Its not all about the six pack......
Multifidus (muscles running along the spine)
Diaphragm
TVA (transverse abdominal wall)
Pelvic floor
Internal obliques
All of these major muscle groups need to work together to stabilise your body when stresses are placed upon it. Think of your core as a platform. An unstable platform is going to inhibit activity and decrease performance, whatever it may be.
There is a great quote from Paul Chek (a highly rated sports practitioner and pioneer in the development of functional core training), who says ‘You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe’.
When working to gain a solid core, work from the inside out!!
In my opinion, far too many exercise programmes concentrate on the superficial muscles of the core (the mirror muscles) and less on the stabilising muscles. This means that, although you might look like you have a solid core by working those 6 pack muscles underneath, your deeper core muscles (that do most of the stabilising) are a lot weaker and less developed than they should be. This leads to an unstable core and ultimately increases your chance of injury.
The TVA (transverse abdominal wall) is a deeper muscle group and can’t be seen through training. People don’t train them for a number of reasons. Either, they don’t know they exist, don’t know how to activate them or, if they do, aren’t bothered about training a muscle that can’t be seen. However, your TVA is actually the muscle that you really want to train if you want a nice flat stomach as its primary function is to draw in the belly.
Try this: Stand up with one hand raised as if you are giving someone a wave. Now have someone lightly force your hand back with a gentle push…..easy for them to do?
This time: Pull in on your belly button and pull up on your anus. Now get them to try again…..not so easy for them this time? You have just unlocked your inner strength; it all gets a lot easier from here!
When a weightlifter wears a belt around their core, it is for support. It essentially does the job of your TVA. We already have an inbuilt belt that, when trained properly, will provide good protection for our spines.
A good way to train your core is to start with stabilising exercises with little to no load. Once strong enough to perform exercises in a stable environment then you can move on to a more unstable environment, and then start to add load.
Here is an example of a good progressive inner abdominal programme:
1. Perform isometric TVA contractions (draw in the belly button and hold while breathing normally) lying prone (belly down) on the floor.
2. Perform isometric TVA contractions lying supine (belly up) on the floor.
3. Integrate….start adding leaver movement (movement of the limbs).
4. Move to standing TVA contractions…this is far more functional.
5. Integrate movement.
6. Add load.
For functionality, multi-dimensional movements are a must when training your core.
A lot of programmes place too much emphasis on linear training and sagittal plane movements. Functionally this is a flawed way of training as we are not 2 dimensional beings. We need to do 3 dimensional training to be functionally fit.
Planes of movement:
Sagittal plane movements - forward to back
Transverse plane movements – rotational/twist
Frontal plane movements- side to side/bend
All of these movements should be performed when training the core. Even if you do a sport that is predominantly linear (like running), you will benefit from multi-directional training as you will be training your stabilising muscles that will then allow your primal movers (the bigger muscles that perform the main movement) to work better and give you a better performance.
Think of a bike. If the wheels and tyres are new and strong but you have attached them to an old, loose bracket then it doesn’t matter how good the wheels are, they won’t be able to perform well as they won’t have the stability of the bracket.
Stabilisation is the key to strength!!
Sam Barden is a personal trainer who runs SB Fit-Core, a home fitness service geared around functional core strength and stability. Sam has developed well rounded, core specific programmes used to improve and develop core strength and pelvic stability. By using a variety of multidirectional movements, all stemming from core recruitment, SB Fit-Core programmes will help improve balance, proprioception, stability and strength, giving the client a well-conditioned body, which will improve any athletes’ performance and vastly decrease chances of injury.
SB Fit-Core is a North Tyneside-based mobile fitness service. Sam has been in the industry for going on 10 years now and has helped many clients reach their exercise goals. He is a fully qualified personal trainer through Premier Training International.
You can visit the website by clicking here.