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Upperbody / Abdominal Training
Programs Fast or Slow?
My answer to this question is both - BUT it depends who you are and what your goals are. If you are simply trying to lose weight and inches, doing fewer stomach exercises slower and more deliberately is very effective and safe. In fact, you can drop the number of reps you need to do by a factor of ten, if you hold each crunch for ten seconds. For this type of exercise you want to exert yourself on the UP and DOWN portion of the exercise, meaning you stay flexed and control the ascent and descent of your body. Just doing ten crunches and holding them for ten seconds each is safer and more effective than doing 100 crunches fast. Do this 2-3 times in a workout and you have a great abdominal routine. However, if you are in the military or law enforcement and need to score higher on your physical fitness tests in situps or curl-ups, then you need to practice doing the exercises faster, but to a pace. A pace that produces a good score is 20 situps in 30 seconds. This would give you 80 situps in a two minutes time period. By increasing the pace to 25 in 30 seconds, you can get 100 in 2:00. So, it makes sense to practice more abs exercises at a faster pace with the exertion only occurring during the UP portion of the exercise. Relax and let gravity take you back to the starting position (floor) thus saving the abdominal energy for the ascent and a better score. Here is a quick little workout I developed the other day with a client who thought he could not do 1000 abs in one session with me. We also got in 400 pushups. This one is for 250-400 pushups below. We could have done 1500 probably. IT is not really as hard as it looks, but you will get a great pump and feel it in your belly tomorrow. No rest on this one... Set #1) 100 crunches your choice 25-40 pushups (regular)
Set #5) 50 Double Crunches (Reg/Reverse mixed) at same time 25-40 pushups Set #6) 100 Flutterkicks (or regular crunches for those with back problems) 25-40 pushups Set #7) 100 Leg levers (or 50 left crunches / 50 right crunches - back problems) 25-40 pushups Set #8) 100 scissors (or 50 reg / 50 rev at same time) 25-40 pushups Set #9) 100 situps in 2-3 minutes (or 50 left / 50 right crunches with bicycle of legs) 25-40 pushups Set #10) 100 abs of your choice 25-40 pushups That will equal 1000 abs exercise and 250-400 pushups. Drop the pushups to 10 each set and still get 100 pushups in a workout. Give this one a try. It is fun and very quick.
This one is for those who are just beginning: Get creative with your fitness program! That is what it takes when you are traveling on business or on vacation. Recently, my family and I took a trip back home to Florida to see my parents and we decided to drive from Maryland. After driving about eight hours the first day, we stopped at a hotel that did not have a fitness room and the pool was closed for the season. I was tired but knew I would feel better if I did a few exercises. The benefits of exercising and stretching after sitting idle for hours are numerous and include the following:
Superset; Repeat 5-10 timesPushups 5-10 reps Crunches 5-10 super slow 10-second reps Wide pushups = 5-10 Reverse crunches 5-10 reps Close / triceps pushups 5-10 reps Double crunches 5-10 slow 10-second reps (*try the pushups slow too at 5 seconds up/5 seconds down) As you can see, there is really no excuse why you cannot exercise any day of the week whether you are traveling, working long hours or staying at home with the kids. With minimal equipment and time sacrifice, we can all fit exercise in our lives and stay healthy for many years to come. Good luck. Make fitness as much a part of your day as taking a shower and brushing your teeth. If you are interested in more of these type of workouts and running and swimming and weight training routine, check out the StewSmith.com Fitness Store. Feel free to email the author of the eBooks sold here at stew@stewsmith.com .
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__________________________________________________________________________________________ Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He specializes in military and law enforcement fitness, particularly Special Operations units. Please feel free to email him at Stew@stewsmith.com with any comments or questions.      
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