Weighted vs Non-Weighted Core Workouts

If you are wanting to, say, build the biceps to their fullest potential the last thing you would be advised to do is grab a pair of two-pound dumbbells and perform endless repetitions. Do this, and you’ll most likely end up with elbow problems before you gain as much as an ounce of muscle on your upper arms. And think of all the time you’ll waste in exchange for minimal returns.

The same holds true for the muscles of the core. To fully stimulate any progress in size and strength, you’ll need to hit your core the same way you target any other muscle grouping: with moderate to heavy weights and reps in the 10-12 range. Yes, this means abs too.

Forget 50 rep sets of unweighted crunches and endless pelvic tilts. While great as a warm up or rehab strategy for those recovering from serious injury, such movements will not give your core the intensive stimulus it needs to super-compensate with increasingly more muscle and progressively greater strength. Instead, do the following:

Address the Fundamentals      

Before targeting the core with specific movements for specific areas, always place front and center a good selection of basic, heavy compound lifts. Besides allowing more weight to be lifted, and thus more pressure to be placed on the core (both direct and indirect), such movements incorporate multiple muscles, including much, if not all, of the core musculature.¹⁰

The basic function of the core is to stabilize the body (specifically the spinal column) when in an anti-gravity upright position or when working through various planes of motion.³ Whether throwing, kicking, running, jumping or lifting weights overhead, a strong core helps to maintain the structure of the body and assist with proper movement execution.

Conversely, a weak core will not only limit athleticism (including strength, speed, flexibility and power output) but may also invite injury.^{1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 17} Thus, it makes sense that the kinds of movements that work to enhance athleticism (i.e., heavy compound lifts) will also serve to strengthen the core.

When assessing the best lifts for maximal core strength and stability it’s worth noting that the core muscles also act to stabilize and protect the spine by limiting excessive movement (including extension, flexion, lateral flexion, and rotation) in multiple directions. Thus, the best core movements will, when executed correctly, create a degree of stiffness within the major muscles to ensure that the spine is held in a rigid position and is therefore protected against injury.^{17, 18}

In this regard, all exercises (specifically standing variations) are to some degree core movements and this is one major reason why a well-balanced training program remains a non-negotiable requirement when wanting to enhance athleticism and prevent injury from occurring.

A foundational principle of core training is resistance – both in terms of amount of weight lifted and movement restriction (i.e., correct range of motion and nothing more). As such, the most effective core training movements accommodate gradual weight increases to challenge the key core muscles while also featuring anti-flexion, anti-extension, and anti-rotation benefits to challenge the core to resist pulling one way or another.

Remember: it’s in the body’s resistance to breeching proper form that much of our core strength will be developed. Therefore, the proper execution of a broad range of basic movements should our first core-strengthening consideration.

The best compound core movements include:

• -Overhead barbell or dumbbell presses
• -Deadlifts
• -Squats
• -Bench Presses
• -Bent-over barbell rows
• -Farmer’s Walk (not strictly a compound lift, but nevertheless an effective multi-muscle builder and ultra-strenuous on the core)

Enhance Specific Core Movements  

Then there are the ‘core-specific’ movements that tend to be more effective at isolating the major core muscles. These include the v-up crunch variation, leg raise, plank, bicycle crunch, regular crunch, bridge and hyperextension (preferably while lying flat, as the machine version may aggravate the knee joints).⁷

While traditionally performed unweighted, each of these movements can be made more effective by including a degree of resistance. A weight vest is one effective strategy. Ankle and wrist weights also work well. For certain movements (all crunch variations, for example), a lighter pair of dumbbells may also do the job nicely. The key thing to remember is that, regardless of the kind of weight used, the resistance must be appropriate to the individual and not interfere with proper movement execution.

Key benefits to weighted core movements include: greater strength gains and more corresponding muscle growth; less body fat (particularly around the midsection) given that the more muscle we have the harder it will be for the body to maintain its fat surplus; a greater workout challenge to improve training adherence; ever shifting limits which force the muscles to work harder with each session; shorter workouts due to the intensive nature of added resistance (non-weighted movements mean we must work longer and perform more reps to get similarly appreciable returns).

So, while unweighted core movements performed with higher reps can and will produce great results, as with all forms of training progression, a movement must be made harder on an incremental basis to further challenge the core. Increasing the resistance remains the best way to honor this all-important mandate.

The best core-specific movements include:

• -V-up crunch variation
• –Leg raise
• -Plank
• -Bicycle crunch
• -Regular crunch
• -Hyperextension
• -Ab wheel rollout

Be Unorthodox

In addition to the primary inclusion of heavy compound and weighted core-specific movements are a selection of less conventional core builders which, when used judiciously, can complement a solid core training plan of attack.

The major benefit to including such movements (as featured below) is the extra challenge each provides; a challenge which forces the body to work through various unaccustomed planes of motion to forcefully target certain areas of the core that may not receive adequate stimulation via more conventional means. For example, while the basic abdominal crunch and deadlift hit the entire ab wall, the landmine anti-rotation movement exerts more direct pressure on the hard-to-target oblique muscles.

The best unorthodox core-specific movements include:

• -One-arm dumbbell bench presses
• -One-legged kettlebell deadlifts
• -Side plank cable rows
• -Landmine anti-rotation movement
• -Medicine ball slams

Building a solid core, as we have learned, is crucial for the overall structural integrity of the body as well as injury prevention. But even with an impressive core training plan such as the one featured below, the body (in particular, the skeletal system) will, over time, begin to deteriorate. This is where a good selection of joint health supplements can make a world of difference. The following supplement stack can be used to support the training plan below, to keep you in the training game longer and enable you to become stronger with advancing age.

Monday

Morning: Cardio: Bike, Stepper or Treadmill: 45 minutes steady state (maintaining a maximum heart rate of between 120-130 beats per minute).

Evening: Back and Biceps – perform program of your choosing, emphasizing unilateral movements (such as one arm rows/pulldowns) and major compound lifts (including deadlifts and bent rowing). Select from the above-listed movements.

Tuesday

Core Day (morning or evening)  

-V-Ups (with weight vest) SS with Hanging Leg Raises (with ankle weights or DB between feet): 3 sets of 15 reps per set

-Plank Hold SS with Ab wheel Rollout (with weight vest): 3 sets of 1-minute Plank Hold/12 reps of Rollouts

-Bicycle Crunches (with ankle weights) SS with Floor Hyperextensions (with weight vest): 3 sets of 12 reps per set (per movement)

-Weighted Landmine Anti-Rotation Movement (with barbell): 3 sets of 12 reps per set

Wednesday

Morning: Cardio: Bike, Stepper or Treadmill: 45 minutes steady state (maintaining a maximum heart rate of between 120-130 beats per minute).  

Evening: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps – perform program of your choosing, emphasizing unilateral movements (such as one arm dumbbell bench presses and one arm overhead presses) and major compound lifts (including bench presses and standing barbell presses). Select from the above-listed movements.

Thursday

Morning: Cardio: Bike, Stepper or Treadmill: 30 minutes of HIIT, alternating between 30 seconds moderate intensity and 30 seconds super-high intensity (maintaining a maximum heart rate of between 140-150 beats per minute during the high intensity phase).

Evening: Legs (Quads, Hams and Calves) – perform program of your choosing, emphasizing unilateral movements (such as one-legged curls and one-legged calf raises) and major compound lifts (including squats and barbell lunges). Select from the above-listed movements.

Friday

Morning: Cardio: Bike, Stepper or Treadmill: 30 minutes of HIIT, alternating between 30 seconds moderate intensity and 30 seconds super-high intensity (maintaining a maximum heart rate of between 140-150 beats per minute during the high intensity phase).   

Saturday

Core Day (morning or evening)

-Weighted Crunches (holding weight plate overhead): 4 sets of 12 reps per set

-Medicine Ball Slams SS with Bicycle Crunches (with ankle weights): 3 sets of 1-minute of Ball Slams/15 Crunches

-Ab Wheel Rollouts SS with Lying Leg Raises: 3 sets of 12 reps per set (per movement)

-One -Legged Kettlebell Deadlifts SS with Plank Holds: 3 sets of 12 reps per leg for Deadlifts/1-minute per set for Plank Holds

Sunday

Morning: Cardio: Bike, Stepper or Treadmill: 30 minutes of HIIT, alternating between 30 seconds moderate intensity and 30 seconds super-high intensity (maintaining a maximum heart rate of between 140-150 beats per minute during the high intensity phase).