GlibFit 4.0 – Abs

by | Dec 4, 2022 | GlibFit | 180 comments

It’s sweater weather so this seems like a good time discuss the verboten subject of abs. Yes, Glibfitters they are important, and they need to be worked as a distinct muscle group. The aesthetic benefits of good abs are self-evident. The functional benefits of strong abs aren’t.

If you play a sport, any sport, you need strong abs. In nearly any sport, you need to generate force through your limbs. You do this by your core stabilizing your spine. Most often it requires both your upper and lower abs to contract at the same time.

Strong abs will improve your posture. Ideal posture places the least amount of compression on the back as possible, resulting in minimum wear and tear on the spine. Bad posture occurs when your pelvis tilts forward, causing an exaggerated spinal curve. Strengthening the core will correct bad posture by distributing weight evenly throughout the body.

Strong abs help prevent lower back pain. Strong core muscles maintain your balance, help you avoid awkward movement, and prevent unwanted strains or sprains. They also allow your body to transfer force and stress through your muscles rather than your spine, which significantly reduces your risk for back pain.

The muscles in your back keep vertebrae properly aligned and stabilize spinal joints. Abdominal muscles maintain proper spine curvature and a neutral pelvic tilt, which is important for preventing back pain. When you contract your abdominal muscles, pressure inside your abdominal cavity increases. This activity lifts weight and pressure off your spine.

If you are thinking about doing a bunch of sit ups to build ab strength, don’t. Sit ups involve a lot of other muscle groups and can easily aggravate your lower back. There are much better options. A few thoughts before we get to them.

First, form is critical. That’s true with any kind of training and it’s especially true with your abs. Do your ab exercises properly so it’s actually your abs doing the work.

Second, if proper form means fewer reps or less time, then stick with proper form. Per The Slight Edge, keep doing the right thing consistently. Your gains will surprise you.

Third, your abs need to be trained regularly but not extensively. That means doing ab training for five or six days a week but not for an extended period of time.

Fourth, if you are doing a proper ab exercise and it hurts your back, then check your form. If that’s not it, then add regular stretching to your routine. A lack of flexibility can impinge on ab training.

AthleanX put together a terrific ten-minute routine with beginner and advanced options. Don’t worry, it’s not ten straight minutes. For the first five minutes its 50 seconds on with a 10 second rest followed by five minutes of 40 seconds on with a 20 second rest. I have done this workout and will vouch for it. Do it consistently and you will reap the rewards.

Off-topic: If you are sending out Christmas cards, then remember to take your photos now.

This week’s music.

About The Author

Chafed

Chafed

I'm looking California but feeling Minnesota

180 Comments

  1. Sean

    *contemplates looking around for my ab roller*

    Nah. Nevermind.

    • westernsloper

      I am a big fan of the ab roller. I need to hit it hard after this weekend. My sloth was epic.

  2. Sean

    @Mojeaux, from the now dead thread.

    That pistol is the thicc version. Probably not good for tiny hands. There are similar styled pistols that are thinner.

    Here it is next to my current carry pistol:

    https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/zPuuz1qnT0mnV6Z9Vs96mA.t9V_4HuVND1lKPS3xVILiA

    Which, despite being much less mass, it is enjoyable to shoot.

    Here they are stacked, and side by side holstered. As it was said, we are in the age of micro 9s.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Reliable? I had a Kimber from twenty years ago that was a jam o matic. Took me a long time to get rid of it because otherwise quite nice.

      • Sean

        Yes. Runs great on everything I’ve fed it.

        Good night sights (stock) and superb checkering.

        I fondled a S&W CSX last week. OK feeling carry gun, no factory night sights. Pass.

    • db

      I love my Micro 9.

      Did you have the slide relieved or is that a factory cut?

      • Sean

        All factory. No mods.

  3. Sean

    Checked that Athleanx video. Gay.

    Can’t I just do a couple planks and call it a day?

    • Chafed

      Better to be gay.

      • Sean

        ES is doing bbbj’s or something.

      • EvilSheldon

        It’s only gay if you make eye contact.

  4. The Late P Brooks

    Hanging knee-ups.

    • Annoyed Nomad

      I do those as part of my lower body workouts. Up to two sets of 25.

  5. EvilSheldon

    I’ve started doing BJJ. Highly recommended.

    • Mojeaux

      Overriding philosophy of BJJ: All fights go to ground.

      • Spudalicious

        Except that stat comes from law enforcement stats, where the goal is to go to the ground.

      • Mojeaux

        Did not know that. Back when the internet was newish, I was on an American Kenpo board (Ed Parker’s), and we got inundated by a bunch of BJJs spewing silliness about karate’s inability to win against BJJ because karate likes to stay on its feet.

      • Spudalicious

        We had some BJJ practitioners come to fight full contact in an international Kuoshu(Kung-Fu) tournament. They got their asses kicked. If your knee touches the ground, that’s a point. They kept trying to shoot the legs.

      • Warty

        Let’s wrestle.

      • Spudalicious

        Piffle. Piffle I say.

      • EvilSheldon

        Ehh. My first intro class was literally all standing.

    • LCDR_Fish

      ES – without a TV, how do you watch blu-rays of the classics? Picked up 3 Cronenberg discs before Thanksgiving – criterion 50% discount, etc.

      • EvilSheldon

        Blu-Ray player plugged into my laptop. Which isn’t working very well these days, because my laptop speakers are shot to shit. Building a new PC is on my list of honey-dos. (Honey, in this case, being me.)

      • LCDR_Fish

        In all seriousness, a brand new large tv is pretty cheap, and you can plug in the blu-ray, tablet, etc for easy HDMI streaming.

      • EvilSheldon

        I’d have to invest in a ceiling mount too, considering what I’d mostly use it for…

    • Tundra

      Cool!

      Are you new to it?

      • EvilSheldon

        Very new. Today was class #2.

        I’ve done some stand-alone combatives classes that included some grappling, but I can tell they’re not gonna be real useful.

    • Warty

      Good, good. Enjoy getting your ass kicked constantly for the next few years while you learn the basics. Try not to fuck up your ears too bad. It gets more fun the longer you train and the more you know.

  6. LCDR_Fish

    A few years ago I learned that I need to do some “sun worshippers” / “Downward dogs” stretches every day at the end of my workout before I finish my cool-down stretches. Without those, there’s a tendency to pull my back or neck or something just pulling out of the parking lot (happened multiple times in the past).

    • Tundra

      Good ideas. I’m a big fan of hanging, as well.

  7. Tundra

    Chafed!

    Yep, abs are important but so are all of the muscles that support the spine. I would argue that if you are doing the big lifts (squats, deads, OHP, chins), the isolated ab work is probably unnecessary.

    Sit ups involve a lot of other muscle groups and can easily aggravate your lower back.

    They suck, especially for anyone who has ever had any back tweaks already. Also not a fan of back extensions for the same reason.

    GlibFit was better this week. Lifted three times, food was 90% and alcohol was reigned in. Need to up my cardio this week.

    Steel Panther is (are?) hilarious! I’ll bet they would be fun to hang with.

    Have a great week, Glibfitters!

  8. Lackadaisical

    Vikings better good the Jets off. Silly is this close

    • Tundra

      Every week.

      Cousins can’t throw today.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, he looked pretty rough today. White looks like has a lot of promise, which I wish he didn’t.

  9. westernsloper

    A smoked tritip is resting and the broncos almost won. It is a good day.

    • Sean

      Yum.

    • Tundra

      Soon.

      What did you do for a rub?

      • westernsloper

        Salt and pepper. Salted two days ago and open air rested in fridge. Peppered prior to smoking,

      • KSuellington

        I use two or three different rubs for tri tips, but the coffee rub is always a crowd pleaser. Ground coffee, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder and brown sugar. I don’t really measure, but the coffee, salt and garlic are the primary ingredients.

      • Tundra

        Woot! I was hoping you’d show up. Thanks, that’s what I’m doing tonight.

      • KSuellington

        Right on T! Enjoy! I love me some tri tip and with the insane prices of beef I’ve been doing that cut a lot more. Sear for 4 minutes per side on super high heat and then indirect lower heat till you get to desired temp (135 for me).

      • Spudalicious

        I smoke tri-tips to 132. Takes about 90 minutes and gives it a sweet kiss of hickory, then a reverse seer.

      • KSuellington

        That sounds like a good method. One of these days I need to get a smoker. I dig the reverse sear when I cook ribeyes on the stove with the cast iron. An hour and change in the oven at 225 and then drop in a smoking hot cast iron for 45 seconds per side. Melt some butter, garlic cloves and rosemary and toss on top. Salad on the side.

      • Tundra

        Yep. The smell is killing me. Gonna reverse sear shortly.

      • Tundra

        It was stupidly good.

        Thanks, KS!

      • KSuellington

        Right on T, glad you enjoyed!

      • db

        $20. Same as downtown.

  10. Tres Cool

    I just woke up to get something to eat before I go back to bed, and I read the previous article:

    Mojeaux on December 4, 2022 at 12:03 pm
    I have very small hands and a very small purse and not a whole lot of mammary material to hide a bra holster.

    STOP TURNING ME ON!

    • Mojeaux

      Tres “Old Reliable” Cool

      • Mojeaux

        That’s purty.

      • hayeksplosives

        Indeed!

      • EvilSheldon

        The good female shooters that I hang with carry Glock 19s, Glock 48s, and SIG P365s.

        I won’t shoot an aluminum-framed .38 J-frame unless death is the only alternative. It’s way too much cartridge for way too little gun. Shooting one is not unlike hitting yourself in the hand with a mallet. The 6-shot .32H&R J-frame is a lot easier to hit with, and you get an extra round in the gun as a bonus. Sadly, they’re not easy to find.

      • Tres Cool

        I know what I like.
        You know you had me @ motorcycle/snow/dress.

        #GoBengals

  11. Sensei

    Now this is glibfit!

    In the scuffle, she injured six deputies, biting one on the arm and breaking the skin, and kicking another in the groin, Rivarde said. They were treated there by paramedics.

    All the while, Epstein shouted that the deputies were going to lose their jobs or end up in jail, boasting that she was related to powerful people and that her uncle is a friend of former President Donald Trump, Rivarde said. Chris Christie did not return messages left Friday at two telephone numbers associated with him.

    Seven deputies were needed to handcuff Epstein to a wheelchair, so that she could be moved to the airport security office, Rivarde said. She continued to shout vulgarities and try to bite deputies, he added.

    https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/chris-christies-niece-bites-officers-at-new-orleans-airport/article_592e7ee2-728d-11ed-9b91-9345a9dda9b2.html

    And work comp and tack on charges of course.

    • Lackadaisical

      On spirit airlines? No way.

      Also, isn’t this what tasers/billy clubs/actually being fit are for?

      • Tres Cool

        Would this have been news if (((she))) wasn’t related to Lard Lad Christie ?

      • Lackadaisical

        I doubt it, but I’m pretty upset there was no video to go along with the story. What’s the point?

    • EvilSheldon

      I got twenty bucks that says that Shannon is a nervous flier who took a double dose of her prescription anti-anxiety meds, then maybe put a few drinks on top when the drugs didn’t seem to be working.

    • Sean

      No mug shot. 🙁

  12. The Late P Brooks

    I was just looking at door frame chin-up bars. I’m not sure the walls in this glorified doublewide are strong enough.

    • Mojeaux

      Are you warm?

  13. Fourscore

    My lower back exercises consist of getting up out of a recliner. I know a lot about a slightly irregular pelvic tilt.

  14. Spudalicious

    I do abs every workout, right after a warmup stretch.

  15. Yusef drives a Kia

    My back looks like a drunken Jenga tower but with lots of walking and stretches, (thanks GT)
    I can still walk straight.
    My abs look great due to posture,

    • Tres Cool

      My delicate abs are protected by an insulating layer of fat.

      TALL CANS!

    • Fourscore

      I’ve spent a lifetime walking in circles. A few more years probably won’t make much difference.

  16. DEG

    Sit-ups suck. Do planks instead.

    My weight went down big from last week. I suspect last week was an anomaly – water retention or something else. I took some body measurements. I’m thinner in the middle, but only just barely. Same size elsewhere, which is interesting given my shirts fit tighter in the sleeves and across the shoulders.

  17. Penguin

    Damn. Deleted my comment. Gay guys; hetero women, you might like this. Also, straight guys who like beautiful music. Lucas Imbiriba: Malagueña

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpRgR-tZEpk

    • Don escaped Texas

      straight guys who like beautiful music

      Jimi poster
      Fender tweed
      Dark Side poster
      SG

      • Penguin

        I sold my SG; bought a Les Paul. Still, an SG is a good guitar.

    • Mojeaux

      You had me at “Lo.”

    • Sean

      That’s fantastic.

  18. Grumbletarian

    OT: Thanks to TPTB for helping me reset my password.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Are you warm?

    Oh, yes. I wear sweatshirts, but that’s more because i’m a cheap bastard than a lack of insulation.

    the (30+ years old) windows are a huge vector of heat loss, but the structure itself seems pretty well insulated.

    • Mojeaux

      Okay. Was worried about you there for a bit.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    The Chiefs scored a touchdown while I was washing my dishes. I better pay attention.

    • Mojeaux

      And then Kelce fumbled.

      • juris imprudent

        0-3 against Cincinatti and 20-2 against the rest of the NFL – that is some weird shit.

      • Mojeaux

        I know. It’s like the Bengals don’t exist for us. Rivalry? No. Bengals? Who?

        AND YET WE ALWAYS LOSE TO THEM.

        Maybe it’s time to acknowledge their existence.

      • rhywun

        The Buffalo Bills thank you for your service.

      • Mojeaux

        Um. You’re welcome?

        😂

      • Gender Traitor

        To be fair, SW OH isn’t used to the Bengals being contenders either.

      • Raven Nation

        He’s had a tough couple of weeks.

    • rhywun

      Nice.

  21. Lackadaisical

    First place Bills? I’ll enjoy this while it lasts.

    • juris imprudent

      And some things that don’t change in the NFL – Green Bay beats Chicago.

    • Penguin

      When is the last time the Bills were good? When OJ was still a hero?

      • rhywun

        /Jim Kelly hardest hit

      • Penguin

        Damn. I’d forgotten the 4 lost SuperBowls in the 90’s. As a Red Sox fan, I should be more open to remembering frustrating failure.

        Then again, the Sox failed in the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s because of your Yankees. Also, Bill Buckner. Whatever, enjoy Bills dominance while it lasts.

      • rhywun

        your Yankees

        I don’t follow baseball so have at ’em. If I were into baseball, I’d probably be a Mets fan. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • Penguin

        Just trying to tweak a NYC sports fan. And anyway, 2004 healed any proverbial wounds.

        FWIW, my football team (Bucs) sucks this year, so I absolutely don’t care if the Bills sweep it all. Go upstate NY!

      • MikeS

        Wait…he’s not anymore?

        I keed, I keed!

      • Penguin

        Hey Mike, tell us all about the Vikings’ history of dominance…

        /smartass.

      • MikeS

        When I gave a shit about football, I was actually a 49ers fan. So yeah, if you wanna talk dominance, let’s dance.

      • Not Adahn

        Stup up and eat your Flutie Flakes.

  22. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    It wouldn’t be the Vikings if it wasn’t a nail-biter

    • Tundra

      Kirk needs to pull his head out of his ass and complete she passes. Red zone D saved him today.

  23. Mojeaux

    I rewatched Willow a few weeks ago. It’s a comfort movie.

    I just finished (barely) the first episode of the new series. I want to poke my eyeballs out and box my own ears until my eardrums burst.

    Why they gotta go do me like that?

    • Lackadaisical

      I really liked the original Willow as a kid.

      Good to know not to check out the new one.

    • Penguin

      See also: new “Star Wars”, new “Star Trek”, and sundry comic book hero movies.

      • Mojeaux

        I now feel the pain.

      • Penguin

        I remember taking a date to that movie, and I remember it being good, and laughing at its’ humor on our way out. That’s about it. I am sorry that your memories were stomped upon. We hold a few things close in our heart; to have them violated for no reason* is wretched.

        *Woke bullshit qualifies as “no reason” for me.

      • rhywun

        I am a huge Trek and to a lesser extent Star Wars fan and I never expected to see the day when there is endless output and I couldn’t give a shit about any of it but here we are.

      • db

        That’s a pretty close description of my feelings on the topic, too.

      • Penguin

        Right?! RIGHT?! It’s as if they were following a Master Plan to piss off as many fans as they could. HOW do you fuck up so badly?

        Sorry for the ALL CAPS, but this really pisses me off.

      • Mojeaux

        We have discussed this before, but DS9 was the only Trek I could tolerate. A bunch of competent but imperfect beings with questionable morals was much more interesting than the sterile STNG.

      • Penguin

        There’s a reason I satirized TNG. I loved it when it first came out, even though the first season was a garbage dump. It was still cool to have an ST franchise going.

        But the darker territory that DS9 treaded was groundbreaking. Wasn’t a big fan of the mysticism, though. Take the good with the bad.

      • rhywun

        DS9 was the best Trek.

        But honestly, the piles of new stuff could be even better but I don’t care because there is just too much of it.

    • Tundra

      Thanks. Life is too short for building bad nostalgia.

      Gotta watch the original again soon.

      • Mojeaux

        The best thing about it is that Val Kilmer escaped that mess.

        So speaking of him, Maverick is how you shout out to nostalgia.

      • Tundra

        I don’t mind admitting I loved that movie. I thought Val was perfect.

      • Mojeaux

        Val Kilmer is just flat awesome.

      • Penguin

        Like Cary Ewes (?) in Princess Bride. You have to get someone who can pull off that role. Both those guys did.

      • Penguin

        Cary Elwes. I’m surprised he didn’t get a ton of roles in romantic comedies after that.

      • Mojeaux

        I know him from Men in Tights and Dracula.

      • Penguin

        The Crush?

        Oooh, young Alicia Silverstone.

        I probably should’ve noted in my last comment that I’ve never been a big fan of RomCom, which would severely limit my knowledge of such films. Oops.

      • hayeksplosives

        I love Cary Elwes as “Despereau”, a gentleman thief, in Psych. Total rip-off of Chesterton’s Flambeau character, with some Raffles thrown in.

  24. Brochettaward

    After a hectic week traversing the Firstiverse, inserting key Firsts and removing seconds to improve the Firstline, I am drained. I can barely muster the energy to type. I need a blowjob and a cigar.

    • MikeS

      Brochettaward is Bill Clinton?

    • Brochettaward

      My body is breaking. In 6 months, I do not believe I’ll be able to walk. My hands shake when I type. But The Great Firster has replaced my decaying body with a new way to see. Firstvision. I no longer see the world in colors or waves of light. I only see gradated Firstness. I now have The Great Firster’s eyes. A time may come when I may no longer even be able to physically First., yet…

      Let me tell you, Glibertariat. The world is so beautiful now. No longer is it the mundane world of seconds punctuated by periodic Firsts; largely my own. I now see the First in every object, sentient or not. Do you wish to know how much First exists inside a rock or your favorite chair? I can do that.

  25. PieInTheSky

    Meh any heavy compound work will probably work your abs plenty… you can do some extra ab work but there is no need for extensive training. Ascetically its the fridge not the gym.

    Mornin glibbies

  26. Penguin

    Mornin’ Pie. At least it’s above freezing in Bucharest. Ce faci?

    • PieInTheSky

      meh work from office… you?

      • Penguin

        Ironically, considering your comment, looking for a work-from-home position. So meh, too.

  27. hayeksplosives

    I’m listening to the audiobook “War on the West” by Douglass Murray.

    Great book, spot on. But so depressing I can’t go on with it longer tonight. Have to switch to something more light hearted.

    When the Glibs early morning crew gets active, if I’m awake, I’ll join you.

  28. robodruid

    Insomnia strikes at the craziest times.

    • Sean

      Like, at night time?

      • robodruid

        Is it nighttime after or just early morning?

  29. Sean

    Mornin – from the best time zone.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, Sean, ‘bodru, hayek (if you’re still awake,) U, Roat, and DEG!

      Finally finished sewing the first of six replacement sofa cushion covers last night. Came out OK, but it fits SNUG! It was all I could do to wrastle the solid squares of foam inside. I hope I don’t have to wash that one for a LONG time. Gonna make the others a little bit wider and longer if I can confirm that I have enough fabric.

  30. Sean

    *checks Gunbroker*

    Whew. No drunken bidding last night.

    • Sean

      Hey.

      • UnCivilServant

        Gotta go to the office. 🙁

      • Rat on a train

        Somebody has to check if the homeless haven’t moved in.

      • UnCivilServant

        That’s the other office complex. I’m in the one the homeless don’t get near.

      • Gender Traitor

        Are the razor wire-topped walls to keep them out or to keep you in?

      • UnCivilServant

        Its nothing like that. This location just has lethally-unfriendly roads surrounding it that people without cars have a hard time traversing, so there’s no good panhandling spots, no food sources, and no heat in the winter. Downtown there’s indoor public spaces, gobs of pedestrian traffic, and ample sources of food year round.

    • Rat on a train

      I’ve been to NYC twice. That is two more than enough.

      • Gender Traitor

        I’ve been there three times, but not for many years (and one time was just for an evening, driving down from Scranton.) The one thing I’d like to see again would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art at Christmastime.

      • robodruid

        I would like to visit the 9/11 memorials.

      • Gender Traitor

        During my first visit, I went to the top of the WTC, so it would be fitting to visit the memorials.

      • UnCivilServant

        Lets see. I was there with me dad as a tourist (We saw the Intrepid), I was there for a job interview (didn’t get it, thankfully), and I was there three times because my flight started/ended at JFK.

        So, I’ve been there five times.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I delivered antique furniture to a penthouse in Manhattan back in the ‘80s, got to go in through the back and use a service elevator and everything. Place fucking sucks…

    • Rat on a train

      Third parties? Republicans? I can believe either these days.

    • DEG

      After-hours parties, mostly illegal gatherings held in unlicensed homes, warehouses and restaurants, sometimes with booze sales, strippers, dance music and cover charges, give party-goers a chance to let loose into the early morning hours.

      Which Glib is in Harrisburg?

      PLCB spokesman Shawn Kelly said restaurants and bars are permitted to serve alcohol until 2 a.m., while private club licenses permit service until 3 a.m. Those venues caught serving after-hours face citations, and could ultimately lose their liquor licenses when it comes time to renew, he added.

      Fuck the PLCB.

      Partly to blame for the surge in late-night parties he suspects is the high cost of liquor licenses, pushing people to look for ways to skirt around the ordinances and throw parties for profit. On average, a liquor license in the state can cost between $15,000 and $500,000, depending on the location.

      The PLCB is a racket.

      “If you go to a warehouse and a fire starts and they have all of the doors chained shut so they can control access and everybody dies. Everyone will say this is a tragedy, and it is. But It was avoidable because it never should have happened,” he said.

      The cult of safety rears its ugly head again. I seem to recall nightclub fires in legal nightclubs. Oh, and then cult of safety changed the regulations and no one ever died in a nightclub again. Heh.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        15 to 500 grand? An easy and obvious solution would be to reduce or eliminate the charge.

      • Rat on a train

        Is it like Maryland where they cap the number of licenses per district making the market for licenses expensive in some areas?

      • Trigger Hippie

        “What, me worry?”

        /Great White Pyrotechnics Crew

  31. DEG

    Mornin’ all. Gym time. Interview later today.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good luck with the interview!

  32. Not Adahn

    Work started at 0600 EST this morning. Blargh. Not enough time to go to the cafeteria before the morning ops meeting.

    • Gender Traitor

      Ugh. Is this some sort of test?

      • R.J.

        Starting at a leisurely seven this morning. Six is a horrible time to start.

    • UnCivilServant

      Bummer.

      Unrelated, I got three different emails about steel this coming weekend, and I don’t know which day it is. I have a civil service exam this weekend and don’t know if the two conflict.

      • Not Adahn

        Sunday the 11th.

      • UnCivilServant

        Thank you.

        I don’t know if I’ll be there yet.