Sit ups

[Dianna]

Ok, I have no strength in my abs. We do sit ups where you are flat on the floor and you sit up without bending knees or using arms, I can't even do one. I know come Dec when I belt test those are done, with other exercises that Sensei has everyone do at the start. I have been doing crunches and regular sit ups(only can do with feet under the sofa). What do I need to to do to strengthen my abs? I try to make sure I do this twice a day, some days I only get in once. I do sets of 30 about 3 times. Any advice would be great. I hate being in class when we are warming up and not being able to do the situps. Drives me insane.

[yamesu]

-Plank (hold for at least 30sec, or until failure).

-Reverse plank (feet and shoulders 6 inches off floor - same hold time as above).

-Kettlebell swings.

-Burpees.

-Kicks.... lots and lots of kicks engaging the abs.

Twice a day is too much for abs. Your not getting in good recovery time.

I only do dedicated abs max twice a week...

I do this or similar as dedicated abs workouts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgS_4XkKyo4

[Hawkmoon]

-Plank (hold for at least 30sec, or until failure).

-Reverse plank (feet and shoulders 6 inches off floor - same hold time as above).

-Kettlebell swings.

-Burpees.

-Kicks.... lots and lots of kicks engaging the abs.

Twice a day is too much for abs. Your not getting in good recovery time.

I only do dedicated abs max twice a week...

I do this or similar as dedicated abs workouts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgS_4XkKyo4

Ditto!

What Yamesu said!

Some more stuff to consider!

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/a/NewCore.htm

http://uk.askmen.com/top_10/fitness_top_ten/53_fitness_list.html

[Dianna]

Planks I am doing, but not reserve so will do that. Will have to look up kettlebell swings and burpees.

Good to know I am doing them too much. Was what my husband suggested, now I get to tell him he was wrong LOL

Thanks for the links, will check them out.

[Hawkmoon]

Cool!

One thing that came to mind was a telling off I had some weeks back regarding situps!

Crunches - I lift only my shoulders up and tense up. (To work the upper abs)

'Sit ups' - I sit up to about 45-50 degrees for the abs (generally), higher than this does little to nothing for you other than move your hips.

'Full sit ups' - all the way to the top and back again, and so the telling off I received!

So I don't do them anymore!

Leg lifts are always good, best for the lower abs, no doubt about it.

Leg lifts around an obstacle (a chair or stool) from vertical lower to a side, do not touch the floor, lift to vertical and lower to the other side, repeat.

You can do them till you fail, then rest 24hrs at least!

A big 'do this always' is rest no gain if the muscle is not rested, all you do is burn muscle tissue not build it.

Kicks as Yamesu said are great for lower abs, do do these, aim for at least a chudan height. (Not sure if you have a 'still leg kick/kearge but do that.)

kick straight legged for as many as you can manage, round Up to the nearest 10.

Swap legs do the same, but aim for the same total of your fist leg.

Now go back to the other leg do the same kick as Uchi repeat as before swop and then finally repeat but as Osoto.

The different leg movement will help as much as the shear volume of kicks done!

[Dianna]

Cool!

One thing that came to mind was a telling off I had some weeks back regarding situps!

Crunches - I lift only my shoulders up and tense up. (To work the upper abs)

'Sit ups' - I sit up to about 45-50 degrees for the abs (generally), higher than this does little to nothing for you other than move your hips.

'Full sit ups' - all the way to the top and back again, and so the telling off I received!

So I don't do them anymore!

Leg lifts are always good, best for the lower abs, no doubt about it.

Leg lifts around an obstacle (a chair or stool) from vertical lower to a side, do not touch the floor, lift to vertical and lower to the other side, repeat.

You can do them till you fail, then rest 24hrs at least!

A big 'do this always' is rest no gain if the muscle is not rested, all you do is burn muscle tissue not build it.

Kicks as Yamesu said are great for lower abs, do do these, aim for at least a chudan height. (Not sure if you have a 'still leg kick/kearge but do that.)

kick straight legged for as many as you can manage, round Up to the nearest 10.

Swap legs do the same, but aim for the same total of your fist leg.

Now go back to the other leg do the same kick as Uchi repeat as before swop and then finally repeat but as Osoto.

The different leg movement will help as much as the shear volume of kicks done!

I do a lot of kicks. Every day through out the day, or I will never get them right. When I do them, for every 10 I do with my right leg, I do(or try to get to 20 with my left since it is not my dominate leg)

When you say "still kick/kearge" I am guessing(and totally could be wrong), meaning, just standing and kicking? If so I do that a lot to work on form. If I am not getting in the right number of chambers and feet where they should be doing them them fast, and mix with other movements won't do me any good. Find it harder to do them just standing and slow, I can sure feel it when it is done.

[Harlan]

I believe that DOING karate is the best way to get good at karate...and that the fitness level comes hand in hand.

Meaning: I think the supplementary exercises that we've inherited in karate were targeted for fit males, born out of a desire to be accepted in the 'progressive education' environment of the last 100 years. Also, the idea that getting good at sit-ups by doing sit-ups is totally screwed up.

Sit ups are a way of TESTING one's core strength...not important in and of themselves and don't have any relevance to one's knowledge and ability in karate. As a female, an older female living in a sedentary society and having pushed out a couple of kids, I think it's short-sighted to attempt to fit any fitness paradigm that doesn't take this into account. Good way to get hurt. Start with being able to accomplish one sit-up and end with being able to do 10...what is that...like 1000% better? Just saying: keep a clear purpose of WHY you are doing things and best use of time, body, energy, and money.; training smart is more important than training hard.

Personally, I suggest doing knee kicks. 'Hiza-geri.' Hundreds of knee kicks, thousands of knee kicks, accelerating speed as the knee comes up, and as high as possible, and using the abdominals (don't 'cheat' by pushing off the floor harder). I never saw anyone disable another person with a sit-up (or a push-up for that matter)...but a good knee kick is your bread and butter in karate.

Also, I'm a proponent of kobudo as a fitness regimen. Using a good bo (not a weightless toothpick) on a regular basis will increase cardio, core, legs, and upper body (particularly hard area for women).

Edited October 2, 2013 by Harlan

[AdamKralic]

have you ever tried partner sit ups? You and your partner are both on your backs facing opposite ways. Legs are bent as normal and feet interlock with your partners calves. (they do same to you) You sit up at same time and clap hands with each other at the top of the situp.

To me it seems both harder and easier...harder in that you tend to go a bit faster and you have to keep legs locked...easier in that someone else is kind of giving you motivation to go at a certain pace.

[Hawkmoon]

...When you say "still kick/kearge" I am guessing(and totally could be wrong), meaning, just standing and kicking? If so I do that a lot to work on form. If I am not getting in the right number of chambers and feet where they should be doing them them fast, and mix with other movements won't do me any good. Find it harder to do them just standing and slow, I can sure feel it when it is done.

almost!

Mai Keage - is a stiff leg kick using the whole leg as if one solid piece. The knee does not bend.

Take a long stance (formal stance) In my ryu of Karate, Kyokushinkai this stance is called Zen Kutsu Dachi,

(other systems may have a different name.)

It looks like this:

http://www.karatetest.com/kyokushinkai/10thkyu/zen-kutsu-dachi-25.htm

The kick, well this is a Yoko Keage: (easier to see the 'stiff leg movement')

http://www.karatetest.com/kyokushinkai/7thkyu/sokuto-yoko-keage-72.htm

The host site is:

https://www.karatetest.com

Its a good site as it covers Kyokushin karate the art I study, I use it as a reminder of what this or that is.

The important point is the movement from the full formal stance to the high kick, so you were close but its the whole movement rather then to just kick that is important here.

[Evil Dave]

Fitness testing, always an interesting discussion topic... Situps ~ straight leg situps are extremely hard and hard on the body, no arms well that's normal. In my experience some people will never be able to do a full situp in their life! That does an excuse for you to stop trying!

Keep practicing and keep the variation of ab / core {yes they are different} exercises mentioned here and from other sources {your dojo, Google, etc.}. It will all help improve your ab / core strength and functionality. Because of their job in our daily lives you can train your ab muscles daily, though I wouldn't go for twice a day. Keep it to a 15-20 minute ab / core routine once you've warmed up the body.