Anyone do flags/dragon flags for abs?

[galain]

Has anyone got these as part of their workout?

I've tried to do them a couple of times and I could only seem to feel them as a crunch in my upper abs. I may not have been doing them correctly, but just looking at them, there's no rolling/curling of the midsection movement you'd associate with traditional ab training.

I'd like to hear thoughts from people with more experience though.

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[jpm101]

That's a planche, which is a leverage/extension movement.. In the picture it's a ab planche. Gymnast include planches in their usually training protocol.  Very difficult to master and very many different forms or versions.

Some version's are done from poles, exercises ladders, overhead bars, dipping bars, etc. The one's where someone holds their body straight out to a 90 degree angle are called flags. Sure there must be other names like dragon flags, as suggested. Martial artist use planche's in serious training...so maybe the dragon flag title came from that  (guessing here).  

 Easier for lighter weight, smaller guys to master the planche, than for taller, heavier people like myself (I've never done one in my life). In any case, a superior ab and lower back movement well worth the effort. Don't like to use this overdone phase but the planche is an exceptional "core exercise" exercise.

Could easily adapt this movement into any BB'ing, crossfitness or lifting training plan. But first learn how to do it correctly, like any other exercise.

Good luck.

Side bar: photo from a Rocky movie, with Sly on the bench..no doubt.

[ritch]

the guy has a beard, joggin' pants and shoes like the kids today!

Only thing I ever did that looked like that was a reverse crunch but no longer do them.

[jpm101]

Thinking that is a shadow on lower part of the face in the picture. Grainy picture, hard to tell..got to look carefully. Still might be Sly.

The other two guy's standing there...one Rocky's brother-in-law and the other a trainer...both in just about all the Rocky movies.

Good Luck.

[galain]

Pretty sure it's from Rocky 4 when he's training at his cabin in the snow. It came up when I searched Dragon Flag (so named I think, because Bruce Lee was known to them)

Thanks jpm for the input.

[Donny]

Has anyone got these as part of their workout?

I've tried to do them a couple of times and I could only seem to feel them as a crunch in my upper abs. I may not have been doing them correctly, but just looking at them, there's no rolling/curling of the midsection movement you'd associate with traditional ab training.

I'd like to hear thoughts from people with more experience though.

[url]/url]

save the tricks for the Circus... the function of the abs is to shorten the distance from sternum to becken / crunch/ reverse crunch. It might feel hard but the Abs are not being worked as they should and other more powerful muscles take the brunt of the load. If you want abs train abs. bruce lee did do these but more for show. He built his abs with other conventional exercises of the Day and a tight diet/cardio Daily. If you are really set on doing these make sure you do some form of crunch in a "complete" programme.

[jpm101]

Actually the ab wall is acting as the pivot point between the torso and the lower body. The ab wall (upper and lower, including the all important obliques) is working extremely hard. Any extreme holds, like these planche's and planks, will give superior strength and development on the total ab's. The lower back is also strongly involved in any of these movements.

The common ad wheel has the potential to copy the affects of planche's & planks. Main reason it is such a great exercise device. Ab cruches, though a good movement, can be under a limited advantage if wanting a complete ab wall exercise.

All the above is pretty much common knowledge with regards to training, including sports training.

Good Luck

[Donny]

a simple video which shows clearly what any trainer needs to know. (spinal flexion)

[Donny]

the hanging leg raise i do often and also on the floor SS with crunches.  The key point is spinal Flexion. Even bodybuilders like Arnold did incline bench leg raises with a curl movement  curling his hips off the bench. I have done hanging knee raises with  thighs parallel to the floor so it was purely a hanging reverse crunch, curling and working my abs. if you need it in a sport then train the hip flexors starting with a traditional leg raise but at the end of the motion CURL and contract your abs.

[NaturalWonder83]

It's really easy to put pressure on your neck with them
And remember to keep the glutes tight!

Very hard exercise

Perhaps master leg lowering with your hands crossed on your chest and a 10 second negative

[Montague]

Pretty sure it's from Rocky 4 when he's training at his cabin in the snow. It came up when I searched Dragon Flag (so named I think, because Bruce Lee was known to them)

Thanks jpm for the input.

That photo is indeed from the famed Rocky IV training montage. I've tried that exercise before, and it is quite difficult - requiring a great deal of technique and strength to do correctly.

As Donny suggests, I would never rely on it as the sole movement for my ab work. But, like the ab wheel and other plank variations, I believe it is a valuable tool in building "core strength," a term with which I agree with JPM that is used a little too frequently these days.

I saw a recent video of Sly performing the dragon flags - or dragon flies, as I think he calls them - on YouTube.
It was impressive and even a little nostalgic to see him pull them off - especially at his advanced age!