Whether you are new to workouts or have a long-term love for the gym, your body has a muscle group that can build or break your fitness abilities — your core. A strong core is the foundation of balance and stability, and it can help you build muscle mass more efficiently and mitigate potential injuries.
Whether you like morning or evening workouts, heavy strength training or light weights, it is important to work on your core. And one of the best ways to strengthen your core muscles is to gain weight. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the benefits of a weight-bearing ab workout and share some of our favorite exercises to try.
# 1 Improved muscle mass
One of the benefits of an abbey workout is improving muscle mass. If you want to see these defined abs, this is the way to go for weightlifting moves – adding weight to your core workout can help you build muscle mass. In a study Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Compares the effects of high and low resistance training and discovers the following:1
- Low loads with high repetition produce larger muscle mass
- Low repetition in high weight also increases muscle mass
- High weight also increases strength
Basically, adding weight to your abbey exercises can help build muscle mass and tone your abs. Heavy weight is more effective in increasing energy. However, light weights and high reps are a great way to start if you are a beginner to a workout and you can add more resistance as you get stronger.
# 2 Increased core strength
It is not surprising that a weight-bearing ab exercise helps increase your core strength, which can benefit your overall fitness. A strong core is also beneficial outside of the gym: Research shows that core strength is an important factor in reducing the risk of lower back pain.2 A strong core and a pain-free back means you will probably have:
- Better posture
- An easy time to perform daily activities
- Improving athletic effort
So, don’t skip these weight-bearing core exercises এ they will pay off both inside and outside the gym.
# 3 Good stability and balance
Draw a spinning top – you give it a whirl and it tumbles from side to side. If your core muscles are weak, you can do the same thing yourself. Because your core doesn’t work alone — it works together with your buttocks, pelvis, and lower back to keep you straight and stable.
A strong core can help prevent wobbles by improving your stability and balance. This is especially useful when you are in the gym. When you are exercising, it is important to focus on the right muscle groups and maintain proper form and balance to avoid injury.
# 4 Increased flexibility
If you have ever practiced yoga, you know how important it is to engage and control your core muscles to maintain each posture. To that end, weighted Abby workouts can help strengthen your core and improve the flexibility of your buttocks and pelvis for full body strength.
Better flexibility is associated with:3
- Improved posture
- Improved balance
- Less injury
- Better athletic performance
If you see a trend here, you are right. All of these aspects of fitness are connected. Adding weight to your core routine improves strength, resulting in improved flexibility, which in turn improves overall health and performance.
# 5 Reduce injury risk
When your core is strengthened through weighted ab workouts, you have better balance, flexibility and muscle stability. To better understand why this is important, think about your car’s tires When your car is properly balanced, the tires wear out evenly. When some are off, one tire can wear out faster than the other, which can cause problems for your car.
Your body is the same – your core does not work alone, and when it is strong, the rest of your body can rely on it to provide balance and stability and reduce unilateral wear. This reduces the chances of you getting an unwanted injury as a result of unbalanced use of one part of your body or one side.
# 6 Improved athletic performance
After all, a stronger, more flexible, and better-balanced body will perform better athletically. A strong core is important for all types of athletes, including:
- Runners
- Cyclist
- Swimmer
- Yogis
- Weightlifter
- Team Sport Performers
Whether you are new to the job or you are a competitive marathon, adding weighted exercises to your core exercise routine can help you reach your fitness goals across the board.
What Are The Best Weighted Ab Exercises?
Weight-bearing ab workouts can be quite challenging, but the benefits make them worth it. Although there are numerous exercises that you can perform, we’ve narrowed it down to our 5 choices that are also available to us. Ichus App for better visualization. These steps will help you target your entire core, which includes:
- Upper abdomen
- Lower abdomen
- Italic
# 1 Weighted plate crunch
Crunch is the main work bread and butter. These are great for targeting your upper abs and when you add a little weight, they can help define the six-pack you are working towards. To crush a weighted plate, you should:
- Choose a weight plate that is challenging but not too heavy for lifting
- Lie on your back with the weight plate in your hand
- Bend your knees at a 90-degree angle, lift your legs off the floor
- Extend your arms straight above your chest
- Engage your core and lift your entire torso off the floor
- Hold for a few seconds and then release
- Repeat up to 20 times with your arms straight and knees bent
As you increase your strength you will be able to repeat more or use a heavier weight plate.
# 2 Crunch to lift weighty legs
After that, you should work on the lower abdominal muscles. We like to lift the dumbbell leg to strengthen the muscles that cannot be reached. To perform this basic exercise, you will:
- Choose a dumbbell that is not too heavy
- Lie on your back on an exercise mat with dumbbells in your ankles
- Your key employer
- Keep your legs straight and as high as possible
- Slowly lower your legs towards the mat and repeat
- Make sure you keep your back, shoulders, and buttocks in contact with the floor
You should feel your core work as you lift and lower your legs.
# 3 Weighted Russian Twist
You should also work to strengthen your oblique muscles. These are the muscles running along the side of your abs. To strengthen the obliques, we prefer the weighted Russian twist abs workout. This is an easy execution that you can:
- Use a weight plate, dumbbells or kettlebell
- Sit on your mat holding the weight in front of you
- Bend your elbows and pull the weight towards your abdomen
- Lift your feet slightly off the ground
- Engage your core and turn your entire torso to the left, then to the right
To stay straight you need to fully engage your core and keep your feet from touching the floor throughout the exercise.
# 4 Weighted board
Want to do your whole original work with one rice? Try a weighted plank. You will need a weight plate and a friend to help you get to the location:
- Go to a plank position – either arm or completely upright
- Engage your core to keep your body in balance
- Have your friend or trainer gently place the weight plate under your back
- Hold the board as long as you can
- Ask your partner to remove the plate before lowering your body to the floor
This ab exercise adds a little more difficulty to a standard plank.
# 5 Dumbbell plank rows
Another weight-bearing abbey workout that helps strengthen your entire core (including bonus arm and shoulder boost) is a dumbbell plank row. To perform this step:
- Collect one pair of dumbbells in a challenging (but not maximum) weight
- Place the dumbbells under your shoulders and move to a plank position
- Fully employed your core
- Alternately lift each dumbbell, bringing your elbow to your ribs
The key to running a plank row is to make that core work full time. This will keep you balanced and stable as you lift the dumbbells.
How Frequently Should You Perform Weightlifting Ab Exercises?
The CDC recommends that adults work to strengthen major muscle groups, including abs, At least twice a week.4 The amount of core work you can do during each session depends on two key factors:
- Your overall fitness level
- Your fitness goals
If you have just started your fitness journey, you may need to start with light weight or less repetition. Over time, you will become stronger and able to do more. Finding the right core workout for your body is important for building a strong core.
Build a strong core at Choose Fitness
Adding weight to your ab workout routine can help strengthen and tone your core muscles. And your future workouts will benefit from extra muscle mass, strength, stability and flexibility, whether you’re going for 6-pack abs or building a strong core.
If you are not sure where to start strengthening your core, here is Choose Fitness to help. We offer a wide range Group exercise classes, Team training, Free weightsTo help you achieve your fitness goals and much more. Discover HIIT and more from TRX Workout. Check out one of us Location See today how we can help you build a strong foundation in all aspects of fitness.
Source:
- PubMed. Effects of low vs. high load resistance training on muscle strength and hypertrophy. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25853914/
- PubMed. Optimize performance by improving core stability and strength. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19026017/
- Medicine and science in sports and exercise. The recommended amount and quality of exercise to develop and maintain cardiorespiratory and muscle fitness and flexibility. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/1998/06000/ACSM_Position_Stand__The_Recommended_Quantity_and.32.aspx
- CDC. How much physical activity do adults need? https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm