<\/p>\n
\u2018No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.\u2019 John Donne<\/strong><\/p>\n This famous literary quote from the 17th century author John Donne has the meaning that no one is self-sufficient and everyone requires contact and interaction with others in order to thrive. Indeed, in an isolated state man will do badly. Although this relates to humans as a social, economic, physical and psychological being, we can actually apply this concept to our physical bodies… and yes, our core.<\/p>\n No muscle is an island, but a part of a wider continent, each a part of the main and working best when interacting in an integrated way as we move, whether moving from point A to point B or for a task such as dancing, running or lifting weights in the gym.<\/p>\n For many years traditional gym work has broken the body up into zones or individual muscles, you\u2019ll train your legs, your biceps, your abs, your arms\u2026 you might even break your training up into leg day, push day, pull day etc\u2026 But when we move in life, whether for sport, household chores, playing with children it is rare that we differentiate our body into individual areas or muscles, so why do we persist in training it in this way?<\/p>\n Over the last 10-15 years or so as our understanding of the body and its connective tissue systems have created an\u00a0evolution\u00a0in programming in some camps. We have seen a welcome shift to more whole-body training utilising non-traditional movements and equipment which stress the body in less linear ways and even allow more odd position training – they are nearly always inclusive of a more whole-body approach. I don\u2019t like to call specific equipment or a specific exercise functional, because it\u2019s how you use a piece of equipment or create an exercise that makes it functional or not. A functional exercise is only functional when it helps a person move in a way which replicates the skills they need for their sport, or a task in life.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s think of a baseball pitcher needing more range of motion in his back and hips and power to decelerate and accelerate in his core so that they can throw the ball a long way multiple times during a game. We will need their exercise prescription to include rotation with opposite side lateral flexion into rapid power acceleration. Equipment such as medicine balls, RIP trainers, bands, ViPRs, slam balls, wall balls would all be great tools to use with this person for variability, we can use all of them in some great ways to rotate, flex, perform\u00a0explosive power, decelerate etc\u2026 to create an\u00a0experience close to pitching. An exercise which wouldn\u2019t be functional for this person would be a plank as it doesn\u2019t replicate the movement, the energy system or the intensity required by the body. This is what functional means.<\/p>\n Can you\u00a0think of any movement in sport or life where you are only using your abs and not\u00a0integrating\u00a0your legs and\/or arms too? \u00a0Your core muscles, which we are going to say include everything from the shoulders down to below the pelvis, hardly\u00a0ever function alone. They are not an\u00a0island<\/strong>. Your core muscles act as a force transfer centre between the lower and upper body. They are a conduit for power and load and this is how we need to work them\u2026 to be\u00a0strong, powerful and dynamic in\u00a0function.<\/p>\n For many years core work has been taught on the floor in static supine or prone positions. We even have whole disciplines and classes dedicated to it and floor work is prescribed for back pain and many other conditions on the promise that ‘it increases our core strength, our core stability and this is good for our backs and will reduce pain’. Multiple studies have actually disproved this though with disciplines such as Pilates and Yoga doing no more for pain relief in chronic and acute low back pain patients, than any other form of exercise. When we look at studies on exercise for back pain, no one type outperforms any other in any clinically\u00a0meaningful way, meaning the persons enjoyment of it and ability to be consistent are likely the most important factors in pain reduction\u2026 not whether they can do a perfect birddog!<\/p>\n If we look at how the core functions, then it throws up more questions about why we train our core lying down. Stand up\u2026 go on\u2026. stand up and then fold forwards bringing your hands towards the floor. Can you feel your abs working? Nope\u2026 didn\u2019t think so. Now lean backwards and take your hands towards the ceiling. Can you feel your abs now? Probably quite a lot, perhaps even quivering a bit? That\u2019s because your rectus abdominis is now working hard to decelerate lengthening \/ spinal extension.<\/p>\n Think about how we work other muscles in function. Our hamstrings flex the knee when you lift the foot off the floor, but they also decelerate knee flexion during walking and running, hopping and jumping etc\u2026 Without the deceleration and lengthening there can be no acceleration and contraction. When you jump, you drop down first to pre lengthen the calves and then you take off and they shorten. The more you drop, the higher you pop! We can apply the same concept to our abdominals. When we lie down we automatically remove a large proportion of our spines range of motion and when we then crunch, reverse curl etc\u2026 we are working a very small range of total available tissue, working it in isolation without any integration from nearby friends.<\/p>\n If you have ever laid down over a Swiss Ball for a crunch and found it harder, it\u2019s because you have started from a decline position, thereby increasing your range of motion. If we only work a small percentage of total available abdominal muscle, how strong can we ever really get in our core? Especially when you consider that most \u2018random\u2019 injuries happen when we have gone into end range of a movement, perhaps with load, such as lifting an awkward box whilst moving house, or picking up a child from the supermarket floor while they struggle \u2013 we have asked our body to be ok with this sudden exploration of movement which we don\u2019t usually do in a meaningful way. Yes, we might get really really good at short range teeny tiny movements that might make us feel \u2019strong\u2019, but unless you are strong at both short and end range you are leaving potential\u00a0strength and tissue\u00a0resilience on the table.<\/p>\n Finally\u00a0let\u00a0consider Davis\u2019s law.\u00a0Similarly to\u00a0Wolff\u2019s law which states that bone is deposited along lines of stress, Davis\u2019s law describes\u00a0how soft tissue re-models and deposits along the lines of mechanical stress. This applies to all\u00a0fibrous collagenous tissue such as tendon, muscle,\u00a0ligaments and\u00a0fascia. If we want strong,\u00a0resilient tissue which can move multi-directionally so that it\u2019s got our backs (poor joke – sorry!) when we\u00a0suddenly ask a bit more of it, then let\u2019s train it multi-directionally with lots of variability and in all positions, not just on the ground.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s train our core for life, not\u00a0aesthetically so that we are capable of moving our spines in all 6 combinations of movement they should be able to go through. And I\u2019ll let you\u00a0into a secret, you can still get a 6 pack doing\u00a0standing core work, as all any\u00a0muscle needs to grow is enough volume with enough intensity, over a long enough\u00a0period\u00a0of time AND in the specific case of abs, the right\u00a0nutrition and genetics!!<\/p>\n Floor work has it\u2019s uses. After abdominal or spinal surgery, small careful movements re-train the muscles to sit up and roll over again and are really important. Floor work can teach control of the pelvis and co-ordination of limbs and\u00a0trunk.\u00a0Some\u00a0clients really\u00a0enjoy the feel of some good old ab\u00a0crunches or\u00a0bicycles, in which case I\u2019ll allocate a few\u00a0minutes at the end of the session for something\u00a0because they get a kick out of it. So, you don\u2019t need to throw it out altogether, but mix up your core work. We can train our core standing, sitting, kneeling, lying, jumping, hopping\u2026 the list is endless\u2026 so let\u2019s embrace all the wonderful things are bodies can and\u00a0should be able to do and give our clients an\u00a0experience that makes them feel movement AND muscle strong.<\/p>\n Can\u00a0anyone do this\u00a0sequence?<\/strong><\/p>\n In theory yes, but if you have any sort of low back\u00a0pain which is\u00a0exacerbated by spinal extension then start with a little and build up. Our spines are meant to move in all directions, but if they are not used to a direction such as\u00a0extension\u00a0they can get stiff and this might cause pain when we try and use it again. My back used to hate yoga\u00a0practise which included lots of up dog, cobra and backbends, but the more I have persevered and kept doing these moves and gradually exposed my back to extension, the more it has given me and the less pain I have.<\/p>\n It takes time\u00a0though and\u00a0sometimes you have to back off\u00a0before you can move\u00a0forwards. Keep going though as our\u00a0spines are more resilient than we give them credit for. If you or a\u00a0client has current low back pain or are experiencing an acute episode of\u00a0pain where your back does not want to move into flexion or extension, then leave this until\u00a0you can move your\u00a0pelvis comfortably in all directions again and then start with just a couple of moves.<\/p>\n How do I regress and progress the moves?<\/strong><\/p>\n Weight, range of motion and levers. The\u00a0towel is light so I always start people with that, but you can also try a light resistance band. You can then increase load with whatever equipment you have\u00a0available,\u00a0anything\u00a0you can safely press over head or\u00a0to the side. You can reduce\u00a0intensity\u00a0by bending your elbows to shorten the lever length whether you are holding a towel or a\u00a0weight. You can make the whole move smaller\u2026 or bigger of course for more\u00a0intensity.<\/p>\nAb Day? Or core for life?<\/h3>\n
Floor Stability<\/h3>\n
Six Pack or Movement Stack?<\/h3>\n
Core for Life Summary<\/h3>\n
FAQs:<\/h3>\n