Core training is well-known to be a vital part of sports training these days. Most realize that its benefits include an increase in speed, strength, power, and a reduced risk of injury. Yet a large percentage of athletes wander through this portion of their workouts aimlessly, simply looking to feel a burn from the exercises they use.
It is time for a complete shift in philosophy with respect to how you approach this area of training. You will need to look beyond doing endless variations of crunches, and step into a mindset that corresponds with how your body was designed to properly function. Armed with this understanding, it will be much clearer how to set short-term and long-term goals that take you down the path to success.
STRONG VS. STABLE
Strength is the ability to exert force on another object. Stability refers to holding a firm, or unchanged, position while a force is being placed on you. Often times the two terms are used synonymously when referencing core training, but they do not mean the same thing. In a way, they are almost opposites. Strength generally implies creating movement, while stability resists it.
When most people talk about strength, they are almost always referring to how much weight someone can lift, particularly in exercises like the bench press or squat. Applied to their midsection, this might mean that a person who goes from holding a 25 lb weight behind their head to 45 lbs. when doing sit-ups has gotten stronger. Thinking this way makes sense because that is how you would measure strength development in pretty much every other area of the body.
The problem with this mindset is that athletes do not need strength in this part of the body, they need stability. It has a completely different function than, say, your arms, whose primary function is to create motion.
It is an easy trap that most of us in the fitness world have fallen into. Exercise at its heart is motion. If you are moving, then you are exercising. When you are not in motion, then you aren’t really exercising, right?
With respect to core training, this line of thinking is entirely misguided. If you put yourself in a position that requires effort to resist unwanted motion, that is also exercise. It is this type of training that your midsection demands, because when its ability to prevent unnecessary motion improves, it allows you to send more of your energy in the right direction.
ENERGY LEAKS
Any unnecessary motion in your midsection results in energy being transferred to a direction that does not follow along with your intended movement, which we’ll refer to as energy leaks. This happens when the force generated by your lower body overpowers a weak area in your core. Put another way, the level of stability is insufficient for the stress being put on it.
Extreme energy leaks cause injuries to your spine. This can occur with ligaments, bones, tendons or muscles. The lower half of your spinal column, in particular, is not capable of moving all that much. When it does, you can expect injuries like slipped discs, and structural damage to ligaments or bones. Additionally, when everyday forces placed on your core are not matched by a sufficient level of stability, you will likely experience chronic lower back pain.
As serious as spinal injuries and low back pain are, the far more common side effect of poor core stability is the reduced potential to produce force.
To create maximum explosive power in any sport, you need every ounce of force that you can possibly create directed specifically towards your intended target. Minor losses or gains in power can make a substantial difference in most sport-related activities.
It is the connection to force production that makes the core such a critical part of an athlete’s physique, and their training. It is not all about appearance, because some top professionals exhibit high levels of stability despite the fact they have relatively expansive waist lines. The ability to plug energy leaks will directly translate to increases in speed, functional strength, and overall performance.
James Herrick, Jr has been training athletes for over ten years, and is the author of the new e-book "Revolutionary Core Training for Athletes". He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Coach through the NSCA and the NASM.
Anyone interested in finding more information on this product can find it at:
www.powersourcetraining.com/core_e-book
Readers can get 10% off this product until November 5, 2008 by typing in the promotion code "POWERSOURCE".
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