Around the World Core Workout

Hard Core - Exercises to Strengthen Your Abs For Better Performance A strong core will allow you to keep optimal body alignment for whatever you’re doing (swim, bike or run), and this in turn will reduce your fatigue in the long run.

"If your core is weak, nothing else can be strong"

Sit-ups suck!
Yes... most core work sucks when your core is out of shape. I too used to hate doing this, but it's helped my swimming, biking and running immeasurably. So suck it up and make this a part of your routine (I'd recommend twice a week). Welcome to the world of a strong core and ripped abs.

Why is core work important?
Strengthening your core will allow your body to efficiently transfer force from the lower to the upper body and back again, thus ensuring that any force you exert to move your body forward isn't wasted in moving your body sideways, etc. A strong core will allow you to keep optimal body alignment for whatever you’re doing (swim, bike or run), and this in turn will reduce your fatigue in the long run (good form usually takes less energy than bad form).

"Around the world"
This set should be considered reasonably advanced. If you have not done core work before, then you may consider doing some basic crunches before stepping up to this workout. Before I describe each exercise it's important to remember the following 5 things:

1. As with anything new, introduce your body to these gradually. These will work your body in a very different way than you are used to, so take it easy!

2. If you aren't breathing while doing these, then you're doing them wrong.

3. Go slow. Speed is not important, and will usually lead to using momentum to cheat your way through the exercise.

4. Quality over quantity.

5. Do these with other people. It's great fun, and will keep you motivated.

I call this "Around the world" because it works all of your core muscle groups. There are 15 different core techniques to this routine - 3 for each side (the front goes twice). You'll start by selecting your interval. The total number of reps you will do in this routine is based upon the number you choose here x 15. So, if you select 25 then you will be doing 15 X 25 = 375 reps. For beginners I'd choose 10, intermediate 15, advanced 20-25, Elite 25-35. At the end, lay on your stomach for 2-3 minutes and gently come up into a cobra position to stretch your stomach muscles. Make this a part of your workout routine twice a week, and you'll be amazed at how much stronger you will feel come race day.

Core Set

1. Standard Crunch - Think about a string attached to your belly button & running through your body pulling your stomach towards the floor.

2. Knee-up crunches - Focus on keeping the small of your back against the floor even throughout the range of motion. SLOOOW. :)

3. Hip lifts - Keep your legs straight and don't let them rock back as your lift your hips. YES - I'm pushing down w/ my hands so I could hold this forever for the camera, but you should put your palms facing up! :) These are tough... don't speed through them.

4. Oblique crunches - You should feel your ribs pressing pinching into your side. Try not to fold forward, but rather bend up trying to get your elbow to touch your feet.

5. Side Plank Dips - Keep your body in a straight line (one plane) and keep the movement smooth and slow. Your hips should just touch (but not rest on!) the ground.

6. Oblique Leg Extensions - This not only works your obliques, but should also engage your piriformis & hip flexor as well. Don't let your leg touch the ground, and when the leg is fully extended your butt should be tightly squeezed rotating your leg out ever so slightly (this is the piriformis part).

7. Supermans - Each side counts as 1/2 of a rep. Your stomach muscles should be engaged when you lift up. Think about your arm and leg not only being pulled up, but also out. Hold it at the top for 2 seconds.

8. Bridged Leg Lifts - Each leg counts as 1/2 of a rep. Keep your butt down. You don't need to lift your legs super high.

9. Pushups - Keep your head raised and looking forward, and your body in a perfect horizontal plane. Your elbows should bend back, not out to the side.

10, 11, 12. Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6, but do the other side.

13. Heel Touches - Each heel touch counts as 1/2 of a rep. Keep your shoulder blades off the ground, remember to breathe, and make sure your feet are far enough away from you that you have to really reach to touch the heel.

14. Bicycle Crunches - Each leg counts as 1/2 of a rep. Each twist w/ leg extension should take you long enough to say "one one thousand" to yourself, no faster. Try to keep your shoulder blades off the ground.

15. Half Up Twists - Sit up, put your hands on top of your knees and then lean back until your arms are straight. Cross your arms in front of you (each hand holding an elbow) and start twisting! Each side counts as 1/2 of a rep.

Full Metal Jacked

Get Full Metal Jacked like a Navy SEAL

Any Navy man can try out to be a member of the legendary SEALs. But three out of four will quit before the end of the 11-week weed-out program, the most physically grueling in the military. (The program motto: “The easiest day was yesterday.” Damn.) The goal is to increase a recruit’s pain threshold, so each drill assaults multiple muscles and pushes endurance to a level most will never know. “We train the hell out of the recruits because on any given day we need guys who can do 12-hour dives, climb aboard a ship, and fight till it’s ours,” says Alden Mills, a former SEAL platoon commander. Skip your next spin class and do this total body, holy-shit-I-want-to-die workout ripped from the SEAL training manual. Good luck, ensign.

Build Explosive Power Step 1 Place two markers 20 yards apart. From the first marker, do walking lunges. On each lunge, keep your front thigh parallel to the ground. At the second marker, do 10 push-ups. Sprint back and repeat four times. Step 2 From the first marker, do standing broad jumps: Hop forward; repeat. Don’t move your feet after landing, as it relaxes your muscles, a negative in SEAL training. At the second marker, do 10 wide push-ups. Sprint back and repeat four times. Step 3 From the first marker, do scissor lunges: From the squat lunge position, leap forward and switch legs in midair, rightfully earning the title of Twinkle Toes Terminator. At the second marker, do 10 close-grip push-ups. Sprint back and repeat four times. Next, take a five-minute break. This is only the beginning.
Steel Your Core Step 1 Do 30 reps of classic crunches. Then flip over and do arm haulers: Lift your head and chest up and stick your arms forward like a fallen drunk who thinks he’s Superman. Then sweep them to your sides without touching the ground for 30 reps. Step 2 Do another 30 reps of crunches, but this time straighten your legs. Flip over and do 30 reps of arm haulers, but keep both feet several inches off the ground. The pain you feel now is good, apparently. “It lets you know you’re still alive,” Mills says. Thanks! Step 3 Finish this round with 30 reps of combo crunches: From the crunch position, bring your knees and elbows up to meet at the top of the movement. Unfold. Now do 30 arm haulers, but lift your legs and knees off the ground this time. Now get up, recruit, and prepare to run!
Boost Your Endurance Step 1 From the first marker, do a half-speed run 20 yards to the second. Jog back, then do a three-quarter-speed run. Jog back, then do an all-out sprint. Dry your tears and repeat the circuit two more times. To keep your heart rate up, don’t rest in between, but try to “recover” on the jogs. Step 2 Place markers 40 yards apart and do the first circuit three times. And remember: “If you don’t feel like you’re starting to die and/or puke at the end of the first few, then you’re not putting up,” says Mills. Step 3 Yep, you guessed it—place markers 60 yards apart and do the first circuit three times. Made it this far? Well done, ensign. Diesel-ness accomplished