Training Your Core – The Right Way -

The Takeaway: Your core acts as a brace, providing stabilization during movement and activity…therefore, it must be trained differently than other muscle groups.

Why is this important? Training the core in traditional ways (sit-ups, etc.) actually increases the chance of injury.

The Core Is Different…

Muscles are muscles, right? Well, yes, but different muscles have different functions. Most of the larger muscles in your body are used to generate force for jumping, pressing, pushing, or pulling. Your core, however, has a completely different function. It acts to stabilize the body, allowing force to be transferred between your lower body and the torso. Imagine trying to jump, press an object overhead, push or pull an object without your core being able to stiffen and stabilize your mid-section. It would be similar to pushing a rope! The core is an integral component of functional movement, and because it has a different role than other muscles in the body, it must be trained differently.

To understand how to train the core, we must first understand which muscles make up the core. Put simply, your rectus abdominis (six pack), lower back muscles, and the surrounding muscles of your mid-section make up your core musculature. Core training is not just doing sit-ups and crunches. In fact, if you only train some of the muscles of the core, you can create instability as the remaining muscles are underdeveloped. Core stability is achieved by training your core as a whole, the very same way it acts as a whole to provide stability during activity.

In most cases the core acts to prevent motion, not to initiate motion. Consider a pushup or plank position where your core engages to prevent your hips from sagging. When you jog or walk, the core prevents your shoulders and head from swaying side to side while your arms swing. Think about a baseball swing or throwing movement where force is generated by the lower body, through the hips, and transferred to the rotating upper body through the core. In this case, the core engages throughout the movement to allow the transfer of force and then keeps the body from over-rotating to prevent injury. These are the ways our core muscles perform, even when we’re unaware, allowing us to carry out the activities of daily life.

We spend most of the day with our torso in an upright position. Why then, do we believe sit-ups and crunches will give us a stronger core? (Side note – if you’re looking for a six-pack, sit-ups and crunches are much less important than your nutrition habits.) In real life, these muscles don’t work in isolation – they work together. So how do we train them in a way that increases stabilization when we need it? Simple…train the core like it is used.

Think of your core as group of muscles, not as separate and individual parts. Exercises like wood chops are a great option because they force you to use your entire body as a unit just as you would in real life.
Train your core to be the stabilizer that it was meant to be. Exercises such as front planks, side planks, and back bridges are great for core stabilization training. When performing these exercises, short, intense holds of 10 seconds with a 5 second rest period is a great technique because it doesn’t overstress the core muscles. These shorter periods more closely mimic how the core muscles are used for normal activities.
Go old school. When you perform basic exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, a single-arm farmer’s carry, or a Pallof Press, you are also working your core. During each of these activities, the core muscles provide stabilization to counter the forces of gravity.
Body-weight exercises rule. Use the TRX to fire up your core no matter which exercise or body part you decide to work.

Your core muscles are involved in all functional activity. It is important to take care of these muscles so they can take care of you. Endless repetitions of sit-ups are a thing of the past. Try some of the exercises above as you train your core more safely, more efficiently, and more effectively.