Wheel of fortune

Oct. 24th

"I tend to live in the past, because most of my life is there."

G. Santayana

I always had a "ab roller" handy when my abs feel a little loose. For those who don't know what this is, the ab wheel as been around for a long time. It has been reintoduced may times as the end-all to the "six pak" by those info commercials. They are out of favor now, as you have myriad of other devices on the market to give you those chiseled abs like the models, who are on drugs, have exceptional genetics, and spend all day in the gym. I have had a ab wheel devise for as long as I have been working out. why? because it has worth! Its not the end all to abs and upper body, its just works at the level it was intended.....low tech training.

The ab wheel is very inexpensive and can even be home made with an old wagon wheel and a piece of stock. Or you can go out in purchase one like me and get a professional model for 45 dollars. Or you can go to a yard sale and you can usually find one there from an adult that found after the first few times of use, the pain was not worth it.

Using the ab wheel can be very stressful if you are out of shape. I don't recommend the wheel for beginners as the" core" is not strong and the back is going to rebel the first time out. Its really for those who have solid back and ab training as a basic background before using this piece of equipment. Also keep this at the end of the workout so you are not doing the primary training with a fatigued back muscles.

When you start out, you begin on your knees so you have some back support. Then you can extend out little at a time as your comfort levels allows you. You maintain maximum tightness in you abs all the times as you extend and retract on this exercise. As you become more acquainted with the exercise, you can start in the standing position to full extension. This is not easy and should only be attended by those who have the background of full fitness and flexibility of there bodies.

Training for Today:

Double Kettlebell front squats: 16kg, 20kg, 24kg, 28kg. 5 reps each, 32kg 3x3 reps
Renegade Rowing: same weight and reps as the squats

Ab roller: 3 sets of 10.

Note: the two -32Kg kettlebells were easy to clean, but holding them in low squat made me almost cry.