Core training

If you want to open up a can of worms, start researching or talking to different fitness professionals about the best way to train the core.  While we have progressed beyond the years of thinking that if we just do 100, or 1000, sit ups or crunches a day we will have six pack abs and a rock solid core, there is still much controversy about the best way to train the core.  Some coaches feel that spinal rotation strengthening should be emphasized while others feel it should be avoided.  And yet others believe that spinal rotation strengthening should occur but only allowing movement at the thoracic spine and hips while the lumbar spine remains locked down.

So what is a person to do?  Let's start by looking at some basic "facts" that most trainers will agree upon:

• The lumbar spine (lower back) is designed for anti-rotational movements.  Each segment is only supposed to have 0 to 2 degrees of movement for a total of about 13 degrees.  
• The thoracic spine (chest area or middle of back) allows for dynamic rotational movements of up to 70 degrees, or 6 to 9 degrees per segment.  
• For many activities a significant portion of the rotation should come from the hips.
• Poor hip mobility most likely increases the risk of low back pain or injury in rotary sports athletes.  Individuals lacking sufficient hip internal and external rotation mobility are forced to compensate and rotate more at the lumbar spine which can lead to pain or injury.
• Core stability is the ability to resist movement in the lumbar spine, also defined as anti-rotation.

Our bodies move in different planes, but on a routine basis much of our movement takes place in the sagittal plane, or forwards and backwards.  For instance, walking and running are examples of movement in the sagittal plane, as well as much strength training.  Squats, sit ups, bicep curls, and forward/reverse lunges are all examples of exercises that take place in the sagittal plane.

On the other hand, many of the activities that we participate in take place in the frontal and transverse planes as well.  So why should we expect our bodies to be strong and competent at moving in the frontal and transverse planes when most of our activity, and even our "planned" exercise takes place primarily in the sagittal plane?  We are moving in the transverse plane with rotational movements like swinging a golf club or tennis racket, or kicking a soccer ball.  The transverse plane is also where most injuries occur, either while participating in athletics, or during everyday activities such as shoveling snow, getting out of the car, or bending over to pick up an object.  A key reason for this is the inability to safely and strongly transition from one plane of movement to another.

So what does all this mean?  For us as trainers, it means that once again we take a sort of "middle of the road" approach in our training.  Ideally, our primary training goal when it comes to core training, whether training to improve athletic performance, or training to maintain our ability to stay injury free with everyday activities, is to train to stabilize the core and protect the lower back, while allowing us to transfer lower body power from the ground upwards through the kinetic chain.  In many sports or activities we are looking to generate power.  A golfer wants a powerful swing, a tennis player wants a powerful backhand, a baseball player wants to smash a home run.  How much power that athlete is able to generate starts from the ground up and how effective it is is partly determined by his ability to safely and strongly transfer that power through his core.

For instance, let's look at the sport of golf.  David Leadbetter, with the assistance of biomechanics researcher Jean-Jacques Rivet showed that most amateurs don't push into the ground effectively to create leverage, and therefore power, in their swings.  In examining three parts of the swing (the start of the backswing, halfway back, and the transition) they found that the ground forces of pro golfers were 125 to 145% of body weight versus just 65 to 90% of body weight for amateurs.  If you also analyze the swing of the best golfers you will also notice that most rotation comes from the hips while the lumbar spine remains stable.  All of this simply means they are using the body the way it is designed to work.  They generate power from the strongest lower body and hip muscles and then stabilize the lower spine as the power is transferred into the upper body for the swing.

So what does this mean for you in your training?  It means variety.  While we will do a few isolated core exercises, focusing solely on increasing strength in the abdominals or back is not the answer to developing overall core strength and stability.  Newer research is showing that training to develop lumbar stabilization while promoting thoracic rotation may be the key to developing functional core strength and stability.  Translation for Metabolic Warriors, suspension training (i.e. TRX) is an ideal training method for developing this type of strength.

Take, for instance, the TRX power pull.  Notice in the video below that the rotation in the exercise is coming primarily from the hips and the thoracic region, while the lumbar spine is stabilized.

So the next time we reach the end of a Metabolic or TRX workout and you think you haven't worked your core, think again!