The term ‘core’ is typically
synonymous with the image of a well developed set of abs, concealed by little
to no bodyfat. And while a well developed, lean midsection is commonly
considered as one of the more appealing muscle groups in the eyes of both men
and women, the abs are just one of many muscles making up the core, and their purpose
goes beyond their visual appeal.
Generally when one struggles to
either increase their strength, or bring up a lagging muscle group, the first
thing that comes to mind is to look locally, and train the lift/bodypart more.
Logically this makes sense, because why would you look elsewhere than directly
at the area in which improvement is sought.
Unfortunately, this narrow
minded approach fails to provide an effective solution for most, because the
reason a bodypart is lagging, or why strength has ceased to increase, is not because
the lift/bodypart is not being trained. In fact, it’s assumed that if the lift
or bodypart in question is important to you, then it’s already receiving a
great deal of attention in your training program as is, and doing more of what
already isn’t working may only end up overworking your body’s capacity to
recover, thus being completely counterproductive. In these cases a more global
outlook may offer the perspective needed to identify the limiting factor.
What most people aren’t aware of
is that the body is designed for core activation to precede movement at the
extremities (hips, shoulders), which means if the core isn’t firing when it’s
supposed to, the amount of force you’ll be able to produce through the
extremities will be compromised. Because the body’s primary focus is spinal
stability, and the core’s primary function is to protect and stabilize the
spine when the extremities are in motion, it’s often the underlying issue in
relation to not being able to get stronger, or develop a lagging bodypart.
The neuromuscular system has a
built in governing effect beyond conscious control over how much strength it
will allow to be built, but as long as the body is in balance, the sky’s the
limit. It’s when things become imbalanced that it exercises this governing
effect in attempt to protect the body from getting too strong and ultimately
placing the weak link in the chain under unbearable loads. More often than not,
that weak link is the core.
The core is specifically
responsible for applying various amounts of force to produce and maintain trunk
flextion/anti-extension, trunk extension/anti-flexion, trunk rotation/anti-rotation,
trunk lateral flexion/anti-lateral flexion. Multiple muscle groups work in
synch to produce all these movements, the major players being the abs (rectus
abdominus and transverse abdominus), the obliques, the erectors
(paraspinal/erector muscles), the lats, the glutes, and the adductors to name a
few.
When these muscles fail to
provide the amount of force needed to provide stability, or maintain that force
for the necessary duration, the inability to lift more weight may present
itself. Therefore, it’s important to determine if the lack of progress is a
core related issue or not and there are a few ways to do this depending on the
movement/bodypart.
Lower body
The easiest way to determine
whether or not the core is the limiting factor for lower body movements is to
test the strength of a bilateral lift vs. a unilateral lift. The two movements
that come to mind are a squat, and a split-squat since the front leg involved
in a split squat goes through an identical pattern as both legs when performing
a squat. Also, if greater depth is reached during the split-squat, then it’s
likely that core stability is the issue. The front squat, Romanian deadlift,
and good morning (to determine if there is a weakness higher up the chain)
could also be used to round out lower body testing as well, but generally bilateral
strength vs. unilateral strength is enough.
In this case, if the split-squat
strength is significantly more than 50% of the squat strength, then it’s likely
the core is the limiting factor as logically you should be able to lift almost
double with two legs compared to one, and inability to do so would indicate
that core strength is not up to par with leg strength.
The next step would be to perform
asymmetrical split-squats by holding half what you can split-squat in one hand,
at shoulder or hip height, in the same hand as the front leg, and perform as
many reps as you can, then repeat for the opposite leg. Generally you will find
that one side is weaker in relation to the other, and thus you’ve identified
where your focus needs to be to correct the imbalance of the core so that your
strength can begin to climb. The asymmetrical lunge that was used to identify
the weakness would also be used to correct the imbalance with 2-3 sets of 8-10
reps per leg performed twice a week.
Upper body – push
Identifying whether or not the
core is a weakness for lower body movements is much easier than the upper body
simply because the majority of lower body movements, aside from leg machines,
are performed while standing, and therefore the core is needed to produce force
and provide stability. The upper body is a little bit trickier because the
majority of pushing movements are done in a manner in which stability is
provided by an external source (bench) as opposed to an internal source (the
core). But just because the bench provides stability does not mean that the
core cannot be a limiting factor however, as the body still adheres to the old
adage, ‘you’re only as strong as your weakest link’.
Because the core is needed to
produce force statically, and not dynamically, for upper body strength
movements, the best way to identify whether or not the core is the limiting
factor is to test the endurance of the core statically when performing a
strength movement, which is best done from the plank position. The movement
best suited for this is the plank-up, which is basically a triceps dominant
push-up. Basically you get into the push-up position, but instead of lowering
your chest to the floor, you lower yourself onto one elbow, then the next,
assuming the plank position, and then reverse the movement by placing one hand
on the floor, and then the next, and extending your arms until back in the
starting push-up position.
If you lose your core
positioning, as in your core begins to sag, before your triceps give out, then
the strength-endurance of your core needs work, and static holds, AKA plank
variations for a set period of time are best to accomplish this. If your triceps
give out first, than you know that your core has the strength and endurance
needed to withstand most nearly any upper body pushing exercise that you’ll do
with your current level of strength.
Upper body – pull
If you look at the orientation
of the muscles around the core you’ll see spiral-like ‘X’ patterns all over the
place, and the reason for this is because this overlapping design provides the
absolute greatest amount of stability possible. Some examples of this are the
internal obliques compared to the external obliques, and from the upper body to
lower body you’ll notice the obliques run in the same direction as the opposing
adductor muscles of the thigh, and the lats run in the same direction as the
opposite glute muscle.
If any of these muscles are relatively
weak, especially the ones whose orientation coincides with their own, then the
body will exercise its governing effect and prevent you from generating the
amount of force that you would otherwise be capable of. For example, the lats
and glutes work together on the back side of the core to stabilize the spine
while walking, running, climbing, etc. If the glutes are weak, or simply not
firing, the lats will be inhibited when performing movements like a chin-up, in
which they are the prime mover, although this can simply be improved by
squeezing the glutes. Doing so promotes a posterior pelvic tilt which the body
perceives as the spine being in a safe position, therefore allowing the lats to
produce maximal force. This ‘trick’ can be used when performing any exercise,
not just with chin-ups.
Core training
If you want well developed abs,
then yes, crunches are going to help, as will any exercise that works the
abdominals dynamically through a full range of motion as long as the tension is
great enough. But, if you want a core that will enable you to lift more weight,
and carryover to increasing the capacity to build bigger muscles then crunches
aren’t going to cut it. If you want to strengthen the weak link in the chain
and increase your capacity to lift more weight and build more muscle, than a
different approach is needed.
The core should be trained in a
manner in which the results carryover to your goal, and generally this means
contracting isometrically for a specific amount of time (dependent on the
duration of the sets in which the core is needed to provide stability), while
the extremities perform work through various planes of movement and ranges of
motion, as well as operating as part of a chain working through various degrees
of rotation and multiple planes.
Single plane, single joint
training can disrupt neuromuscular coordination and create neural confusion
because muscles aren’t supposed to be worked this way, and doing so results in
faulty recruitment patterns, which is generally why performing more work with
the hopes of bringing up a lagging bodypart doesn’t work. The neural confusion is
what causes the development of bodyparts to lag and become stagnant, and if
you’re already performing a ton of work which created the problem in the first
place, then doesn’t it stand to reason that more of the same will only make
things worse, not better? It should be obvious that you can’t develop a weak or
unresponsive bodypart with the same training that made it that way in the first
place.
Training multiple joints, in
multiple planes enhances neuromuscular coordination, which means more efficient
fiber recruitment, crucial for bringing up a lagging bodypart. Proprioceptive
demand can be increased by simply taking traditional movements and adding a
multi-planar, multi-joint movement to them. The increased demand also increases
the overload to the working plane of motion without negatively affecting the
amount of weight you can use, unlike if you were to perform the same movement
on an unstable surface like a bosu-ball. Adding this element also increases
oxygen debt, and caloric expenditure.
Proprioceptive demand increases
neuromuscular coordination and can also increase muscle demand and fiber
recruitment which can help bring up weak bodyparts, because weak bodyparts are
generally weak because of innervation. Muscles get stronger and respond better
when they’re trained as part of a movement chain, which is why training a weak
muscle as part of a movement chain forces it to adapt to the strength demands
of the whole movement, and it will ultimately respond better during traditional
isolation work due more efficient fiber recruitment and force production.
Adding these movements on separate days allows for ample recovery, but still
challenges the muscles neurologically since muscle innervation is effected
differently in different planes of motion.
Practical applications
The plank position teaches and
develops activation of the core in a manner which will carry over to
traditional strength movements because the core is needed to provide stability
so force can be maximally produced elsewhere. The options are pretty much
endless when it comes to increasing the difficulty of the plank, some of the
more common ways including elevating the lower body onto a stable or unstable
surface, elevating the upper body onto a stable or unstable surface, removing
one point of contact leaving you with three points of contact, or pretty much
any combination in between.
Olympic lifts with barbells or
dumbells, burpee variations, asymmetrically loaded strength movements,
asymmetrically loaded strongman movements, strength movements performed
unilaterally, jump variations, lunge variations, and push-up variations are all
movements that include various degrees of rotation and multiple planes in which
the core participates as part of a chain, and can all be chained together as
well to create a positive metabolic effect, one that is needed to burn fat off
so that the muscles of the core that everybody dearly wants, can be seen.
Chaining exercises together in
the form of a circuit increases energy expenditure and lactate production
throughout the whole body, which acidifies the pH to which the body responds by
elevating growth hormone, which stimulates the release of fatty acids into the
blood to be used for energy. This internal environment can be effectively and
efficiently created by combining a heavy/slow movement with a fast/light
movement, with the option to tack on an abdominal movement, and performed as a
circuit, or by performing a sequence of movements performed back to back with
the same implement (barbell, dumbells, etc) as part of a complex, the goal
being to simultaneously involve as much muscle mass as possible, and having
those muscles work as hard as possible (which is done by lifting with max speed
– think of a car engine, the bigger the engine, the more fuel that is burned,
and the faster the speed the more fuel the engine uses).
Complexes and circuit training can,
and should be, extremely fatiguing, which is a very positive thing because of
the increased neural drive to the working muscles, which should carryover to
isolation training for other bodyparts. When the body is battling fatigue, the
nervous system has to work harder to perform motor tasks, and in times of what
perceive to be desperation it will recruit the largest and most powerful motor
units. Movements become more isolated as fatigue sets in (think of how much
more a muscle burns the harder you push yourself), opening the door to kick
start newfound growth for a lagging bodypart
Circuit training in the manner
described above should be fairly self-explanatory, however complex training may
be a little more complex, and because of that, here are some basic rules to
follow so you can develop your own complex:
-
Technical lifts should always be
performed first, although there are exceptions (such as when needing to
transition from one movement to the next).
-
Alternate exercises between
those that work the upper body and those that work the lower body, or if
performing two consecutively for the upper or lower body then alternate between
a push emphasis and a pull emphasis.
-
Pick exercises in which you’re
strength is the same for most of the exercises involved, or adjust the amount
of reps based on your strength for each specific movement. Because you are
limited to how much weight you can use based on your strength of the weakest
movement involved in the complex, performing the same amount of reps for each
exercise means that some muscle groups will simply receive greater overload
than others. For example, if one of the movements is a deadlift, and another is
an overhead press, performing 5 reps for both may not provide optimal overload
for the muscles involved in both lifts as one would likely receive optimal
overload while the other doesn’t even come close, so it’s acceptable to modify
the amount of reps performed based on the exercise to increase the overall
demand, and thus increase the benefit.
-
Exercises should flow from one
to the next, and the last rep of an exercise should easily transfer into the
first rep of the next exercise.
An example of a complex would
look like this:
Deadlift
RDL
Row
High pull
Clean
Front squat
Overhead press
Squat
Lunge
Good morning
In this example you are limited
to how much weight you can use by the overhead press, therefore the amount of
reps for every other movement should be adjusted accordingly. Also, in this
example the most technical movement is the clean, but it is not sequenced in
the first position which goes against the rules above, but as stated there are
exceptions, and this would be one of them as it is used to transition from the high
pull, to the front squat position. If you wanted to reduce the technicality you
could simply transition from the high pull to the front squat by performing
only one clean on the very last rep of high pulls. The goal is to fatigue the
body as much as possible while performing movements in which the core is a part
of a chain, its role to provide stability. Assuming the weight is similar in
difficulty for each movement selected, the progression could look something
like this:
Week 1 – 4 rounds of 5 reps, 90
seconds between rounds
Week 2 – 5 rounds of 5 reps, 75
seconds between rounds
Week 3 – 5 rounds of 6 reps, 60
seconds between rounds
Week 4 – 6 rounds of 6 reps, 45
seconds between rounds
To provide a twist, instead of
performing all your reps for one movement before moving onto the next, you
could perform one rep of each movement until completion of all movements, and
that would be considered one rep.
For those who would prefer the
circuit described above, here are some options in terms of exercises for the
heavy movement, fast movement, and abdominal movement respectively.
Heavy movements:
Olympic lifts – barbell high
pulls with clean or snatch grip, dumbell high pulls, cleans or snatches from
the floor or the hang with barbells or dumbells, clean and press with barbell
or dumbells
Front squats
Back squats
Deadlifts with clean or snatch
grip
Romanian deadlifts
Fast movements:
Burpees
Thrusters with barbell
or dumbells
Lunges, alternating
or walking
Split-squats
Swings with one
arm or both
Vertical or
horizontal jump squats
Alternating jump
lunges
Bodyweight speed squats
Lunge with front
reach
Lateral lunge with
side reach
180 lunge with
rear reach
Alternating lunges
off step with front reach
*Each of these
movements can be performed with dumbells, which allows for other movements to
be combined into each movement to increase the overall demand/fatigue. Some of
the movements that can be included are curls/cleans, upright rows/high pulls,
overhead presses, bent over rows
Abdominal movements:
Plank variations – side plank, plank-ups,
plank with hands on med or stability ball, plank with feet on med or stability
ball, plank with feet on stability ball step offs (removing one point of
contact by stepping off and touching the floor with the toe, then repeating on
the alternate side), contra-lateral toe
touches, mountain climbers on the floor or with hands and/or feet on med or
stability ball brining knee across body to opposite elbow, knees on stability
ball rotations (skiers)
Holding weights overhead and
adding motion – overhead lunge, farmer’s walk, asymmetrical farmer’s walk with
weight held at side/shoulder height/overhead, overhead lockout holds, transitioning from kneeling to
standing and back to kneeling while holding weights overhead, isometric squat
with cable resistance from the side for the obliques, kneeling and facing away
from cable stack overhead press with rope
Choppers with med ball, band, or
cable (pushing
resistance between legs, or sides of legs)
Push-up variations
– toes on ball, hands on balls, 3 points of contact with one limb elevated,
t-push ups
Renegade row
Barbell rotations
(w/landmine)
Stability ball
reverse hypers
Stability ball hypers
The abdominal options
are literally endless, but the point is rather to target the musculature
directly as part of a physically exhausting circuit.
If you have any questions in regards
to core training with the goal of not just developing visually appealing abs
but to enhance the development of other muscles, feel free to contact me
at ben@paramounttraining.ca. I'm available for online consulting and personalized program design,
as well as one on one training if you are located in the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA).
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