- What is core strength?
Well, it's a buzz phrase that's used by many of us.
Coaches, athletes, trainers all refer to this.
But what exactly are they meaning?
Well, I'm going to peel back the layers
and explain in just a moment,
but you might be worrying that you've got no core.
But, if you're able to stand upright unsupported,
then you're okay, you've got some muscles working at least.
In order, though, to swim, bike, run,
or do any other dynamic movements efficiently
you need to have all of your core muscles working together.
So today I'm going to be explaining
how you can strengthen those core muscles
and exactly what they are.
So if you want to know more, stick with us for this video.
(techno music)
Most of us will have a core that does more
than purely support our spine and our torso.
But what is its relevance in sport?
Well, having a strong coordinated core
is going to allow you to perfect and perform
certain movements more smoothly and more efficiently,
as well as preventing your from getting injured.
So in that case, why is so often overlooked?
Well, until you get an injury or a plateau in performance
then an exercise that gives very small tangible outcomes
is often seen as unnecessary.
The trend to doing core work, though,
has consistently been growing
as coaches and athletes realize the importance of it.
For example, a runner who has a weak core
is going to be using more of their supporting muscles
every time their foot strikes,
and therefore are going to fatigue
quicker than an athlete who's more conditioned.
You don't need to know the exact detail
of all the layers of the core,
but having a bit of an understanding I found helps.
So the core is basically made up of several layers
that wrap around your torso,
along with some other muscles that actually attach into it.
And the old school thought was having a six pack
set of muscles down the front
meant that you had a really good core.
Now I hate to break it to you
that just if you've got beach-ready abs
doesn't necessarily mean that all of those layers
are strong and working well.
Well, that famous muscle I mentioned
is the rectus abdominis, and it's one that you see
demonstrated by fitness models.
And yes, it does make up part of your core
but it's very much the external layer.
And it's those layers that fit in underneath
that you can't actually see
that are probably more important
as they act to hold your torso in a really good posture,
which then allows you to move your levers,
your arms and your legs and those bigger muscles
far more efficiently,
and for those muscles to resist fatigue.
So basically, having a strong core
is going to improve your efficiency and your endurance.
It will come as no surprise that with the core consisting
of so many layers and all in varying directions,
that there's actually a huge array
of strengthening exercises out there.
So, I've had the hard task of whittling it down,
but I've got it to a selection
which I'm going to share with you now.
We're going to start deep, and by that I mean
the muscles that are at the bottom layer.
Those ones that play such a key role,
but are actually almost impossible to palpate.
And you'll understand this exercise
because it really is reflected in its name, dead bug.
You're basically on your back and in a position
as though a bug as got stuck and died.
Right, so once you're on your back
you're then going to bring your legs up to 90 degrees
so that your shins are parallel with the ground
and your hips and your knees are pretty much
at 90 degree angle, and hopefully I'm about there.
From that you're going to take your arms up
so they're facing towards the ceiling.
And this is where it's important to engage your core,
and you want to keep a slight curve in your lumbar spine,
you should be able to almost get your hand underneath.
And you need to maintain that throughout the exercise.
So from here engage your opposite hand to your opposite leg.
You're going to extend them away at equal time,
so extending your arm above your head
as your opposite leg extends away.
The other leg and the arm stay in the same position.
And you bring it back to the center.
And then repeat on the other side,
the whole time only going as far
as you can control and maintain that strong core
and lumbar spine position.
The most difficult part of that exercise
is keeping the movement really smooth
and maintaining that lower back position.
And it isn't about how far you can go
with your arms and your legs,
but more about how much control you have.
And yes, you're probably not going to get a sweat on doing this
but if you do it right it's really going to
strengthen your core.
So if you're starting out it's a good idea
to aim for somewhere between five to eight reps
on each side, three times through.
Let's mix things up a bit now
and move to a mentally easier exercise,
but one that's physically more demanding, prone walkouts.
Okay, so you need to first of all start
in the plank position with your hands
underneath your shoulders.
And then a nice straight line that goes
from your shoulders to your hips and your ankles.
And as the exercise sounds, you're going to be walking out
but with your hands.
So from here you're simply going to take little steps out
to as far as you can control that nice plank position
and then return so that your hands
are underneath your shoulders.
Now as a progression, you can take it out
again to as far as you're comfortable
and hold it momentarily,
I'm not staying there that long right now.
(chuckles) But obviously as you get stronger
you can hold that longer.
Try to repeat this 10 times.
Once you've done your 10,
take a rest and repeat it twice more.
(techno music)
Back to a dynamic one and an exercise
that's very relevant to running.
Start by standing with your feet
directly underneath your hips,
and you're going to drive one knee up to 90 degrees
so that your knee is in line with your hip
and you've got a 90 degree angle
at both the knee joint and the hip joint.
And you're going to propel with the opposite arm
just like you would in running.
Pause at the top before lowering back down.
And you want to drive this through 10 times on one leg
before swapping and repeating 10 times on the other.
This is one of those exercises
that might not feel purely related to core,
but as I mentioned earlier,
when you're running you're continually engaging your core.
And this exercise is really having the added challenge
of focusing on the diagonal movement
as well as the need to balance.
And feel free to speed it up and make it nice and dynamic
just like you would with running.
As long as you can still manage to keep that balance
at the top and maintain that good posture throughout.
Like I said, 10 times on each leg
and repeat all of that three times with a rest in-between.
It's back to the finer control now,
let me introduce the superman.
It does sound easy, but to do it properly
it requires quite a lot of concentration and patience.
Okay, for this one start in four-point kneeling.
So it's important that your hands are
directly underneath your shoulders
and your knees are directly underneath your hips.
And the all important part of this exercise
is finding that correct position in your pelvis.
You want to find a neutral spine.
So in order to do that we're going to go to either extremes.
So first of all, tip your pelvis as far forwards as you can,
and you will increase that lumbar spine extension.
Then you're going to tip your pelvis all the way back
so that you're flexing your lumbar spine.
And now you need to find that middle point.
Once you've got that middle point
that's what you need to maintain
for the whole of this exercise, that's your key point here.
Okay, now like dead bug, you're going to engage
the opposite arm to the opposite leg.
But the whole time concentrating on
keeping your spine completely still.
So once you've engaged those,
if you slightly lift that hand and the opposite knee,
then you're going to extend away very smoothly
whilst trying to keep that spine completely still.
If you extend too far you'll lose the control
in your lumbar spine.
Bring it back to the center, find that position again,
and then extend the opposite side.
If you got too far, like I said, you'll lose the control.
Once you're back to the middle swap over to the other side.
Repeat that just five times on each side
'cause it is a really difficult exercise.
And then take a rest, do it three more times.
If you're finding this too hard, however,
you can simply just do the arms to start with
and then you can progress to purely doing
the legs on their own.
For this last one I'm being really kind,
'cause it starts on your back.
Although, it is slightly deceptive
and it's actually the exercise that I have to admit
I dread in my yoga class.
But that's because it really does get your core firing.
For this you want to resume dead bug position.
Instead of your hands going up to ceiling, though,
you're going to rest them on either thigh.
And you need to ideally have a timer set for 30 seconds,
because from this position you are going to push your hands
into your thighs whilst pushing your thighs into your hands.
So basically bracing against each other for 30 seconds.
Once that 30 seconds is up you take both hands,
place them on your left hight, hold this,
pushing as hard as you can for another 30 seconds.
And you know the drill here, yep, onto the right thigh
and again hold for 30 seconds.
Repeat this back to the first position,
both hands, for another 30.
You're going to go through the whole lot
four times through and then you can take a rest
and do it all again once more.
I think that's probably enough for you
to get started with for now.
And remember that you're going to be engaging
and using those core muscles
when you're doing things like running drills
or squatting in the gym,
or any other really full body dynamic movement.
But if you've got any core exercises that you love
or are a bit different then please share them with us
and do that in the comment section below.
And whilst you're at it, give us a like
and a follow over at GTN.