Quality Over Quantity W/ No Counting In Ab Wheel Rollouts

Lately, I have been working on doing Rollouts with the Ab Wheel for several minutes a day. I don't pick numbers or go for some kind of record, hell I wouldn't even attempt to try anything even half of what Bob Backlund has done. The way that has worked for me is set a time and do as many quality reps as possible within that time frame. I don't count the reps or go crazy fast, I just breathe and go.

This is a pretty damn good thing cause it gives me opportunities to challenge my core without killing myself or make the muscles ache like I just had a bad burrito from Taco Bell. It keeps my strength up and is a quick micro workout. It's really only 1 of maybe 2-3 methods of core training I do. The quality of the reps is far more important than numbers cause if you're going so far, how many will you do before it even remotely becomes failure? 

It's more than just a core workout, I utilize enough tension (which I'll get to in a second) to hit the arms, shoulders and back to where every single rep is completely controlled and focused. In the realm of tension, I focus on the muscles needed to make the reps work and not just flex and go, I grip the handles hard enough as well so it becomes an Isometric Exercise in the process from that POV. Not looking to build six pack abs or have such a tiny waist, Anna Kendrick can wrap her hands around but to condition and toughen the muscles to where they can take a hit. 

When you flip the switch and stop counting reps, you may find you can do more than you thought as opposed to just be fixated on a certain number. If you have a goal in mind, go for it, find that sweet spot with a number or hit a solid rep/set scheme but if you hit a certain number that you normally can do and don't feel much, you're still getting after it but you're hitting a wall on progress at the same time. If you're so inclined, try the method of setting a timer and do reps, start with a minute and see what you do. The idea isn't to go to failure but to hit enough to where you're feeling it but can still go for reps that mean something beyond just repping it and making Speedy Gonzales slow. Be in control of the movement.

The older I get, the more I'm learning to understand that quality over quantity becomes a necessity. Sure doing 100's of reps of whatever has it's perks and you're in great shape, however; if you can't control or stay within range of the balance and strength needed after a while, where does the number of reps really end with? Don't get me wrong, doing 100's of Step Ups and/or Squats is awesome to do but there comes a time where you learn to pay attention (not always on form per se) to how you move. Nobody is going to have the most perfect form (unless you're an elite gymnast) because not everybody will move the same exact way as the next person. The idea is to train so you can minimize injuries, the ego stuff has its moments but overshadowing it can ruin your chances of being able to do things in the long run. 

Focus on strengthening the body that will make it easier to get out of bed in the morning, to bend down to pick things up, play with the kids, have endurance for both the bedroom and able to do tasks like in Manual Labor or going up a flight of stairs without getting winded. Make the session count, don't rush it, half ass it or work yourself into the ground. Keep being amazingly awesome. 

4 Minute Abs & Iso Core Training

Working the Core Muscles (Obliques, Transverse, Rectus, Pelvic & Spinal Erectors) can be difficult to build muscle on especially in the lower areas or even developed a trim style musculature. Some of the best bodybuilders in the world had trimmed abs like Maxick, Frank Zane, Otto Arco and others. Other men and women aren't always built to develop that trim like quality. Ever notice Dwayne Johnson doesn't actually have six pack abs yet has a decently strong core in order to do what he does? 

Core Training isn't complicated and is a lot simpler than many make it out to be especially those influencers that use every supplement you can think of or use the juice. Having a six pack can be awesome to an extent but it doesn't always mean its strong and can take a hit or even help balance the body in various positions. You can have a strong core by carrying things, work various breathing patterns for posture, dead hangs on a pull-up bar, working the rotational muscles when you chop wood or swing a sledgehammer. There's even the common sit-ups and crunches. Your Core is (literally) the center of your entire body and keeping it strong, limber and healthy both internally and externally, can help keep the rest of the body strong.

Gymnasts have some if not the strongest abs in the world because in order to perform the way they do, they need to control everything especially that area at all times because going loose even by a smidge can mean life or death. Many strongmen today have strong cores as well despite the gut size but in order to lift all that heavy shit, they need complete focus on the muscles at hand otherwise again it could mean life or death. So is it really wise to do thousands of crunches or hold a plank for extremely long periods of time? pardon me but fuck that man LOL.

You can get a very powerful set of abs just by doing simple things using low skilled movements or in the case of this article, Isometrics. One of the very best movements for targeting the abs hard is using the Ab Wheel like the standard one or the Power Wheel or as recently, the Ab Carver Pro because of how you can really target the sides and middle. I would spend as much as 3-5 minutes on this thing and I'm good to go. In the case of Isometrics, finding solid exercises whether overcoming, yielding or hybrid will hit your abs with a vengeance with the right focus and intent on the core muscles. 

Personally, most of my Iso Ab Exercises are usually towards the end of a workout to really get in there and dial it up. Normally I would do a Dead Bug Sit-up Isometric, Side Bends, Hollow & Arched Body Holds but more recently I've been testing out a Tabata Style Ab Iso Workout I learned from Matt Schifferle on his youtube channel where you take 3 exercises (one of them where you do side to side so technically it be about 4) and do two rounds of them for 20 sec on and 10 seconds off which builds up to 4 total minutes of the workout. You can check out the exercises in the the highlighted link. It may be 4 minutes all together but it can be tough and can be used as a warm-up, a finisher or even a micro workout to save some time and requires no equipment at all. Talk about 4 Minute Abs.

One of the GOATs of all Ab Exercises in my opinion is the Gymnastic Bridge. This exercise alone when capable, targets the core like very few can and combines the elements of building functional strength, stability, flexibility, agility and a whole other level of Ab Training. Just holding it is hard but you can put your focus into it, it becomes a challenge but in a bad ass fun way. You can check out my video of it below. 

All in all, it doesn't take much time to kick your ass in Core Training. Just a few minutes a day and you're golden. If you choose to do high volume training like with an Ab Wheel, that's awesome, it builds a strong core and make you practically punch proof but the Isometric Exercises for the Core can make a great impact and train you to control your body in positions you're not normally in. Be strong, toughen up your core and kill it in your training. You got this and be amazingly awesome.