So what’s the 200 situps story about? This hidden message changed my thinking about exercising in general.
Back in the day old school martial artists would spend hours doing the same repetitions on a certain exercise or technique.
I remember once being in an elite group training the on the fitness and conditioning side of things, as you need stamina if you are competing.
It wasn’t uncommon to drop down into a situp position and pound out 200 situps broke into sets right off the bat.
I’ve always looked up to my dad in the martial art and fitness world as he knows his stuff and has taught me so much in my training on and off the mats.
One day i got back from a hard training session and there was my dad sitting reading a book. I explained to him our fitness exercises we were doing and said about the 200 situps we had to pump out.
The next thing i knew he put down the book and said how doing 200 situps was fine but in the end you will be just the same as the others with strength in your core.
He had explained how i needed to mix things up.
“Don’t expect different results doing the same things over”
He showed me a few of his ab routines he knew would do the trick. All i could say was after about 20 reps i could feel the difference already in the core working harder than usual.
So what’s the take away from this 200 situps story…
When you exercise make sure you mix it up a little. You need to surprise the body with tweaking the exercises you do otherwise your body just gets conditioned to the workout you perform and to will hit a rough patch in your training.
I still like situps as they really condition your abs tight, but you need to not over do it with them. It’s all about smart training, and that’s the approach i now teach people around the world.
It’s about building up your core strength.
Bruce lee was well known for his abs, but bare in mind that he had an incredibly strong core, especially when he would hold static poses.
Just remember that the abs can take quite a lot of hard training to them, so make sure you mix things up a little to shock them.
Here is a video exercise demonstration of a quick combo move i love to do, which will help you burn fat and stay in shape all without any equipment or gym membership.
Start with 10 reps, then countdown the reps until 1. It's a reat little challenge and fun for your family and friends to get involved.
All the best,
Richard Huntley