be patient to wait several minutes for the elite runners to cross a marathon starting line, just so that you, too, can cross it.
You must be patient to wait weeks or months for the next marathon after completing a marathon with results that you do not like.
#4 - Authenticity
Doing something that very few individuals do -- training for and completing a marathon -- requires authenticity.
How many other sports at times would have you putting in three-to-four-hour training sessions, getting up at 4 a.m. so that you can avoid summer heat, and training in the dark, the cold, and the rain?
How many other sports ask you to sacrifice your Friday evenings so that you can rise early for long training sessions on Saturday mornings?
How many other sports require you to begin to compete in an official event at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning?
"Very few" is the answer to all of these questions. So you must be willing to go against the norm as a marathoner.
#5 - Motivation
Right on the heels of authenticity is motivation. You must have strong motivation to train for and complete a marathon. It is at the same time a group sport and solitary sport, and the solitary part is where your motivation is most tested. You could be marathoning for a cause, as a tribute to someone, or to avoid a family history of a debilitating disease. Or you could be marathoning for the "runners' high", because you like to eat, or for the mental challenge that it presents. Whatever "it" is, you must have motivation.
#6 - Introspection
Marathoning requires introspection. You must be brutally honest with yourself about many things, including:
Whether you are completing your core training runs or walks
Whether you are asking for help from training buddies
Whether you are offering help to training buddies and fellow racers
Whether you are paying attention to your running or walking pace
Whether you are hydrating adequately
Whether you are giving yourself sufficient time to recover from injuries
Whether you are taking needed days off
Whether you are cross-training
Whether you are completing speed-work sessions and other supplementary runs or walks
Whether you are eating properly
Whether you are getting enough sleep
Whether you are visualizing
Whether you are stretching adequately
These introspective activities are not necessarily fun. But they are crucial to your success as a marathoner.
#7 - Education
It is nearly impossible to take up the sport of marathoning without learning a lot in the process. Although it seems to non-marathoners that the sport is extremely simple -- run or walk 26.2 miles -- the reality is that you need a lot of education -- about injury prevention, training schedules, cross-training, race-day techniques, and so on -- to be successful at training for and completing a marathon.
There you have it: seven characteristics that prove that marathoning is mental -- in a good way!
Here are seven characteristics that prove that marathoning is mental in the latter sense:
#1 - Planning
Marathoning seems to requires more planning than many other sports.
A field sport such as football or soccer requires that you show up at a particular location and train there -- and only there -- on a given day. In contrast, marathon training requires you to plan your training routes, plan when to start so that you finish a given route at an appropriate time, and so on.
Many sports have several competitive events throughout a sports season, so the training is interspersed with the competitions. In contrast, marathon training requires planning for one "big event" in a season.
Many sports let you compete repeatedly throughout the year without ever leaving town. In contrast, given that most cities host only one marathon a year, if you want to compete more than once a year, then you also must plan for travel.
#2 - Persistence
Marathoning requires persistence in at least three ways:
You must have persistence to finish your long training runs or walks.
You must have persistence to train for six months or more.
You must have persistence to complete a marathon.
#3 - Patience
Marathoning requires patience in at least five ways:
You must be patient to wait six months or more between when you start training and when you compete in a marathon.
You must be patient to wait for sustainable improvements in your speed and endurance.
You must be patient to wait days, weeks, or months while recuperating from a running or walking injury.
You must be patient to wait several minutes for the elite runners to cross a marathon starting line, just so that you, too, can cross it.
You must be patient to wait weeks or months for the next marathon after completing a marathon with results that you do not like.
#4 - Authenticity
Doing something that very few individuals do -- training for and completing a marathon -- requires authenticity.
How many other sports at times would have you putting in three-to-four-hour training sessions, getting up at 4 a.m. so that you can avoid summer heat, and training in the dark, the cold, and the rain?
How many other sports ask you to sacrifice your Friday evenings so that you can rise early for long training sessions on Saturday mornings?
How many other sports require you to begin to compete in an official event at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning?
"Very few" is the answer to all of these questions. So you must be willing to go against the norm as a marathoner.
#5 - Motivation
Right on the heels of authenticity is motivation. You must have strong motivation to train for and complete a marathon. It is at the same time a group sport and solitary sport, and the solitary part is where your motivation is most tested. You could be marathoning for a cause, as a tribute to someone, or to avoid a family history of a debilitating disease. Or you could be marathoning for the "runners' high", because you like to eat, or for the mental challenge that it presents. Whatever "it" is, you must have motivation.
#6 - Introspection
Marathoning requires introspection. You must be brutally honest with yourself about many things, including:
Whether you are completing your core training runs or walks
Whether you are asking for help from training buddies
Whether you are offering help to training buddies and fellow racers
Whether you are paying attention to your running or walking pace
Whether you are hydrating adequately
Whether you are giving yourself sufficient time to recover from injuries
Whether you are taking needed days off
Whether you are cross-training
Whether you are completing speed-work sessions and other supplementary runs or walks
Whether you are eating properly
Whether you are getting enough sleep
Whether you are visualizing
Whether you are stretching adequately
These introspective activities are not necessarily fun. But they are crucial to your success as a marathoner.
#7 - Education
It is nearly impossible to take up the sport of marathoning without learning a lot in the process. Although it seems to non-marathoners that the sport is extremely simple -- run or walk 26.2 miles -- the reality is that you need a lot of education -- about injury prevention, training schedules, cross-training, race-day techniques, and so on -- to be successful at training for and completing a marathon.
There you have it: seven characteristics that prove that marathoning is mental -- in a good way!
Why Strength Training is Important For Joggers
I'm going to let you in on a little known secret. If you want to get in the best possible shape, you should mix in strength training with your jogging. Most people avoid strength training because or ignorance or because they simply view strength training as a means to build muscle and not to loose weight. In this post, I will explain the benefits of incorporating strength training into your routine.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adults do two or three strength sessions per week. Simply put, having stronger muscles makes you a better jogger. Jogging is easier when your whole body is strong, not just your legs. Having a strong upper body will help you get through those jogging workouts.
Studies have shown that having a strong core (stomach and back) will help your legs absorb some of the shock that occurs when jogging. Everybody knows that when you jog, your legs are doing most of the work. If you can decrease the amount of shock they take on, then it will make them much more effective in the long run.
Please keep in mind that I'm not talking about major strength training here. The goal is not to look like a body builder (unless that is what you want). The goal is to help firm and tone your body. I strongly suggest that you begin incorporating weight training in with your jogging routine over the next couple of weeks. If you do, I'm sure you will love the way your body looks and feels.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adults do two or three strength sessions per week. Simply put, having stronger muscles makes you a better jogger. Jogging is easier when your whole body is strong, not just your legs. Having a strong upper body will help you get through those jogging workouts.
Studies have shown that having a strong core (stomach and back) will help your legs absorb some of the shock that occurs when jogging. Everybody knows that when you jog, your legs are doing most of the work. If you can decrease the amount of shock they take on, then it will make them much more effective in the long run.
Please keep in mind that I'm not talking about major strength training here. The goal is not to look like a body builder (unless that is what you want). The goal is to help firm and tone your body. I strongly suggest that you begin incorporating weight training in with your jogging routine over the next couple of weeks. If you do, I'm sure you will love the way your body looks and feels.
Core Strength Training Exercises - Improve Your Running Performance
Core strength training builds strong core muscles and provides you a base for all of your running and sports activities. Strengthening your core muscles will improve your running economy, speed and power. You will run faster with less effort. Here are some basic core strength training exercises that you can perform anywhere.
ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise or can be performed using single station or multi-station machines.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Flex your knees and bring your heels close to your buttocks. Cross you hands over your chest. Tuck you chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades leave the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
CORE STABILIZATION
This is a body weight exercise.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face down on a mat. Support your weight with your feet and forearms. Tuck your pelvis so that your hips are pressed forward and your body is straight. Hold this position.
•Holding the above position, lift your left arm. Hold that position for 20 seconds. Return the left arm to the support position and lift your right arm and hold for 20 seconds. Return the right arm to the support position and lift your left foot off of the mat and hold for 20 seconds. Return the left foot to the mat and lift the right foot and hold for 20 seconds.
•Now comes the fun part. Return the right foot to the mat. Now lift your right arm and left foot at the same time. You should now be supporting your body with your left forearm and your right foot. Hold that position for 20 seconds. Now return the right arm and left foot to the mat and lift your left arm and right foot and hold for 20 seconds.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
•Be sure to keep your hips tightly tucked during this exercise. Do not allow your lower back to arch or curl. Keep your body very straight.
DOUBLE CRUNCH or V-CRUNCH
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Hold your feet off of the floor with your lower leg parallel to the floor and your upper leg perpendicular to the floor.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades are off the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. At the same time, using your lower abdominal muscles, push your hips up off of the floor. This motion should be like pushing your knees straight up toward the ceiling. It should not be a rocking motion.
•Slowly allow your upper body and hips to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
EXERCISE BALL ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise that is performed using an exercise ball.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie on the exercise ball so that the ball is supporting your lower back. Place your feet wide and flat on the floor for balance. Cross your hands over your chest or use them to support your head. Do not pull on your head. Tuck you chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body upward. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the starting position.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
EXTENDED ARM CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Flex your knees and bring your heels close to your buttocks. Extend your arms over your head and clasp your hands together. Tuck your chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades leave the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
OBLIQUE ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise or can be performed using single station or multi-station machines.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Flex your knees and bring your heels close to your buttocks. Cross you hands over your chest. Tuck you chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees and rotate your body so that your left elbow moves toward your right knee. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
•Alternate between moving your left elbow to your right knee and your right elbow to your left knee.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
RAISED LEG CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Hold your feet off of the floor with your lower leg parallel to the floor and your upper leg perpendicular to the floor.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades are off the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
RESISTED ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise or can be performed using single station or multi-station machines.
TECHNIQUE
•Sit with your back flat against the bench. Stabilize the resistance against the front of your shoulders.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades are curled away from the bench. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the bench.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise or can be performed using single station or multi-station machines.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Flex your knees and bring your heels close to your buttocks. Cross you hands over your chest. Tuck you chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades leave the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
CORE STABILIZATION
This is a body weight exercise.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face down on a mat. Support your weight with your feet and forearms. Tuck your pelvis so that your hips are pressed forward and your body is straight. Hold this position.
•Holding the above position, lift your left arm. Hold that position for 20 seconds. Return the left arm to the support position and lift your right arm and hold for 20 seconds. Return the right arm to the support position and lift your left foot off of the mat and hold for 20 seconds. Return the left foot to the mat and lift the right foot and hold for 20 seconds.
•Now comes the fun part. Return the right foot to the mat. Now lift your right arm and left foot at the same time. You should now be supporting your body with your left forearm and your right foot. Hold that position for 20 seconds. Now return the right arm and left foot to the mat and lift your left arm and right foot and hold for 20 seconds.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
•Be sure to keep your hips tightly tucked during this exercise. Do not allow your lower back to arch or curl. Keep your body very straight.
DOUBLE CRUNCH or V-CRUNCH
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Hold your feet off of the floor with your lower leg parallel to the floor and your upper leg perpendicular to the floor.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades are off the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. At the same time, using your lower abdominal muscles, push your hips up off of the floor. This motion should be like pushing your knees straight up toward the ceiling. It should not be a rocking motion.
•Slowly allow your upper body and hips to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
EXERCISE BALL ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise that is performed using an exercise ball.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie on the exercise ball so that the ball is supporting your lower back. Place your feet wide and flat on the floor for balance. Cross your hands over your chest or use them to support your head. Do not pull on your head. Tuck you chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body upward. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the starting position.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
EXTENDED ARM CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Flex your knees and bring your heels close to your buttocks. Extend your arms over your head and clasp your hands together. Tuck your chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades leave the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
OBLIQUE ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise or can be performed using single station or multi-station machines.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Flex your knees and bring your heels close to your buttocks. Cross you hands over your chest. Tuck you chin into your chest.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees and rotate your body so that your left elbow moves toward your right knee. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
•Alternate between moving your left elbow to your right knee and your right elbow to your left knee.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
RAISED LEG CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise.
TECHNIQUE
•Lie face up on a mat. Hold your feet off of the floor with your lower leg parallel to the floor and your upper leg perpendicular to the floor.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades are off the floor. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the floor.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
RESISTED ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
This is a body weight exercise or can be performed using single station or multi-station machines.
TECHNIQUE
•Sit with your back flat against the bench. Stabilize the resistance against the front of your shoulders.
•Slowly curl your upper body towards your knees until your shoulder blades are curled away from the bench. This should be a rolling, curling motion. Concentrate on strongly contracting your abdominal muscles. Hold this position for a moment.
•Slowly allow your upper body to curl back to the bench.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
•Breath throughout the exercise.
•Exhale on the upward portions and inhale on the downward portion.
•Use a controlled curling motion throughout the exercise.
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