
‘Get in Shape’ #7: Strength & Flexibility - Don’t shirk your core muscles. - wumi
http://davidadewumi.com/2008/10/17/get-in-shape-7-strength-flexibility-dont-shirk-your-core-muscles/
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gaius
Powerlifters are probably not the best people to go to for form, especially
not as a newbie, they tend to have a "whatever works" philosophy. You do what
they do, you'll get hurt. Some will have great form of course, but as as
newbie, how would you know? Also powerlifters tend to have very unbalanced
physiques. You might see some dude who can bench 500lbs but can't do chin-ups.
He's well-adapted for his sport, he's not an all-round athlete (nor does he
want to be).

Bodybuilders do tend to have good form, but probably aren't doing the
exercises that you want to do. A lot of gym equipment is specifically for
bodybuilders. They use leg extensions and cable crossovers specifically to
build symmetry and definition, for example. Bodybuilders typically aren't
interested in "functional strength" (e.g. they are training _for bodybuilding_
, not to be better at some other sport). Again they are not, nor are they
interested in being, all-round athletes.

Basically, what I'm saying is, if you want gym advice, first you have to find
people with the same goals as you. If it's just "get fit" you'll need to be
more specific in order to ask the right people the right questions.

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lemonysnicket
_Powerlifters do 'whatever works'..._

huh?

In order to do olympic lifts, makes sense to go to a powerlifter -- who do
have good form.

~~~
gaius
Powerlifting and Olympic lifting are different sports.

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pchristensen
I'm having core issues now that my legs are stronger from biking. I bike
faster and harder but now it's my abs and lats (oddly enough, not my lower
back) that feel it at the end of a ride.

~~~
wumi
Peter,

Out of curiosity, what kind of biking?

Bikers (myself including when I was riding pretty religiously) are notorious
for getting great workouts, but never hitting the core muscles (something
about being hunched over, I guess, doesn't improve core muscles. :) )

While I'm not why your Lats are feeling it (honestly that sounds more like a
bike fit issue) -- perhaps you've been doing a lot of climbing and pull hard?

Anyways, try the 8min ab workout or some variation. Easy way to pack in core
fairly quickly.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWjTnBmCHTY>

~~~
pchristensen
It feels like my abs get a good workout, but for my lats it's mainly a tweak I
keep getting between my left shoulder blade and spine. Also, my core muscles
get a lot tighter after riding than my legs do. I don't have great bike
posture because my big ol' belly pulls my back straight instead of properly
arched up.

I bike 3.25 miles on city streets to my commuter train stop. There's one hill
that's short and steep on the way up and long and gradual on the way down,
with the rest being mostly flat. I usually bike pretty hard because I'm
running late.

