Your Body: The Bean Workout
June 27, 2007
As a player I was big on abdominal training. If I was a coaching today I’d be even more outspoken to my players about the importance of having a strong abdominal region. After all, this group of muscles has a major effect on your coordination and is especially important for soccer players balance and agility.
There are so many exercises to train the abdominal region and so many ways to train the region incorrectly. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of Tami Lee Webb - she’ll kick your butt with her videos. Then there is this new product out that my wife just had to have and it was backordered for weeks.
When she finally got it I remember her going bizerk, "MY BEAN IS HERE, FINALLY"! Yep, you can probably imagine my look of perplexition. Your bean is here, huh - I asked. Julie proceeded to open and talk me thru her discovery and then set-up (blew up) The Bean. Brandi Chastain, former US Women’s National Team Star, has even endorsed the product and we know she’s got some rock hard abs.
So, we’ve been using it and I have to say it’s a pretty awesome ab workout. It comes with a few sets of workouts and all can be done in between commercials, which i like to do. For the more serious workout I’ve got preplanned exercises and that’s cool.
For coaches out there this could be a great station if you do fitness days with your squad. For players that want an inexpensive and convenient way to really get a great isometric ab workout - you can’t go wrong with The Bean. Check it out!
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3 Responses to “Your Body: The Bean Workout”
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The Bean looks like a cool toy. Everyone wants washboard abs but, for an athlete, those washboard abs really just help them look good in their uniform. Your lower abs are really not the muscles that give your legs strength. Those muscles are your core muscles: transverse abdominis, quadratus lumborum, psoas. These muscles are your “pillar” muscles that keep your posture in a good place and providing the power for your legs.
I see lots of athletes who love doing “Abs”. Many of them have one leg shorter than the other because lots of “abs” work can shorten the psoas on one side. Now you’ve set yourself up for an injury.
A stability ball is the best tool to work your core.
Larry, that is excellent information! Do you have some specific exercises you would recommend/share? With The Bean, fliping it over and using it like a stability ball can be accomplished as I have done so for stretching an doing some reverse sit-ups.
We certainly don’t want anyone to create an injury situation trying to improve their physique. I’d love to get your feed back.
Cheers,
Jason
Because of Jason’s recommendation - my wife purchased a Bean as well. Even though I fully agree with Larry’s information, I did want to note that The Bean does have several exercises that do work on the Core Muscles (The Super Twist, Oblique Twist Crunch, Scissors and a couple others) and they even have a Core workout program.
I have tried it a couple times and I have a bad back from an old soccer injury and for some of these exercises It helps relieve stress on the lower back, as well as it offers several stretching exercises in the booklet to stretch these muscles.
I also have a stability ball, and find that for those of us who are tall, the Bean is a little easier to use……there are a lot of gimmicks on the market for stronger and more beautiful abs, but I think this “could” be a decent option for some.