In the late 1960s, when Arnold Schwarzenegger would famously walk up and down the sun-torched beaches of Venice, Calif. to an army of gawkers and international photographers, it seemed as if the desire for incredible physique and musculature was at its peak.
In reality, this intense longing for perfect body symmetry harkens back to the ancient Greeks who idealized the perfect muscular body, as Simon Goldhill describes in Love, Sex & Tragedy: How the Ancient World Shapes Our Lives.
Fast forward 2,000 years. You’d think mankind would have optimized working out to its full capacity, right? Even with all this history and evolution of exercising, science suggests, for the most part, that people are still remarkably inefficient – and potentially unsafe – with their exercise practices.
For instance, a study published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal in 2013 suggested that the optimum workout length is about 20 minutes. The trick? Low rest between sets – proof that the quality of the workout matters much more than how long it lasts.
Because the average person does not have hours upon hours to train, workout enthusiast Dr. Chris Kolba, a physical therapist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, has some tips on how to safely advance your workout efficiently. As It turns out, pure body weight fitness exercises may not be as useful as advertised.
1. Change Up Your Abdominal Workout Routine
“I don’t recommend situps for anyone. Why risk injury when we know of so many other great alternatives?” says Kolba. “And we know without a doubt repetitive flexion leads to bad things in the spine.”
Historically, situps are among the most popular workouts of all time, but they may not be that effective – or safe – for you.
“The core is an area that all forces are transmitted through, either from the ground up or the top down,” Kolba says. “If the core is weak, you will not be able to generate and transmit forces appropriately, which leads to compensation and eventual breakdown. Most traditional exercises came from the bodybuilding boom of the past, where everything was isolated and worked.”
Outdated, he means, due to the new knowledge of how abdominals are integrated within the body.
“Fast forward to today, where we know so much more about the body, its muscles and how it actually functions against gravity, ground reaction forces and momentum for improved sport performance – not just looking good on stage or in a T-shirt,” says Kolba. “Most people think the core is just the abs. They don’t realize the core is the abs, the lateral and posterior trunk muscles, and the hips. We also now know through research that doing repetitive flexion movements of the spine – i.e., situps – leads to disc degeneration, spinal joint breakdown and muscle imbalances that set you up for injury.”
The idea that situps are not good for your body is not new. About 10 years ago, a report was published through Harvard Medical School, detailing how alternatives to sit ups such as planks are much more effective, and cause the exerciser less risk of injury.
“Great alternatives that will effectively work core and spare your spine the damaging forces include planks, bridges, side planks, bird dogs, farmer carries, waiter walks, to name a few.”
2. Optimize Your Workout
While these alternatives are helpful to know, it doesn’t do much good if they take too long to complete or add too much time to your workout. While the Health & Fitness Journal study stated that a 20-minute workout is ideal, completing any workout routine perfectly can be challenging, frustrating and time-consuming. Don’t stress yourself out, as there is no hard and fast rule of the length for a workout, Kolba says, and it should be tailored to the individual.
“How long a workout takes depends on many factors. What are your goals, how much time do you actually have, how old are you, what is your training background, etc.,” Kolba says. “In general, a good general workout is probably about 40-45 minutes, but could be shorter or could be longer.”
Some ways to increase the efficiency of your workout include utilizing a combination of muscles, not isolation.
“Using multi-joint lifts allows you to work many muscles in one exercise and is more time-efficient. Getting proper instruction is important to prevent injury and to design the most efficient and effective program for your specific needs,” he says. “You want to ensure the intensity, frequency and duration of your program fits your specific needs, and the exercise selection maximizes your ability to achieve your goal in working out. In general, a workout should be specific to your goals; include multi-planar movements; include pushing, pulling and vertically loaded movements; be performed with good form; and be void of situps.”
3. Take Proper Care of Injuries
Even with efficient time length, proper form and safe exercises, injuries can happen. Instead of pushing through, Kolba recommends a proper timetable for recovery to ensure you can get back to exercising as soon as possible.
“When you are injured, it’s important to consult with a qualified professional who can assess you and identify your imbalances and faulty movement patterns,” he says. “Often, the area of pain is not the contributing factor, it is just the area that was overused to compensate for another link in the system that is not working to its full potential. They can also educate you on proper form and modifications to allow you continue to exercise, but avoid aggravating movement/exercise.”
Chris Kolba’s alternatives to situps
Plank: In the push-up position, hold your body weight
Photo courtesy of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
up by your elbows rather than your hands. Hold your body in this position as long as you’re able.
Bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent and arms at your sides, palms down. Using your legs rather than your back, push your lower back and buttocks off the ground. Be sure not to rest upper body weight on your neck.
Side plank: Similar to a plank, lie down on your side with your feet stacked on top of each other. Rest your top arm on your side, and use your bottom arm to lift your body off the ground. Hold your body up using either your hand or elbow on the ground.
Bird dog: Get on your hands and knees with a flat back. Then, raise either your left arm and right leg, or right arm and left leg, keeping the raised arm and leg parallel to the ground. Continue to look down rather than forward to ensure you do not strain your neck. Keep your hips and shoulders square, rather than tilting your body to one side.
David Allen is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.
RELATED READS
