Ben, you also weren't training with heavy weights and likely not training them properly (eg the high reps).
The amount of lifters i know with abdominal hernias would blow your mind. I know one guy who cant get any bigger than 95kg (he was previously at 120kg) because of them and now he has to do everything in a belt.
A lot of people get away with it for years as Markos points out, doesnt mean its healthy. Barbell training is generally quite safe (just go to any mainstream gym and see all the guys half squatting for months on end) but if you're looking to minimize risk abdominal work isnt a bad idea.
I train like a bodybuilder, by that i mean i try to make sure theres no major imbalances in my development. Probably one of the biggest imbalances you can develop (along with shit hamstrings and glutes or a poor bench/press ratio) is with the abdominals and lower back, the lower back getting absolutely brutalised in the deadlift.
3xfailure bringing your legs to a pull up bar and doing sit ups with a 20kg plate behind your head x2 a week isnt going to cost you very much time, why not do it?
The amount of lifters i know with abdominal hernias would blow your mind. I know one guy who cant get any bigger than 95kg (he was previously at 120kg) because of them and now he has to do everything in a belt.
A lot of people get away with it for years as Markos points out, doesnt mean its healthy. Barbell training is generally quite safe (just go to any mainstream gym and see all the guys half squatting for months on end) but if you're looking to minimize risk abdominal work isnt a bad idea.
I train like a bodybuilder, by that i mean i try to make sure theres no major imbalances in my development. Probably one of the biggest imbalances you can develop (along with shit hamstrings and glutes or a poor bench/press ratio) is with the abdominals and lower back, the lower back getting absolutely brutalised in the deadlift.
3xfailure bringing your legs to a pull up bar and doing sit ups with a 20kg plate behind your head x2 a week isnt going to cost you very much time, why not do it?