300 - Day 45 - Core (ab) workout

Today I laid down a pretty nasy abdominal routine - though really every exercise I complete targeted both abs and shoulders.

The plan:
L-Pull-ups, Floor Wipers, Captain's Chairs

As I have been doing a lot lately, I modified this just slightly. I realized that the L pull-ups targeted the shoulders as well as the abs, so I wanted to get another shoulder exercise in there. I decided on the shoulder press, as I already had a pull exercise and decided to complement it with a push exercise.

Likewise with the abdominal considerations, the Floor Wipers work your obliques (side to side movement), whereas everything else hits the rectus abdominis (the visible 6-pack muscles). The Captain's Chair is a series of contraction and release, similar to the floor wipers. The L Pull-ups are a static hold for the abs that cause basically full contraction of the rectus abdominis. So the other reason that I picked the shoulder press is that your abs are again in a contracted state - but this time, rather than to prevent your legs from falling, the purpose is to stabilize your core as you lift a heavy weight over your head, so it also complements the L Sit-up well for that reason.

I had also originally only intended 3 sets, but I wanted to get 50 wipers in and didn't pull it off in 3, so I did 4 sets, doing each exercise in sequence for max reps - and called that 1 set.

So here is how I fared:

L Pull-ups - 10, 8, 8, 8 (34 total)
Floor Wipers (135) - 15, 10, 15, 20 (55 total)
Shoulder Press (95) - 10, 10, 10, 10 (40 total)
Captain's Chair - 15, 15, 15, 20 (65 total)

On my 3rd set of floor wipers, I discovered just how important breathing is for the exercise. By breathing in while my legs are dropping, and exhaling while I was pulling my legs up, there was virtually no resistance in my abs. This showed in set 4, where I completed 20 reps. I'm taking that tip to the bank.

Before starting this, I wamed up as follows:
1000m row (4:04)
20 Push-Ups
20 Sit-Ups
15 Dips
20 Squats

I may delay tomorrow's workout with the new 3 on 1 off philosophy. I'll let you know.