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Stop Doing Sit-Ups And Crunches! These Are The Exercises You Should Be Doing Instead

December 19, 2016

Gregory Scott is a trainer, a calisthenic expert, and an all around athlete and lover of fitness.

Scott explains in this video that we're all taught that sit-ups and crunches are the key to having a flat stomach and nice abs. Scott says those exercises are a complete waste of time with minimal results.

Instead you need to do exercises that focus on strengthening your core. Your core is your foundation and where every single movement is initiated. It's also critically important to have a strong foundation to progress upon to avoid pain down the road (lower back pain).

All exercises in this video can be done as a set and reps scheme or as part of a circuit (a series of exercises performed back to back to back with no rest in between).

Sets & Reps Example - 5 sets of strict 20 second hollow body holds. Rest 30 seconds between each set

Circuit Example- 20 second plank followed by 15 seconds of the weight shift planks followed by a 10 second side plank on each side. Do this circuit for 5 rounds

Every exercise here can be scaled to decrease or increase the difficulty. Add weight to the planks if they become too easy. Put a ball on your back during the weight shift planks to force the movement to be strict.

Elevate your feet during the side planks to make it more difficult. Get creative!