Rethink The Way You Train Your Core

If you’re reading this and into fitness in any degree, I’d be shocked if you said you didn’t care what your midsection looked like. The midsection is often times mistakenly, the marker for “health and fitness”. For whatever reason, we as humans, think that when we see a shredded 6 pack that, that individual must be healthy! Let’s face it, a chiseled 6 pack is aesthetically pleasing. There’s a reason why Chris Pratt didn’t look like “Andy” on “Guardians of The Galaxy”. Do you think he got there by endless sit-ups? Hell no.

The core is without a doubt the most popular fitness term, but does that mean it’s actually understood? Probably not. Venture to your local 24/7 fitness franchise and I’m sure you wouldn’t have to look too far for someone blasting their “core” in a less than optimal way. So why would something as popular as “core training” be butchered so frequently? I believe it has to do with a lack of understanding on what the core is, and how functions. For the sake of keeping this article more practical and not a full blown lesson in anatomy, we’ll skip the intricacies of the core and the details of it’s function, and speak in more practical terms.

When you think about what your core is, think hips to armpits. The core act as a cannister. Yes literally a can. It consists of not only those six muscles in the front, but also the often neglected muscles on your backside too! Envision the muscle around the rib cage, the lumbar spine and the pelvis. In it’s most basic form, core training can be viewed as a way to exercise while keeping that can intact (maintaining the lid of your can over the bottom of your can). Another way to simplify core training is to resist unwanted movement in all planes of motion, while protecting the shape of your can. This last bit is where most fail. In all planes of motion.



The muscles of the core allow transference of forces from the ground to the extremities. In fact, it’s been shown that athletes with stronger core muscles have a better foundation for force production in the upper/lower limbs. In addition, it’s been shown that athletes with weaker core muscles are more prone to knee injuries, specifically, ACL injuries.

So by now, you may have said to yourself “wow, this sounds like a ton of stability training. Where do my sit-ups and crunches fit in"?

They don’t.

Sit-ups, crunches and the like are incredibly popular “core exercises” however they are sub-optimal in terms of selection, and frankly, don’t really have a good place in a training program. Can you add them to a workout and will they burn? Of course. But as we often say, simply getting sweaty and tired isn’t a sign of a good workout. Well, just because something is hard, and it burns; that too doesn’t mean it’s a good exercise. As we begin to break down core training and organize it by category, you will begin to see why those “core exercises” don’t really fit into our programming.

Most of the core training discussed today will be focused on actively resisting forces in different planes of movement. This is largely because one must be able to resist forces before they can create force. A failure to provide a solid base can result in injury.

Core training can be broken down into categories as the following. These categories help strength coaches and trainers program their training sessions accordingly.

• Anti-Extension (AE): Resisting extension of the lumbar spine (Ex. Front Plank, Ab Rollout).

• Hip Flexion (HF): Flexion of the hip joint (Ex. Mountain Climbers, Hanging Knee Raises).

• Anti-Lateral Flexion (AF): Resisting lateral flexion of the lumbar spine (Ex. Side Plank, SA Carry)

• Anti-Rotation (AR): Resisting rotation of the lumbar spine (Ex. Bird dog, Band Press)

You can quickly see how side bends and sit-ups really only belong in classic rap songs and not in any solid training program. They don’t have a category and in fact, go against the primary goal in core training, stability.

Famed strength coach Alywn Cosgrove further breaks core training down into categories of movement as it pertains to the stability required in conjunction with another movement.

• Static Stabilization: No addition movement, all limbs and joints are static (Ex. Planking).

• Dynamic Stabilization: One half of the body is static while the other moves. Hip is static with active shoulders or vise versa (Ex. Stir The Pot).

• Integrated Stabilization: Dynamic motion with the upper and lower half of the body with a stable spine (Ex. Ultimate Sandbag Around The World).
  

Core training should be performed daily. However, not all of the categories should be performed everyday; spreading them out over the course of the week provides a solid foundation to build your training program upon.

If you’re ready to create a midsection the Greek gods would envy, feel free to reach out and request a free week of training! Click the link here. Not in the Florence/North Alabama area, no worries! We provide a robust online training program as well!

Sources

Cosgrove, A., & Rasmussen, C. (2021). Secrets of successful program design: A how-to guide for busy fitness professionals. Human Kinetics.