Tip of the Week : Becoming Aware of Your Transverse Abdominis

Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via X (Formerly `Twitter`), the blog; and the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.

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There’s an awful lot more to abdominal work than exercises like the humble crunch. Everything from Louie‘s infamous ‘Stand-Up Abs‘ to the many, many varieties of the squat. Before doing any of that, however, it helps to understand a little about the various muscles being worked. For that, it’s over to Kat ‘The Mighty Kat‘ Ricker. For starters, from Kat’s superb article Specific Training for the Transverse Abdominis: Belt It In, here’s a quick way to learn to feel what your TA is doing :

Begin by becoming aware of this muscle. Sit upright on a bench. Have a partner face you, place both of his hands on your shoulders, and gently push you backward (gently!). Your goal is to maintain your upright position, not allowing your spine to extend/your back to arch. Your TA will kick in to achieve your goal.

Good stuff.

Unlock Your Hips, Unlock Your Squat

I get a lot of questions regarding the impact of ‘unlocking your hips‘ on heavy squatting. Rick Kaselj goes into it in plenty of detail in the ‘Unlock Your Hip Flexors‘ program; and I’ve also posted a brief video below which demonstrates/explains some of the exercises.
Both (working with Ryan, and Rick’s program) are highly recommended. And as always, we love hearing your feedback – if you sample any of the above exercises or the ‘Unlock Your Hip Flexors‘ program, we’d love to hear about it.

Exercise Of The Week : Thick Rope Recline Pull

From Zach Even-Esh: The picture says it all. If you’re looking for something a bit different, grab a length of thick rope and try this. It’s more difficult than it looks.

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Incidentally, if you’d like to get in touch regarding this or any other aspect of strength, you can contact me here. Look forward to hearing from you.

Fitness Reading/Listening For The Week : ‘Heat Check’ (by Stephen Curry, Dell Curry)

It’ll come as no surprise that we discuss a lot of fitness-related books, courses & podcasts; on this site as well as the various networks noted in the sidebar. Dell & Stephen Curry’s ‘Heat Check’ is a sports biography in the form of a podcast series/audiobook, told by both Dell & Stephen Curry. Interesting. Incidentally, I’m always looking to add to the ‘books to read‘ list. If you’ve come across something which you’d love everyone else to check out, drop me a line. There’s also a list of our all-time fitness suggestions over there. Dive on in.