The middle of your body is the basis for your strength. If you've done any significant reading by hard core authors you should know this, but even we don't put enough emphasis on it.
What is generally responsible for you missing a big lift? Is it the lack of strength in the "prime mover" muscles? Not for most people. Most people miss big lifts because of form breakdown that is directly related to lack of "core" strength. Generally our lives and lifestyles are conducive to a weak abdominal and back complex. Most people neglect these areas, even competitors. Really most of us don't like working our abs, and the common exercises don't cut the mustard for building super strength. Crunches, in my opinion, barely even cut it as an exercise. Now I'm not interested in building a "six pack" abdominal look. If you're looking to build that you're reading the wrong article, probably the wrong publication. In my experience most people with that look are like Dan John says, "…looks like Tarzan, but plays like Jane."
What I'm talking about is functional ability. The ability to hold the right form on a big squat or deadlift or clean and press and finish the lift. The ability to throw or take a good punch, or execute a powerful hip toss or give a 56 pounder some good air time. Or lift a big stone and move with it. Most of all the ability to bend over without pain. That's probably the abdominals' most important function, but secondly they are the bolt holding your powertrain together. You can have the biggest, baddest engine on the block, but if your connectors aren't strong enough to transfer the torque you don't move an inch. Your abs are those connectors and if your like the rest of us, trying to build a body that'll go 100 mph then you better get serious about strengthening them.
The brass tacks on this are good to hear. Abs will strengthen pretty fast and are already in use with many of the exercises commonly used by those in our informal little circle. In fact I would venture it safe to say that the average dinosaur trainer, using big compound exercises, already has abs far stronger than the Bunny Boys who do 4,000 crunches a week, even if he isn't doing direct Ab work. In fact, using the other indirect exercise is one of the best ways to strengthen your torso. They force the body, to quote Dan John again, work, "as one piece," coordinating all your muscles together. Obviously some exercises do this better than others. Anything that must be done standing and that requires balance is obviously going to do more good for your torso and stabilizers than a bench press or a machine exercise. They also build your athletic ability and allow your body to work in a natural groove. Thus is their superiority for the athlete and superior safety. When you control the resistance, as in a barbell or dumbbell lift, it follows your body's natural motion unlike a machine, which locks into an unnatural arc. Most of these do little for your functional ability and less for your joint integrity and injury prevention.
Full Range Exercises
These are the exercises I was talking about. Squats, overhead squats, front squats, deadlifts, cleans, presses, push presses, jerks, snatches, rows, good mornings and zercher lifts. These are and should always be basics in a program. My favorites for strengthening the torso out of this group are the good mornings and the zercher. They place the most stress on the torso muscles and from the toughest angles. The good morning lets you bend forward against resistance; and the zercher makes you support the weight farther out in front than usual, creating greater pull on the abs. A big key in doing these for building supporting and torso strength is to do them as heavy as you can before you put on a belt. This forces the abs to work harder on their own and the body more as a unit. Then when you do put the belt on you really get the benefits out of it because you've strengthened the basic muscles it's used to support.
One Arm Exercises
These over load the torso specifically because they are "unbalanced." Meaning you are carrying the weight to one side and the body must contract harder to stabilize itself against the resistance. Clean and press, snatch, swing, row, deadlift, side bend, overhead squat, high pull, all done with one arm and a barbell or dumbbell are great choices.
Overloading Exercises
Heavy powerful movements overload the torso well because of the great amount of weight that can be used. They prepare the torso muscles to support greater weights in the full range movements and build massive "supporting," stabilizing strength. Quarter and partial squats, deadlifts, hip lifts, harness lifts, back lifts, and hand and thigh lifts are good examples. Especially quarter and half zerchers, overhead supports and one shoulder quarter squats. They're all great exercises but the last three really target the abs.
Odd Lifts
Strongman type events and lifts overload the abs because of the awkward angles and center of gravity they present. They hit the rest of the stabilizing muscles as well. One and two hand Farmers walks, barbell carries in the deadlift, and squat and one shoulder position are great. Carrying rocks logs, barrels, sandbags, in the hands, on the chest or shoulder as well as cleaning and pressing, shouldering, or squatting with any of these objects is also great. Pulling, pushing or dragging anything heavy is also good.
Direct Work
Directly working the abdominals should be done in simple and direct manner with basic exercises. Exercises that work the abs as a unit and the hip flexors with them. Isolating the upper left fiber of the abs to bring out that particular can in your six pack is for all those "Jane" wanna-be's. Straight leg, spread eagle, Roman chair, decline sit-ups holding a plate or barbell on the chest or behind the head for sets of 5-10 reps heavy are my favorites. Lying or hanging leg raises with weights, which I hear are Brooks' favorites are great. Suitcase deadlifts and side bends are the oblique exercises of choice. I was recently introduced to a version of the ab wheel called the Power Wheel. You can do all the exercises of a regular ab wheel, but you can also strap your feet into it for a whole other series of serious ab strength exercises. They are fast becoming my favorites. Static holds with sit-ups, leg raises or the Power Wheel and also very good.
Adding one or two of these ab exercises into your routine isn't much extra work, but it will payoff in benefits of Increased lifts and increased performance in your chosen sport. Serious abs are required for serious strength, so get busy.