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How to improve form for star crunch/glute bridge.

I'm having trouble keeping my abs flat during each rep.

vague_advice
vague_advice g Joe
7 Post(s)
7 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: June 6, 2019
Posted

I put the "What we need to know from you" stuff in the about me section of my profile.

I'm a thin dude who has been working out for a little over a year and I'm trying to make this PPL program happen.  I have to work up to it though because right now I'm only working out 3 days a week and my body would die if I just jumped into 6 days a week.  Plus I haven't done some of these exercises before.  To ease the transition, I'm incorporating some of the PPL exercises into my current routine.  Enter the star crunch and glute bridge.
I'm having trouble keeping my stomach flat/cinched during these exercises.  I'm baselining this from how my stomach looks when I just stand up straight and flex my core.  My understanding is that when doing exercises that engage your core, you want to keep everything as tight as possible. But when I do these exercises, I feel like thats just not happening.  I have a harder time with this during the glute bridge than I do with the star crunch. When I did the glute bridge the other day, it looked like I was pregnant for some of my reps lol.
My guess is that something is just really weak in my core.  I have been working out for a little over a year and didn't completely ignore my core over this time. For example I do 1) machine trunk rotations for 5 sets, 15 reps each side with the last 2 sets being the entire rack (190 lbs). 2) 5 sets of 15 rep crunches with the crunch machine at 100 lbs. 3) A bunch of knee raises at the captain's chair. I know none of this is impressive or anything like that, but I didn't expect to have such a hard time keeping my stomach flat during a star crunch/glute bridge, given that I can do the entire rack on machine trunk rotations.

So thats it. I'd appreciate any advice on how to attack this problem.

Thanks!

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: vague_advice

I put the "What we need to know from you" stuff in the about me section of my profile.

I'm a thin dude who has been working out for a little over a year and I'm trying to make this PPL program happen.  I have to work up to it though because right now I'm only working out 3 days a week and my body would die if I just jumped into 6 days a week.  Plus I haven't done some of these exercises before.  To ease the transition, I'm incorporating some of the PPL exercises into my current routine.  Enter the star crunch and glute bridge.
I'm having trouble keeping my stomach flat/cinched during these exercises.  I'm baselining this from how my stomach looks when I just stand up straight and flex my core.  My understanding is that when doing exercises that engage your core, you want to keep everything as tight as possible. But when I do these exercises, I feel like thats just not happening.  I have a harder time with this during the glute bridge than I do with the star crunch. When I did the glute bridge the other day, it looked like I was pregnant for some of my reps lol.
My guess is that something is just really weak in my core.  I have been working out for a little over a year and didn't completely ignore my core over this time. For example I do 1) machine trunk rotations for 5 sets, 15 reps each side with the last 2 sets being the entire rack (190 lbs). 2) 5 sets of 15 rep crunches with the crunch machine at 100 lbs. 3) A bunch of knee raises at the captain's chair. I know none of this is impressive or anything like that, but I didn't expect to have such a hard time keeping my stomach flat during a star crunch/glute bridge, given that I can do the entire rack on machine trunk rotations.

So thats it. I'd appreciate any advice on how to attack this problem.

Thanks!

@vague_advice You're right that when doing ab / core exercises, you want to keep your core tight. However, it is kind of normal for you to be pushing your gut out a bit when doing something like a glute bridge. It looks like that because of your positioning more than anything. That's kind of what your core does when you're bracing. It might just be that you haven't taken in a breath before you start the movement as to why you're not getting / keeping a flatter stomach with the movement. At the end of the day, as long as you are in fact bracing and your core is solid, that's what is important with the glute bridge. Even I can push my stomach out but still keep it tight lol.

 

Also, you can still start the PPL program and work through MONTH 1. That only has you doing each of the PPL workouts once per week. And if after that first month you still don't feel ready to be doing everything twice per week, you can repeat MONTH 1 again until you feel ready to make that step up.

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vague_advice
vague_advice g Joe
7 Post(s)
7 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: June 6, 2019
Posted

@Scott_Herman Oh nice. I didn't realize that the MONTH 1 programming was so different from the other months. Yeah breaking up the PPL workouts with circuits is definitely a lot more doable given where I'm at right now. In that case, I'll start this program next week! It's still a big step up from what I've been doing so far, so hopefully I get to see some nice juicy gains.

 

Yeah I am definitely doing my best to squeeze my abs throughout the movements, but in the case of the glute bridge, it's kind of hard to poke myself in the stomach to check lol. But if there isn't anything in particular I need to do (e.g. specific ab/core exercises to train my stomach to stay flat) then I'll just focus on the breathing and keep an eye on it. Could also be fatigue setting in where my core goes to crap.

 

I just got lifting straps this weekend and will use them for the first time today with the AB Pulldown. I tried doing these before but my grip gives out too fast. I'm hoping with the straps, I can really get the benefits of this exercise. Hopefully that will carry over to the star crunch/glute bridge.

 

Thanks for the info!



Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: vague_advice

@Scott_Herman Oh nice. I didn't realize that the MONTH 1 programming was so different from the other months. Yeah breaking up the PPL workouts with circuits is definitely a lot more doable given where I'm at right now. In that case, I'll start this program next week! It's still a big step up from what I've been doing so far, so hopefully I get to see some nice juicy gains.

 

Yeah I am definitely doing my best to squeeze my abs throughout the movements, but in the case of the glute bridge, it's kind of hard to poke myself in the stomach to check lol. But if there isn't anything in particular I need to do (e.g. specific ab/core exercises to train my stomach to stay flat) then I'll just focus on the breathing and keep an eye on it. Could also be fatigue setting in where my core goes to crap.

 

I just got lifting straps this weekend and will use them for the first time today with the AB Pulldown. I tried doing these before but my grip gives out too fast. I'm hoping with the straps, I can really get the benefits of this exercise. Hopefully that will carry over to the star crunch/glute bridge.

 

Thanks for the info!



@vague_advice Yeah the circuits are really nice for breaking up the PPL workouts - it's like you get a rest but you also don't get a rest at the same time haha. You will definitely see some good gains!

 

True it is hard to check yourself on the glute bridge! Haha, but yeah you don't need to keep it 100% flat, that's part of your bracing technique when doing a glute bridge (as long as you're stomach isn't protruding a lot and there is no massive arch in your lower back).

 

Straps will help for sure! Try not to use them too much, only when you really need them!

 

Happy to help!

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