Core Confusion?

Amy Land
Next Level Performance Trainer

Core is misunderstood. Often as a trainer I get asked "how can I lose weight and inches around my core?"  as the person points to their abdomen area. Even though there are numerous exercises to train and tone your abs there is no such phenomenon as reducing fat in one particular area ("spot reducing") whether it be your stomach or other areas of your body. We have to start seeing our bodies not as one-dimensional, isolated parts but as a fully integrated, interdependent three dimensional moving machine.

To get and stay in shape, you should work out regularly, eat a low-fat diet and live a healthy life-style. But the "Next Level" of health, strength and coordination requires us to also work on the "pillars" of our body: all the muscles that support the hips, torso, and shoulders.  Training these areas of the body in a functional sense will help prevent injuries related to sports and life; building these "pillars" through flexibility, strength and stability will in effect increase your metabolism and fat-burning potential for your entire body throughout the day.

Often when we think of working out, we think of building strength, which is important. But stability within strength is essential.  Strength is the ability to produce force, whereas stability is the act of controlling force.  The ab muscles never work in isolation in the body, they work with other core muscles in the hip and back creating movement.  For example, when you are playing tennis, it’s important to be "strong," but you absolutely need to control these forces in order to get the most benefit, or you'll be hitting the ball over the fence rather than between the lines; this is stabilized and controlled strength. One must have the other.

From the moment we are born we have all naturally trained our core. Think of a baby during the first six months of life. They start with their pillars to learn how to sit up, push up, crawl and eventually walk.  They are radically working on their strength, but the baby has to coordinate all their movement in order to function and move properly. Think of your core or pillar as the hub of the spoke of a wheel.  Your body is the wheel and your limbs are the spokes and they need a balanced and fit hub in order to work properly.

There are many different types of training programs you can follow to achieve your personal fitness goals. Working with a trainer from Next Level Performance will provide you with the professional angle you will need in order to assess your individual weaknesses and how to overcome them. Most of the time traditional strength training alone won’t catch and even-out muscle imbalances. Or if you suffer from back or knee pain, keying in on just that part simply isn't enough; your whole body needs to work together to solve the problem. With some help aligning the muscles of the hips, torso, and shoulders, energy is transferred more efficiently throughout the entire body.  When this happens, body doesn’t get as tired and it is much less like to get injured. For example, when you suffer from lower back pain everything in the body is very obviously connected as you really feel the pain transfer down into the hips, knees, and ankles. It is common for one injury to lead to another and another making it more difficult to get in shape. This injury cycle can spiral into weight-gain, depression, and chronic illnesses.

So Strength Training is greatly beneficial, but exponentially better when combined with Stability Training and seeing your body as one unified machine of many parts. As you already know, training reverses bone loss, tones muscles, reduces fat along and has a myriad of other benefits. As your workout expands beyond strength and gets more and more balanced, these benefits will increase greatly.

If you are looking to get even stronger and obtain more benefits from a balanced "core" or "pillar" training, then you and your workout needs to be evaluated objectively.  Have you been assessed lately by a trainer? We can help you work on improving your pillar strength, flexibility and balance to move you into the Next Level…

Core Confusion ~ by Amy Land, CSCS - Next Level Performance Trainer Published: October 13, 2009 © Next Level Performance

References:
Core Performance  by Mark Verstegen
Athletic Body in Balance by Gray Cook