What's up Champ!
I'm Vince Del Monte of GeneExpressionTraining.com
In this video I am going to share a two minute ab test.
It's probably the best ab test there is.
It's backed by a lot of very very successful researchers and strength coaches who use this
in their clinics, in their settings, to determine where their clients need to pay attention.
You're only as good as your weakest link.
Wouldn't you agree?
If you have a weak core, you'll always be limited by all the exercises that require
a strong core, which is virtually every exercise.
Pull ups, Military Press, Deadlifts, Squats, Dips, Bent Over Rows
All these key lifts
If you're weak in the core, good luck progressing on those exercises.
Alright, Now some you guys are going to see this test, get rolling in just a second, and
you're going to say, "oh, that's not hard."
I do like weighted crunches and I do hanging leg lifts
If that's what you're thinking, you need to do this test more than anybody because when
I first heard about this test, that's what I thought.
What we're going to do is the 2 minute plank test.
Alright.
And I'm actually going to teach you some things to make it harder if you can do two minutes
because the research has also shown that more is not better so
Just because you can do two minutes in like 10 seconds, it doesn't mean that it's better
than two minutes flat.
MORE IS NOT BETTER
BETTER IS BETTER
So like the benchmark here is two minutes.
So there's not value in doing two minutes in one second.
As soon as you can do two minutes, we have to start making the two minutes harder.
Does that make sense?
Maybe we'll cover that in a future video and they'll be a lot of you guys that can't do
two minutes, you won't even be able to get to like 60 seconds.
So I'm going to give you guys a progression model at the end of this video so that you
can.
Alright.
The core is so so important.
No.
Let's get this video rolling right now.
So I don't believe in preaching what I don't practice myself.
So right here, Vinny is going to do two minutes
I'm gonna look at the stop watch on the screen and I'm just gonna make a case for why this
isn't Why this is so important
And um, before we do that, what Stu McGill has shared in his research is that endurance
is more important than strength when it comes to stabilizing your spine.
So a lot of us focus on weighted stuff when there's a time and place for it, but if you
don't have this, then you're not getting the most out of it.
Alright.
So we want to focus on the two minute endurance piece.
Alright.
A lot of these muscle fibers, the things that attach to the spine are slow twitch in nature
so they need to be trained this way.
They have these endurance capabilities so they need to be trained this way to get the
most out of it and that's why this isn't like, you know, a weighted leg raise test for one
rep with like 45 pounds in between your thighs.
This is a plank test for two minutes in isometric position.
Here's the deal.
You're always limited to your weakest link.
Right.
So if we understand that our core plays a huge role in progressing in our big, compound
movements, why wouldn't you give it attention?
Right
If you can only progress on those lifts based on the strength of your weakest link, the
we need to pay attention to this stuff.
So guys that neglect dedicated abdominal workouts
Direct ab training
Are really limiting their potential to get stronger in their key lifts.
Alright.
That's why you don't want to like think "oh, I'm already recruiting this stuff"
And that's an assumption you're making.
Just because you're doing a deadlift and a squat doesn't mean you're actually contracting
your abdominal muscles
And the plank is a great opportunity to engage your abdominal muscle as opposed to what most
people do which is just kind of shift the tension onto their toes or on to their hips
and just like let their hips drop which is what we don't want to do
And if you're doing it properly, you'll really be able to contract your abs, create great
control with your abs which will transfer to all these other lifts where you're trying
to add load and that you need a stable spine to add load around.
Alright.
So you can't do a heavy chin up or a heavy bent over row or a heavy dip if you don't
have stability through your core.
And that's why being able to do this two minute test is so important.
Now if you can't do this two minute test, it means 1 of 3 things.
1.
You're either too weak 2.
You're too fat 3.
You're following the wrong program
So what do you do if you can't do two minutes?
Simple
We're going to take the 120 second goal and we're going to chunk it
And we're going to build up to it over the next couple of weeks.
Here's how this is gonna look
The first week, you're going to just do this three times and you're going to be doing twelve
10-second rounds.
You're gonna rest for 10 second and you're gonna repeat that 12 times which will give
you a total of 120 seconds.
Next week.
Same thing.
Just three times.
You're going to do 15 second rounds.
Rest for 15 seconds
And you repeat that 8 times which will give you a total again of 120 seconds.
You see where we're going with this?
The week after that you're gonna do 20 seconds.
Rest 20 seconds.
That'll take you a total of 6 rounds
So again.
We're chunking the change.
We're making small progressions each week and then we're going to keep going.
The week after that, you'll do 30 seconds.
Rest 30 seconds unitl you can do 4 rounds of 30 seconds.
And then we're going to keep going.
So if you can do two minutes, how can we make it harder?
Well, we can contract the abdominals harder
Remember, force is created internally so by shortening the muscle by contracting harder,
that will actually create tension
I don't create more fatigue.
So simply by concentrating on squeezing the muscles, that will make the two minutes harder.
I can tell you the world record.
The guys who has the plank who does it for like five, six hours and he's in like his
late 50's or early 60's.
He doesn't do it like this.
Okay
The way that I'm teaching you is how to actually get a hypertrophy response to actually make
your abs stronger, more endurance responsive.
So when we're here and we actually want to think about driving our elbows down and pulling
our toes together so
We actually want to think about doing spinal flexion hip flexion at the same time.
So look.
See how I'm driving my spine down and my hips forward so I'm actually shortening my abdominals
and maintaining this position.
So I'm not like this and just I got my belly protruded.
That's the wrong way to do the plank and it's not doing much benefit to be honest.
So you're kind of just wasting your time.
It's called fool's gold.
So think about elbows driven down, hips rotated forward, shorten your abdominals, and then
maintain that tension for two minutes
THAT is hard.
Alright
You don't need to add another plate to your lower back, or two plates or three plates
Unless you're able to do two minutes of this first.
You have no business adding all that fancy stuff.
Alright.
I guarantee that will transfer to better abdominal workouts as well too, when you learn how to
really contract your abdominals in isolation before doing all the fancy integration stuff.
Thanks so much for watching guys
You guys enjoyed that video let me know below
Give this video a like
I want to know...
Did you pass the two minute test?
I want to know below.
If you need a little help achieving that and you want to download the entire progression
model to go the two minutes then I'll put a link on the screen here
If you're on a desktop, first link in the description
If you're on your phone it will take you to a page where you can download my FREE Plank
Workout to build a stronger core
All you need to do is put your first name in, your best email address, and I'll email
to you right away so you can download it, have it on your phone when you go to the gym
and that way you'll know exactly how to progress each week and your core will no longer become
the weakest link.
You'll have a healthier lower back, you're going to get more output on all your big lifts,
and you're gonna look much better because you're gonna have better posture, better aesthetics,
It all starts with a strong core and being able to do this two minute test.
Alright.
I'll see you guys next time.