A black hole is a region of spacetime exhibiting such strong gravitational effects that nothing—including particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from inside it. Well, except your membership dues. They will come flying right out. That great big sucking sound is coming from your wallet.
So are you saying they “don’t work”?
First, let’s be clear about the Crunch Form being discussed — the lying on the floor crunches curl straight up – the newer version of sit-ups.
OK, now how to measure if something “works”?
Consider possible objectives:
- Looks – Yes
- Muscle Puff – Yes
- Intelligent core connection – Unlikely
- Increased strength in load bearing – Unlikely
- Lumbar support – Unlikely
- Remedial or Foundational Core Abdominal Training – Yes But…
- Only if no smashing, chin jutting and neck pulling
- Great for post-injury recovery
- Great for evening out strength in the abdominal wall
- Strengthening the deep low abdominals, where we tend to need it most – Unlikely
- Integrated functional benefits – Unlikely
- Improvement in weight lifting forms – Maybe
The Big Crunch
Oh here’s where it gets worse. Consider The Big Crunch in physics. The Big Crunch is one of the scenarios predicted by scientists in which the Universe may end. It theorizes that the Universe’s expansion after the Big Bang will not continue forever. Instead, it will stop expanding and the universe will collapse into itself, pulling everything with it until it eventually turns into the biggest black hole ever.
If the vanilla crunch is a black hole, then Canoes are The Big Crunch. The biggest black hole of biomechanical misery conceivable. Because the movement grinds across the lumbar, it loads up to about 500lbs of torque force on a vulnerable spine. While it targets the obliques, due to lumbar torsion, this is a High Risk / Low Return movement. Unless your idea of Return includes low-back pain, herniated disks and oxycodone.
Discussion of alternatives shared in the last section of the post, but not until we bam through a couple more fitness industry marketing myths.
Lumbar Torsion in Action – this was the leading image from a Sports Rehab site on Core Training – an article chock full of site traffic generating key words and little substance – it’s titled the Best Exercises for Core – and it propones that a key benefit of core exercises is to relieve back pain. The irony – their leading marketing-attention-getting-image features a lumbar crusher. That grunting sound when we do it? It’s the lumbar begging for death.
The “experts” won’t admit that the human body is still more intelligent than our current understanding. The human body is an excellent mathemetician. Its smarter than your trainer, doctor or PT and even Studio T Pro. The body is a genius. It LOVES solving new problems. The core stabilizes, executes and enables problem solving – but it has to train the practice patterns of optimal core execution strategies to write them to muscle memory. It then executes movement based on these stored muscle memory patterns. Training exercises that train torsion will then store torsion patterns in the body. These can creep into everything from picking up a box off the floor to dangerous execution patterns in athletics.
If you have weak spots in the core – remedial core training, especially after injury, is highly effective from plank or using the safe pilates reformer – and *immediately* get onto training the mind and body with solid execution patterns in standing or kneeling or lunge stances. You’ll know your core is firing well because your moves will be stronger and smoother. Developing and using body awareness is the key for effective training. All the anatomy charts and diagrams cannot do the work our own bodies can manage easily. But it takes practice and focus.
The companion article to this post – focuses training the core to do what it likes – generate quality movements. It was the Studio T original answer to the simple question: “What Do You Think of Crunches”. Let’s get off the ground and train for an intelligent, powerful core. Here’s the post: Smart Core Means Smart Training
Massive Crunch and Core Myths
- The “Core” is just abs. Wrong. The “Core” is not just the front abdominal wall. We exist with gravity on all four sides – like a tube. So the core is the entire musculature that connects the rib cage to the pelvis. Its the front, sides and back of your torso. Like a “core”. Not a pancake. It is literally a flexible cylinder that can calculate on the fly the appropriate level of “stiffness” or force to resist gravity.
- Core is just strength. Wrong. It runs everything that happens with the extremities by establishing a solid base of support. It is an incredible engineer of dynamic force against gravity – on the fly. It started its calculations when you learned to walk. It is literally amazing and so far, we have engineered nothing as sophisticated as our own body. The core, as a unit, integrates bone, tissue and muscles in complex layers to drive every move we make. As our base of support, it stabilizes the hips so you don’t wobble when you run or walk (if you see a runner with hips wobbling – it’s probably weak core musculature around the hips). It is constantly analyzing, calculating and refining strategies to effectively move the human body relative to gravity.
- Core is not in the back. Wrong. At the center of your body is the spine. Expand out in 360 degrees from that, and you have a tube. At the core, we are pretty much a tube. A fantastic tube of awesome. Not convinced? Just squeeze me. Awesome comes out.
- Just focus on plank. Wrong. As far as athletics go, the obliques are really the smarties. They like challenging tasks and learning new skills. In terms of the core musculature, by land mass, we are mostly obliques. (Lats are the broadest muscle of the back, and they can assist with stabilization when the arms are fixed, but technically, the lats are considered a Prime Mover. And they can do their job best when the core is effective at stabilization.) If you want to really increase strength, skill and fitness level – for *any* physical activity – think about the obliques. They mobilize and stabilize on every movement. They like to play. So punch, kick, rotate, twist, run at random angles, have fun.
- Don’t worry about the deep low abdominals. Wrong. The importance of strength here cannot be overstated. And worse, we tend to get weak there – and the lumbar lacks support and there is a cascade failure of compensation by other muscles to kick in – our thoraco-pelvic canister, aka tube, gets wobbly and our base of support unstable – eventually we can expect the shoulders to give out along with the rest. Deep low abdominal strength & control is usually the FIRST THING I fix in big strong guys. This is such a common issue that Studio T developed a generalized synergistic routine and nicknamed: The Hit It & Quit. First run some basic exercises to activate the deep low abs – fatigue them a bit so there is enough direct feedback in subsequent moves (pain and grunting, ha!) – then proceed through a series basic training forms with a solid lumbar that is supported by the deep low abs and gluts. With practice, the stronger form is written to muscle memory. Now we have an improved core by integrated strength training. Now the core is more effective at doing its job: dynamically generating a sturdy canister as a base of support. In short, lack of deep low abs throws off the lumbar and this cascades into all movements. It ruins a push-up, allows wobble in any athletic stance, compromises weight lifting form and leaves shoulders vulnerable to injury on every rep.
Test your Push-up to see how your deep low abs are firing:
Bonus Round of Myths
And last but by no means the least Myth, a Myth that Towers above all other Myths: 30 Minute Abs. If there ever was a commercialized fitness marketing load of Hoo, this is it. The core is meant to constantly dynamically calculate and control the body in space. Ground based crunches and fire hydrants for 30 minutes are nothing short of an insult. If the move truly is pure abdominals, we couldn’t do it for more than six minutes tops. Test it with a gymnastics hollow ab hold – arms overhead – and for a minute. Try it for two minutes. Even gymnastics ring competition routines, the apex of Abs, only last a few minutes.
Photo: Yang Wei, China
Thanks to the calisthenics movement, the rings are becoming accessible. So let’s give it a try. Here is a Studio T Pro Edition movement. Three rounds of 10 pikes on the rings. A total of about 3 minutes. Clap done. Go home and sleep like a baby.
Ring Pikes train dynamic core engagement and stabilization through the entire kinetic chain. With the requirement of focus and skill, this move trains neural patterns reinforcing the connection between the shoulder girdle and hips. Rather than encouraging lumbar torsion, this “crunch” form builds lumbar stability, flosses the sciatic nerve and releases pain-causing stiffness around the SI joint.
Not sure about those rings? Let’s try a plank form crusher for just 5 minutes. The following test is a 5 minute puke & die integrated core crusher if there ever was one. This is so well done, Studio T isn’t even gonna steal it and reproduce it. It’s just planks – but shoulder plank variations that are so productive its ridiculous. Deep bows of respect to Master Trainer Jeff. Make sure to do all his variations – there’s a biomechanical method to his madness in these variations. (Shoulder girdle and hip integration challenges – related to the rings pikes – but more athletically functional.)
This works best at the *end* of a workout – or as a short set in the beginning for muscle activation, depending on current strength levels – the core is needed for every training movement. Wearing it out early can impact core control for the rest of the workout and risk injury.
Mythbusted – Let’s Get Dynamic
And if you’re sick of planks (who isn’t), beyond oblique canoes, the general fitness industry won’t have much to offer by way of true oblique integration. Or core integration for that matter.
So where can we look for better core training alternatives? The martial arts and boxing disciplines are masters of core integration. Their training is designed to build a dynamic core capable of great strength, speed, precision, Vo2 Max and focus.
Dynamic, integrated core movement… Boxing Rocky Style Plyometric Push-ups
Yes these are risky moves. Lack of core integration and focus can damage connective structures on any rep. But Risk is our friend in training the core. It kicks off physiological processes that fire neural network generation and produce hormones for flow states. Training through risk teaches patience, discipline and resolve. It teaches by progression with testing and check-offs for advancement. The underlying biomechanics are complex, so for practical day-to-day training for “Ninja Routine” clients, Studio T Pro developed a simple cross-punch test, approved by boxing master Fahness Lutalo, to test for functions that must be in place for safe and effective dynamic training.
Studio T Pro Edition is dedicated to professional training using synergistic routines incorporating biomechanics into applied practice. We are on a never ending mission for excellence.
The Mission Is Underway. The Plan: Synergistic Training
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