"Core" Concepts, Part 2 - Best Exercises for Improving Core Strength

In a previous post, I looked at what the often-discussed but seldom-understood "core" actually is, focusing on functionality, performance, and health. I concluded that, despite common wisdom, the core's primary function is not to attract babes at the beach or to act as a washboard in the event of a malfunctioning washing machine. Rather, the core's functionality lies in its ability to position and stabilize the trunk and hip/shoulder joints and to transfer and/or generate force. In other words, if you'd like to be a good athlete or even just an adequately strong human being, you need a strong core.

So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite training methods/exercises for working towards a stronger, healthier core.

#1 - Odd object exercises

Odd object training is a no-frills, no-strings-attached, simple and effective way to get strong as heck. If someone were to come to me and ask, "hey coach, if I had to choose only one exercise to do for the rest of my life, what should it be?" I would first tell them to just do multiple exercises, because just doing one exercise is a dumb idea, and then I would tell them that if they insist on doing just one exercise, they should probably choose heavy, odd object exercises. Perhaps that way they could get wicked strong and lay the beat-down on their mysterious oppressor who is only allowing them to do one exercise.

Odd object exercises make for a great core exercise because the unevenly distributed weight of odd objects requires your core to work hard to stabilize, often in multiple planes throughout a movement, and the bulkiness of most odd object puts the center of mass farther away from your body, again requiring your core to do additional work to keep from being bent and contorted in every direction.

Odd object training is pretty intuitive, but some of my favorite odd object excercises/implements for strengthening the core are...
 - Stones
Be it a nicely molded atlas stone or a big heavy rock you found in your backyard, stones should be a go-to in odd object training. Perform stone loads, stone carries, or a barbell exercise such as a deadlift or clean & press with a stone.

- Sandbags
The nice thing about sandbags is they are a lot softer than stones, so it's easier to toss them around without some of the discomfort a heavy stone may cause. Sandbags are also particularly good for core strengthening because the load itself is dynamic--the sand tends to shift around in the bag and therefore weight distribution changes throughout the exercise. Good sandbag exercises that'll strengthen your core include sandbag shouldering, sandbag runs/carries (zercher/hugged or unilateral shouldered), sandbag getups, sandbag around-the-worlds, and countless variations of sandbag rotational exercises. As with any exercise where you have the a unilateral load or unilateral motion (i.e. load/motion on one side of your body), be sure to perform the exercise for both sides.

- Kegs
Kegs can be filled with water, sand, rocks, etc., but filling with water will yield the most challenging implement, as the sloshing water will constantly change the center of mass and require your core and other stabilizing muscles to work like hell. Regardless of what it's filled with, the bulkiness of the keg and the changing center of mass will make it a great tool for training the core. (Note that how you intend to use you keg may require different sizes and weights). Good core-strengthening keg exercises include keg carries, keg clean & press, and keg shouldering.

#2 - Medicine ball/Slam ball throws

Medicine balls/slam balls (I'll just call them med balls for the sake of brevity) are great tools to have in the gym, and lend themselves well to a number of core-strengthening exercises, particularly of the rotational and accelerative/decelerative variety. A huge number of sports movements involve high-force throwing or swinging of some kind--think about swinging a baseball bat, throwing a football, throwing a punch, grappling--and all of these movements require the body to accelerate and decelerate quickly, often under load. Med balls are a great tool for training this element of core strength.
Some of my favorite core exercises include: med ball rotational throws (front/parallel, side/perpendicular, and backwards) (all can be performed with partner or against wall), med ball slams, med ball rotational slam, and med ball roll back and throw. With all of these med ball exercises, explosiveness and speed should be priority.
(Note: when performing med ball throws against a wall, the bouncier, rubber med ball will bounce back faster and will require your core to work harder to decelerate, whereas the larger leather balls will absorb most of the force--choose your med ball according to the stimulus you are seeking; also, perform throws closer to the wall to focus on speed and quick reps, further from the wall to focus on power development and harder throws)

#3 - Plank and plank variations

Very little introduction or explanation needed here. Planks strengthen the core for stability, and that's one of the primary things we need our core to do. There are countless variations of the basic front plank, but some of my favorites are the side plank, the one-arm one-leg plank, the plank walk and the ab-wheel roll out (this can be performed from the knees or from your feet, and you can use a barbell or gymnasic rings if you don't have an ab-wheel).
Something to keep in mind with planks: prioritize quality of time. A 3 minute plank during which you're hanging your weight on your spine, arching your back, and rounding your shoulders is not making you stronger. A 20 second plank in which you maintain a neutral spine and stay as stiff as a steel beam is.

#4 - Basic gymnastic movements

Gymnasts are required to demonstrate a huge amount of core stability and positional stiffness, so it should go without saying that incorporating some basic gymnastic movements into your training can be a huge asset. A few of my favorites that should be easy to learn and perform with basic equipment are hollow rocks, v-ups, l-hangs and l-sits, and strict toes to bar. First priority with these exercises is positioning, not time or reps.

#5 - Back extensions and holds

Perhaps the most oft-forgotten part of the core is the back. The prevalence of back pain and back injury in both athletes and the general population is enough to tell us that far too many people are walking around with weak backs and crappy positioning. Some of the best exercises to strengthen the back and reinforce good positioning are back extensions and holds. My favorites are supermans, back extensions, and back extension iso holds (both can also be performed using a large exercise ball, or on a bench with a friend holding your ankles down).

By InfoGibraltar (Flickr: STRONGMEN 201373) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
It takes a lot more than crunches to build a strong core.

I'm going to leave you with a few things to keep in mind.
First and foremost, as with any exercise, proper form and resistance is the difference between getting stronger and getting injured. If you're unsure on form, seek the help of a knowledgeable trainer, and focus on form before you start throwing around big weights or doing tons of reps.

Second, most any multi-joint athletic movement is going to train your core to some extent (insofar as your core will be involved in most any multi-joint athletic movement). I've heard countless times that performing the basic barbell movements will train your core, and I agree--squat, bench, press, and deadlift and your core will get stronger. However, sometimes this is not enough. Sometimes your core is the weak link in your lifting and you need some additional core-focused work. Sometimes the demands of your sport go beyond the general bracing and isometric core strength that you can train with basic barbell lifts. And sometimes the core strength you get from the basic barbell lifts is just not strong enough. The exercises I have listed here (along with many that I did not list) help to strengthen the core to a degree or in a particular way that goes beyond what the basic barbell lifts can do. For the same reasons that you may train your triceps to increase your bench, that you may strengthen your hamstrings to help deter low back pain, or that you may perform glute exercises to improve your sprinting, you should strengthen your core.

Third, when should you include these exercises in your routine? Good question. Short answer: whenever. Just do them. I generally implement core work after the main lifts, often between sets of other accessory work, though sometimes I like to include some core in warm-ups. Other times, core work can work well as part of a conditioning workout (especially with something like sandbag work). It's up to you, and what matters most is that you actually do the work. Just be aware of the demands you're putting on your body. If your main exercise is a maximal set of heavy deadlifts and you precede that with 10 minutes of plank and 400 meters of heavy keg carries, realize that your deadlift may suffer a bit.

Finally, most of the exercises I have listed here will not give you a "burn" in your rectus abdominis or your external obliques. What is this fool's gold?! A core exercise with no burn? Yep. I don't know when or why, but at some point in the history of strength training somebody decided that core exercises must involve a "burn" if they are to be deemed sufficient and effective, and somehow that idea caught on and has stuck. I'm sure there are still top level D1 strength & conditioning coaches and six-figure personal trainers out there training top-tier athletes under the erroneous premise that core training needs to involve a "good burn." Think of it this way: when you perform a heavy set of 5 in the back squat, do your hamstrings get all burn-y? Probably not. Then do you mean to tell me that doing heavy sets of 5 in the back squat won't strengthen your hamstrings?
If you still think that you're not getting a good core workout unless your abs are on fire, then you need to change the way you think about strengthening your core.


Stay swole.

Why You Should Be Spending More Time on the Ground

This post is inspired by some ideas I came across in a short article written by Dan John.

In some cultures and places around the world, it's the norm to sleep, eat, and just spend a lot of time on the ground. But that is not the case in America and in much of the Western world. With comfy chairs and couches in every room and beds set at a nice comfortable height a few feet from the floor, it's no surprise that we as a culture are spending less and less time on the ground, particularly as we age. Don't get me wrong, I love a good soft couch as much as anyone else. But I think our aversion to ground-time is a serious problem. We need to spend more time on the ground. Why?

(By toomanycircles from UK (Chris Ashton) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
Just getting comfortable.

Ground-time can be hard work.

Getting onto and off of the ground requires a bit of work. The average 50-year-old's descent to the ground is probably accompanied by a symphony of joint pops and creaks and an eventual sigh of relief, and the ascent back to standing is likely slow, awkward, and coupled with groans of effort and dismay. In the Dan John article linked above, he proposes an interesting experiment in which you wear a heart monitor and spend five minutes just getting down on the ground and standing back up. That's it. Get on the ground (on your front, side, or back), and then get back up for five minutes.
Ground-time requires a lot more physical effort than sofa time, and, if we're being honest, the average American needs some more physical effort built into his or her everyday life.

Ground-time requires some strength and mobility.
When you get down on the ground, your hips, shoulders, legs, arms, and core are all working to control your descent, and getting back up generally requires (depending on your positioning) some sort of sit-up or push-up coupled with a squatting or lunging movement. (Hey, that almost sounds like a good basis for a workout.) 

In addition, ground-time requires and promotes mobility. When sitting on the ground, our hip and knee joints are generally not at a nice, modest 90 degree angle. Sitting on the ground usually involves near-end-range flexion or extension of the ankle, knee, and/or hip joints. Spending time in these positions (assuming good posture) can improve joint health and range of motion. The same cannot be said of your positioning sitting on the couch. Additionally, most people probably have enough basic strength to get on and off the ground without a problem, but they are lacking mobility and/or stability in end-ranges. Getting on and off the ground generally requires considerable knee and hip flexion as well as shoulder stability in a position of extension. 

Spending more time on the ground can encourage and improve strength, stability, and mobility of major joints. No, sitting on the ground instead of the couch will not turn you into Dmitry Klokov, but it might just make you into a better-functioning human being.

The ground is hard.

It's no surprise that our culture is generally averse to spending time on the ground. Comfort-wise, the choice between a plush, leather couch and the living room carpet is an easy one. I'm not here to argue that being on the ground is more comfortable than your La-Z-Boy recliner (though sprawling out on the floor can be incredibly refreshing at times), but this might actually be a great reason to prioritize ground time. It's pretty easy to spend 3 hours in your recliner and not move much other than your chip hand and your beer hand, but ground time tends to make you a bit more restless. While restlessness isn't always a positive association, it can be a very positive factor in combating the average American's overly-sedentary lifestyle. Spend more time on the ground, and chances are you'll be moving around, switching positions, and getting up and about a bit more. That's a good thing. 

I've fallen, and I can't get up.

There is no question that falls are a major problem for the elderly. According to the CDC, in 2010, falls cost the US healthcare system $30 billion, and among older adults falls are 5x more likely to result in hospitalization than injuries from another cause. While aging does naturally make a fall relatively more dangerous (through osteoporosis, general declines in strength and mobility, etc.), it doesn't have to be as huge of a risk factor as it is. If ground-time were a regular part of our everyday lives throughout the years, not only would we be generally stronger and more mobile, but we would be much more comfortable getting up from the ground if/when a fall does happen. We wonder why it's such an endeavour for great-uncle Louie to get up off the ground after a very minor fall--there's a good chance it's because he hasn't been on the ground in half a decade. 

Athletes need to be comfortable with ground-time. 

(By National Photo Company [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

All contact sports and many other sports require athletes to be comfortable with ending up on the ground and quickly returning to their feet. Football, rugby, hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, MMA, basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball, and many more require, to varying degrees, athletes to be able to quickly and efficiently get up off the ground and continue gameplay/competition without pause. Particularly in contact sports where being knocked to the ground is a frequent occurrence, athletes should be well-trained in ground-work such that their movement is quick and effortless. 

Additionally, ground-work can be a great way to examine movement patterns, functional mobility, and joint stability of athletes. Have you ever seen someone getting on the ground who looks like they're just not sure how to do it? Their knees cave in and jut forward, their upper back hunches awkwardly forward and to the side, and their arm stretches out towards the ground, and then they kind of just plop the rest of the way down. A lot can be learned from watching someone get down on and stand up from the ground. While there are certainly more complex movements that a trainer or coach can use, watching an athlete get onto or up from the ground is a great starting point for movement screening. A coach or trainer can tell if an athlete tends to over- or under-pronate, if they lack ankle or hip mobility, if they naturally tend towards valgus or varus knee movement, if they have a habit of rounding the upper back or rolling the shoulder forward, if they strongly prefer one side, and so on. 

And it's not just for athletes.

You may not be playing in the Super Bowl or the Olympics, but chances are at some point you'll be playing with your kids, grandkids, or friend's kids, that you'll need to get on the ground to reach something under the sofa, that you'll want to work under your car, you'll want to plant something in the garden, or maybe you just want to lay down on the beach or a nice patch of grass without having to worry about how you'll get up. 

The ground is dirty.

(By Charles L. Ford, IV [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
This dog knows what's up.

Yes, this is a positive thing. We live in a time and place where our hands undergo a constant barrage of anti-bacterial wash-rinse-repeat, where hand-sanitizer is in every purse and every doorway of every public building, and where dirt is the enemy and "bacteria" is a naughty word to many people. However, there is some evidence suggesting that for optimal health, we need some dirt. Our gut health--which, thanks to yogurt commercials, we all know is an important thing--is dependent upon exposure to new bacteria. In addition, mycobacterium vaccae, found in good ol' dirt, has been found to have antidepressant properties. In other words, a little dirt exposure could make you happier and healthier. And the ground is the perfect place to get friendly with some dirt. I don't suggest that you lick your doormat or never clean your bathroom floor again; however, something as simple as laying on the grass, doing some gardening, or just sitting on the floor and playing with your dog is a great way to expose yourself to some immune-boosting bacteria. 

(Note: I am not proposing that we return to Middle Ages sanitation habits. Our modern Western lifestyles and cleanliness habits/abilities are a vast improvement; however, we've gone a bit overboard with our germophobia and sanitization-o-philia.)

Practice makes perfect.

So you need to spend more time on the ground, and maybe it is just that simple. But I'm not suggesting that you just throw yourself down and see what happens. In addition to spending some of your leisure time on the ground rather than on the couch, there are a number of exercises (some of which you might already be doing) that can help you incorporate ground-work into your training. 

First and foremost, yoga. Yoga is chock full of opportunities to be on the ground, bring yourself down to the ground in a controlled manner, and get up from the ground, all with a focus on stability, positioning, and fluid movement. This, I think, is one of the most positive aspect of yoga and its current popularity. If you're looking for a good way to incorporate more ground-work into your training, yoga is a great place to start. 

Additionally, burpees or up-downs are a great way to incorporate ground-work into your training and get some conditioning in at the same time. 5 minutes of fast, constant burpees or up-downs will give your lungs a good run for their money. 

Core exercises and some gymnastics movements are also a great way to get in ground-work. A few of my favorites are hollow rocks, planks or side-planks, roll to candlestick, pistol with roll, turkish get-ups, supermans, and other basic abdominal exercises like sit-ups, v-ups, and lying leg raises. Additionally, a number of sprinting and speed drills involve starting from the ground. These can be hugely beneficial to field athletes. 

Lastly, foam rolling, soft-tissue work with a ball, and many other drills and stretches involve spending time on the ground. 

--

Sometimes we get too stuck in the rut of separating "exercise" from daily life. We're left with the detrimental idea that fitness is what happens in the gym, and life is what happens everywhere else. Changing the way we see our daily habits can help close that gap and bring forth the realization that fitness is "happening" every minute of every day. 

Keep your swole grounded.

"Core" Concepts, Part 1 - What is the Core, Really?

Core training is the bee's knees right now. A Google search of "core training" comes up with 604,000,000 hits (soon to be +1), countless lists of the top 10 exercises for core strength, and a mind-boggling number of uses of the word "shredded." Unfortunately, the ubiquity of internet users' desires for a strong and well-exercised core overshadows the presence of any good definition of what the "core" really is, any real clarity on what it means to have a strong one, and any good explanation of why we should care.

(By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Lamel J. Hinton. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

So what is the "core?" 
Of those 604 million Google hits, I'd be willing to bet that about half of them are using "core" synonymously with "abs," and that to many people a "strong core" means visible and well-defined (see: SHREDDED) rectus abdominis muscles with very little body fat. While there's nothing inherently wrong with having a visible 6-pack, and while the rectus abdominis muscles are indeed part of the core, they are only a small piece of the whole ensemble.

I propose we define the core as:

The system of muscles and connective tissues surrounding the spine, including both deep and superficial muscles, which directly contributes to the positioning and stability of the spine and aids in the positioning of the rib cage and the shoulder & hip joints, including the pelvis and the scapulae; and which allows for (and in some cases contributes to) the transfer of force (muscle force) from the limbs to some external point(s) of resistance (resistive force) which is not a point on the force-producing limb (particularly in a closed-chain movement). 

This definition of core has two tiers: anatomical and functional. The anatomical definition, which could be generally summed up as "the torso," is quite general and really only sets the stage for the more precise and function-based definition. Because we are talking about the core in the context of human movement and performance, we need the specificity of function.

The functional demands on the trunk in the context of basic movement, sport, optimal force production, etc. provide us with a pretty accurate view of what tissue groups make up the core. The core is aptly named in that it is at the "center," both anatomically and with regard to movement. The arms, legs, and head are all attached to and anchored in your torso--your core. Most all multi-joint movements, and particularly those which could be deemed "functional" movements, are produced through a limb that has proximal insertions in the torso. And unless you believe competitive typing or staring contests are sports, all sport movements are anchored in, and in some ways originate from, the core.

In order to get a clear view of what the core is in the context of function, let's look at a few examples of common movements and the demands on the core in each. For the sake of variety and thoroughness, the movements I have chosen span a wide range of intensities and complexities:

- Walking: Probably the most "basic" and common of all human movements is walking. It is a low-force, low-speed movement. While the prime movers in walking are muscles of the legs and butt, the limbs which generate the movement are attached at the hip joint, and many of these muscles have insertions (i.e., where the muscle attaches to bone) in the torso, and therefore require a stable base (the core). Generation of force at the distal end (away from the center) of a joint requires stability at the proximal end (close to the center) of the joint.

- Swinging a baseball bat: Swinging a baseball bat is a low-resistance, high-speed, rotational movement. Force is generated primarily by the legs and hips and contributed to by the arms, shoulders, and trunk. The back leg generates a strong force against the ground and weight is transferred forward; that force is then translated through the rotation of the hips and subsequent rotation of the trunk and shoulders; the shoulders and arms add additional accelerative forces which are then transmitted to the bat. Ultimately, the swinging of a baseball bat involves the generation of a large force against the ground and transmission of this force through the trunk. In the swinging of a baseball bat, the core is involved in force transmission, acceleration, and deceleration. The core is involved in force transmission in that the enormous forces generated against the ground and through the legs and hips require rigidity in the torso in order to transmit said forces to the shoulders; the core is involved in acceleration in that the muscles of the core (particularly the obliques) contribute to the rotational force that is transmitted to the shoulders; and the core is involved in deceleration in that it must slow down and stop the rotation of trunk in the follow-through.

- Blocking/Form-tackling: A standard block or form tackle is a high-speed, high-resistance, high-impact movement. Force from the legs and hips and momentum are transmitted through the torso to the shoulder or arms, and subsequently to the opposing player. When blocking or tackling, the primary point of contact between the blocking/tackling player and the other player is generally the shoulder or the forearms and hands, while the legs and hips are continually driving into and accelerating against the ground. The torso is the connection between the two points of resistance (the player being blocked/tackled and the ground), and therefore must exhibit great stability in order for the accelerative forces against the ground to be transmitted to the opposing player. This is the job of the core. The core is also required to resist rotation (as blocks/tackles are generally on one side or another, not straight on) and sometimes to generate rotational force. Football hits can involve in excess of 1500lbs of force (sources 1,2). Without a strong, rigid core, a player attempting to block or tackle would just fold in half.

- Bench pressing: The bench press (when performed with maximal or near-maximal loads) is a very high-resistance, lower speed, low-impact, and primarily upper-body movement. However, the core is still an absolutely essential element in performing the bench press. One of the prime movers in the bench press, the pectoralis major, is proximally attached at the rib cage and distally attached at the humerus of the upper arm. When the muscles contracts, it pulls on both the insertion at the rib cage and the insertion on the humerus. If the rib cage were not stabilized and rigid, the forces generated by the muscles would pull the rib cage towards the arm and would not allow transmission of nearly as much force through the arms. In the bench press, the core is responsible for stabilization of the proximal insertions to allow transmission of forces. In addition, the core is responsible for creating and maintaining optimal positioning of the back, chest, shoulders, and hips, and is necessary for creating leg drive and maintaining stability against the bench.

These examples should demonstrate that the core is more than just the rectus abdominus muscles. It is all of the muscles, front and back, surrounding your spine. Yes, your back is your core too (I'm looking at you, Six Pack Shortcuts). Do cut/chiselled/shredded abs look better than flab? Yes. Do they necessarily prevent you from destroying your spine when you help a friend push his stalled car? No. Strength is not always what you see in the mirror.

Why does it matter?
It should be pretty apparent by now why it's important to have a strong core; but, I'll offer a brief summary and explanation in case you're not tired of reading yet.

Think about trying to push someone off of a diving board. Not too hard if they're not expecting it, right? Now think about trying to push someone off of a diving board with a pool noodle. How's that going for you? The pool noodle is a weak, unstable core. You have plenty of strength to push your foe, but the limp pool noodle is sapping all of your force production and turning it into a floppy, bendy, comical dud. Now think about pushing someone off of a diving board with a concrete pylon. Much more effective. The concrete pylon is a strong, stable core. All of the force you generate is being transmitted through the pylon and too the unsuspecting victim.

The core has a unique job in that it is required to both produce stability as well as express mobility around the spine. The core’s job is very precise: it needs to allow mobility of the trunk and limbs around the spine (think about swinging a baseball bat), but it also must prevent excessive mobility (think wrestling or deceleration in a golf swing), and be able to create stability under extreme forces (think football tackle). Most back injuries (and joint injuries, for that matter) occur when joint stability is lost and when a joint is pushed beyond its active range of motion. A strong core is the main player in keeping your back/spine happy and healthy, and in allowing optimal force production and sports performance. 

(By U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Damon J. Moritz [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Willing to bet there are some strong cores in that mix.

Stay swole.

In the next post, I'll discuss some exercises you can do to optimally train your core. (Hint: it's probably not crunches 'til the cows come home)