Spinal Safety First

Your first goal should be to build a strong armor of muscle surrounding your joints. Focus on anti-movement first (aka bracing yourself) then work up to the movement-based core. Start with the most overlooked muscles because they are the ones that will give the best boost when strengthened.

During workouts, you may find that specific exercises are easy, while other ones are very challenging, that is OK and highlights the workout movements that are in the most profound deficit for you as an individual. When you find a movement like this, focus extra on executing quality repetitions with proper technique to speed up the process of improving.

I think everyone should start with NON-MOVING core work -- before movement core. Isometric means not moving, just muscle tension. Not only is it suitable for durability, but it also increases maximum strength. Plank, side plank, hollow body, crunch hold, etc.

What matters most for your core muscles is the duration of contraction. The longer the better, so try to draw out your reps -- make them take longer so your core is squeezing for more seconds.

These are postural muscles are supposed to work for a long time during our daily movements.

Think about it like this: Your core muscle group (every muscle from collar bone to knees on the front AND back of your body is a core muscle) has one priority above all others--that is to keep your spine straight and safe. This is achieved with muscles tension and your brain is the overall commander of this. So the brain monitors how the tension in muscles is affecting the spine. Your primary ab muscles have to contract tightly to keep your spine straight while other muscles (legs, chest, etc.) generate their tension for a given movement. Your brain regulates this tension to keep the spine safe.

The benefit to what I'm talking about here is that stronger abs can increase your Deadlift, squat, press, etc.

For example: if your hamstring's tension during a deadlift would cause the pelvis to shift and the spine to be compromised, your brain is automatically limit the contraction force of the hamstrings to a level that doesn't compromise the spine.

If your core isn't strong, your brain will never contract other muscles (the movers) as powerfully as they could contract.

Then, when you have strengthened your abs and can 'feel' them contract; start practicing contracting them during full body movements in your workout. This way, you'll be working your core indirectly all the time. This makes for great results because you'll have so much Time Under Tension during your workouts.

Additional Tips to “get abs”

First, you will need to be lean so that only a thin layer of skin and other tissue covers the ab muscles. Being lean makes them visible — no way around that.

Then you should also work to increase the size of those muscles to make them more pronounced.

The most important thing in training for abs is to make sure you're squeezing your muscles as tightly as possible. You have to choose to squeeze at max effort even though it's tougher and harder, and you'll get more tired more quickly. You're working much smarter, though, tapping into the biology of your muscle fibers.

• Hollow Body Hold: https://youtu.be/tRawu5sQ2BI - a great place to start because the abs have to work hard, but the spine is flat on the floor. Lots of ways to adjust the difficulty as you get stronger.

• Hollow Body Rock: https://youtu.be/RrtrpZGrf5c - the harder version of HB Hold. Progress to this once you can do the Hollow Body with your feet just off the ground AND the back still flat on the floor.

• Flutter Kick: https://youtu.be/1F3Xiirrghs - stay tight like the Hollow Body Hold, but now you have to fight the forces from the feet moving

• Super Plank: https://youtu.be/cGzigDTdf_4 - planks must be done with the spine just as straight as it is in the Hollow Body Hold. The concept of contracting 'Super' tight by squeezing as tightly as possible should be applied to all core training.

• Super Side Plank: https://youtu.be/y6wIzHN_Tmo - everyone needs to do more side planks. Be as tight as possible rather than just tight enough to stay up.

• Foot Elevated Plank: https://youtu.be/dqEHyxnbcxQ - picking one foot up off the ground will force your abs to work to resist rotation

• Leg Lifts: https://youtu.be/ZWYtA6VS5kQ - keep the low back flat against the ground while your legs move at the hip joint only (knees stay straight)

• Dead Bugs: https://youtu.be/tiWvIRSNR24 - advanced version of leg lifts. Great to practice both the same-side and opposite-side variants.

• Sit-Ups: https://youtu.be/Wfj9cmCzIb4 - with an important note in this video for protecting your spine while you do these

• Crunch: https://youtu.be/C8e8LI6GTk4 - A traditional core exercise (good if done correctly!). You only need to rise as high as demonstrated in the video.

• Reverse Crunch: https://youtu.be/XpBqnSKqyxA - super tough if done correctly. A great compliment to regular crunches.

• Bicycle Crunch: https://youtu.be/A4d-mJunZ7A - a good one if done, making sure not to twist the spine. Make it harder by lengthening out the other leg as you touch your knee to elbow.

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