Clancy Ross
I would like to commence this chapter of the series by thanking the various authorities for the valuable information I have obtained from their books. I am giving a list of these so that the reader may obtain them from the local library or purchase them.
"Aspects of Physical Therapy" by O.L. Huddleston
"CLINICS" (periodical) April 1946.
"Physio Therapy Review" (periodical) March 1949
"Functional Testing and Training" by R.L. Bennet and Hazel Stephens
"Physical Therapy Aspects" by R.L. Bennet and Hazel Stephens
"Rehabilitation, Re-Education and Remedial Exercise" by Olive G. Smith
"Kinesiology of Corrective Exercise" by Gertrude Hawley
All knowledge is relative.
The poet Kipling said some years ago in verse that it "depends on the point of view." When we witness an occurrence from different vantage points, we are more than likely to see something which the other fellow a few yards away misses. We know what the other guy doesn't, and what we know is related to time, condition and WHERE as well as other factors.
Now, I don't intend to indulge in a philosophical discussion here for there is a reason why I have commenced the abdominal chapter in this manner.
When the ordinary man talks about his abdomen, he is more than often not concerned with how many stitches he collected when he underwent an appendicitis operation. The bodybuilder thinks of the abdomen and the muscular structure, the obliques, the Pouparts ligaments [inguinal], the rectus muscles and DEFINITION. The doctor regards the abdominal region in purely medical terms, the combat of constipation, visceroptisis [a prolapse of or sinking of the internal organs below their natural position], the action of peristalsis. He is not so much concerned with muscularity as he is with HEALTH.
If you think that abdominal muscularity and abdominal health are not synonymous terms then you have another think coming. There are a heap of fellows possessing muscular abdominals who are far from healthy in that region. I know one famous bodybuilder who has a bowel movement once every three days, and there are as many men who have no definition in the "tummy" region to speak of yet who are completely healthy. Actually, the two conditions are inseparable.
One should strive not only for muscularity in the abdominal region, but also for health. The old plea is what I am making, for INTERNAL strength as well as external power.
The extent to which some people get confused can be very aptly illustrated by something which has nothing to do with weight training. In . . .
London's Hyde Park
. . . they have a special section where soap box orator's can get up, curse the King, give the government a good slagging over and generally tell everyone where they get off. Of course the orators get heckled and sometimes the proceedings take on anything but a peaceful complexion.
There is one soap box which is always the scene of strife. The man who speaks from it is a gentle old man with long white hair and a clear, wax-like skin. He wears a black cloak-like cloak and a homburg hat. He is known as the "Shorthand professor" and his particular brand of hallucination is that if the entire world adopted his system of shorthand, the millennium would arrive in short order, and peace on earth and goodwill toward men would reign.
His hecklers can make no head or tail of what he talks about and RESENT it. So they divide themselves into two bodies -- the throwers of paper darts and the lighters of fires. The former as indicated, throw darts of paper, and the latter pick up the paper darts and, placing them in the old boy's soap box, light them and smoke him out and away
To the professor, shorthand means peace and brotherly love, while to his audience shorthand is a quick method of recording words and the professor's treatment of it is crazy, and both the professor and his audience are right up that well known dirty creek.
Now THAT'S an add-on. Thank You, Charles Smith!
For many years now, bodybuilders and weight-trainers have had some mistaken impressions about abdominal exercise and foremost among these mistaken impressions is that complete stomach muscle development can be obtained from the various forms of sit-ups, movements in which the exerciser lies on his back and sits up or else places himself on an incline board and again assumes the "sit up" position.
Actually the sit up movement is motivated by the "Psoas" muscles (1950), muscles which pull the body to the thighs. They are attached to the lower spine and this is my chief objection to the sit up, it causes or CAN cause a mal-posture -- lumbar lordosis or a FORWARD curve to the lower spinal column.
The abdominal muscles ARE involved in a minor way by the sit up, but the Psoas group are the ones which pull you up.
During the time I have been active in the weightlifting world, I have had hundreds of men write to me about the exercising of the abdominal region. They have of course told me they did sit up with little or no results. The main reason why they underwent a period of period of "tummy" training was because they wanted to reduce a bay window [great term that's fallen out of usage there]. They all cried that the bay window was still there, only a little lower and they now had BACK ACHES.
I well recall attending a show at a YMCA. The champion sit up King performed throughout the show raising his trunk about 5,000 times. What struck me as significant [hang on a second, sounds like this was the guy's profession. Out there on 52nd Street, sit-upping away like crazy, tin cup, small, quickly-written sign on a piece of scrap cardboard, "Situps For Spare Change." Nowadays, it'd be "Situps to Save the fill-in-the-blank country currently under siege," pictures of one wailing women, two crying babies and a three-legged dog (with eye patch) on a small piece of scrap cardboard].
What struck me as significant was that he had NO abdominal definition and he also had a PRONOUNCED forward curvature to his lower spine giving him a nice little "pot" to his lower belly.
The function of the abdominal muscles, the ones on the front of the body, is to flex the trunk on the PELVIS. Just try this experiment:
Shit on the floor. Raise your drawers. Sit on the floor. [No stain, No Gain. Perfect place for a laundry detergent advert. Contact Ditillo2 Mission Control for arrangements and by-the-click payout; we just LOVES this here Iron Game so much, don't we just. The "business" end of our operation can be contacted at RunningDogsOfCapitalism.com. We also do light yardwork and as always, situps for spare change.] Raise your knees and spread them well apart. Clasp the hands back of the neck and point the elbows forward, then bend down and IN, trying touch the elbows as close to the crotch as you are able. If this doesn't produce a greater contraction of the rectus muscles than sit ups, you are an anatomical freak. The ultimate in abdominal development, definition and health is not to be gained by the orthodox methods of exercising, but by the unusual [ears perk up]. Where the conventional forms of exercise fail, the unconventional succeed. Where sit ups are unsuccessful and side bends nonproductive, the Latissimus machine comes into its own and provides you with a whole new range of attractive and sensational muscle movements. A program can be arranged with the lat machine which will take care of almost every muscle in the abdominal region -- the sides, the upper and the lower abdomen, and will build up the important internal abdominal health as well as the more superficial abdominal external musculature. Without further discussion, I will outline a series of LAT MACHINE abdominal exercises. You will find it necessary in some of the exercises to detach the 5-foot bar and replace it with a broad band of canvas or rope, of sufficient circumference that the head can pass easily through it. In the exercises that require iron shoes on the bar, a training partner will be needed to help you with the fastening and unfastening of the shoes.
Exercise 1
Place a bench under the bar and seat yourself on it. Pass the loop of rope or canvas over the head and hold onto it with both hands so that the knuckles are up and the backs of the forearms to the front. Tuck the chin down on the upper chest and slightly round the back. From this position and without moving the legs pull down making every effort to touch the ELBOWS into the groin. Return to upright position and repeat. Use a weight your can handle for 10 reps and raise to 20 reps by gradually increasing the number of repetitions per workout. 2 sets of reps will be sufficient.
Exercise 2.
Sit on the floor [be grateful you're regular. Thank your perception of the Creator while experiencing the joys of movement with whatever version of prayer suits your temperament. "Hey, Big Guy, Tiny Guy here. Thank You for this motion, and this body my spirit is in for now.] with the legs stretched straight out. Your training partner can pull the rope or canvas handle down to you or you can do that before you sit down, so that you are all ready to begin when you extend the legs in the sitting position. With the hands grasping the band of rope or canvas as in the previous exercise, and with the chin tucked down on the upper chest, pull down at the same time TWISTING the trunk so that the right elbow touches left groin. Return to upright position and repeat, then alter the twist of the body so that the left elbow touches the right groin. Start off with a weight you can use comfortably for 10 reps and 2 sets. Gradually work up to 2 sets of 20 repetitions before increasing the weight.
Exercise 3.
Place a bench under the lat machine and lie face down on it so that hte hips are right on the end of the bench. Get one partner to hold your legs on the bench, and with the bar held at the back of the neck, pull the trunk down until your head is an inch from the floor, then return to upright positron end re: Pete. [I'm training myself to write A.I.-style so as not to wind up unemployed in the future. Oh Brave New World, please hear my plea, and by the grace of your loving robotic arms find a place for me, eh, men.] ALWAYS keep your chin tucked down onto your upper chest. As in previous exercises commence with a weight you can make 10 comfortable reps with and 2 sets. Work up to 2 sets of 20 repetitions.
Exercise 4.
The next lat machine movement is for the obliques. Use your band of rope or canvas in place of the 5-foot bar [4-foot acceptable, but don't lower the length of it too-too much; always seek to raise the length of the bar and try harder in many ways and through many endeavors]. In this exercise, a kettlebell handle will do just as well as the rope band and speaking of kettlebells, apparently that particular emperor with no clothes has gone the way of all BS fads peddled to the gullible masses, Comrade. Try to remember, the kind of September . . . remember the gurus who peddled it, never forget who they were, and respond accordingly with the opening and closing movements of your wallet. What the hell is next, for God's sake! Carrying some absurd large log around by the sea while filming yourself? How on Earth some of these bozos manage to keep a straight face while videoing such garbage is beyond me. Rest assured, they're laughing all the way to the . . . come back from the brink of all this everchanging hooey, if you please. Or not. Your call. Call out the BS and stop being such pathetic fanboys. "Hi! Been a halfwit for the last two decades, and still love your stuff. Question: I don't have a large log. Will two smaller ones be acceptable? Utter nonsense; better yet shout out rationally against the peddling-for-pay of this garbage, resist all manner of such flotsam at all costs, and for the love of God will you let us enjoy the seaside in peace and take your "seriousness" elsewhere! Burn Logs. Lift Stones. Audio on . . .
Stand under the machine and reaching up, pull down the weight with either the right or left hand until the upper arm is alongside the body. Stand with the legs fairly wide apart and bend over to the side AWAY from the lat machine. Don't allow the body to travel sideways and don't lean back. The entire movement of the trunk should be to the side only. Pull down with ALL YOU HAVE, be PROUD of that fern in your home gym, motherfuckers, hold the position for a short count of three then return to upright position and repeat. Start off with a weight you can comfortably handle for 10 reps, 2 sets and work up to 2 x 20, and no, moron, I don't mean 20 sets of doubles.
Exercise 5.
This movement is designed to pull down the bulge right over the diaphragm and increase the definition of the upper serratus muscles. Stand at arms' length away from the lat machine and grasp the bar keeping the bar at arms' length. The legs should be apart and firmly braced. Keeping the arms and trunk in a straight line, pull down on the bar and continue past the right angle formed by the legs and trunk until you are an inch from the floor, then return to upright position and repeat. [Sounds much like a personal ethical tragedy nearly avoided . . . back away from the attraction of the addiction, return to upright position and repeat, this time without slipping]. Throughout the exercise, the arms and trunk MUST be held in one straight line. The grip should be shoulder width and the chin must be held down on the upper chest. Start off with Step One, um, with a weight you can EASILY handle for 10 reps, 2 sets and work up to step 12, er, up to 2 sets of 20 repertitions.
Exercise 6.
Here is a movement which will develop the little known Pouparts ligaments of the lower abdomen [do I have to tell you again what those are! See above. Get it right this time! The beatings will continue until European religious beliefs are increased, Tonto.] Raise the legs under the bar and get your "training" partner to fasten your feet to the iron boots [say what? what exciting sex-madness have we here!]. Place your hands under your hips so that the hips are raised and supported by the hands and arms. This racy, near-risque illustration can be yours, along with all others from the The Tight Tan Gay Delights Catalog, first Mr. Olympia nudes included, for the low, low, price . . . The damned illustration explains this exercise, you perverted idiot! From this position, pull down on the bar with the feet and legs until the toes almost touch the ground back of the head. Return to commencing position and repeat.
Take care not to bend the legs during the movement and keep them, ahem, stiff, allowing movement to take place at those sexy hips only. This exercise is also good for straightening the spine -- lordosis -- and reducing an accumulation of fat around the hips and buttocks. Start off with a weight you can handle for ten reps, 2 sets and work sweatily up as in the other exercises to 2 sets of 20 repetitions.
Exercise 7. Paging exercise 7 . . .
The final lat machine abdominal exercise is another excellent movement for reducing the bulge of the lower "tummy" and acting as a corrective movement for any lower spinal curvature. The use of ironic boots on the lat machine are needed again. Lie under the machine with the logs, no, legs extended straight above, and then pull down bending the thighs at the knees and hips. Pull down until the upper thighs touch the abdomen, hold for a short count of three then return to the original position and repeat. Commence with a weight you can handle for 7 reps, 3 sets and work up to 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Great to be back, some changes still taking place, all good, heading for better.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
No comments:
Post a Comment