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AFM Magazine


Solid to the Core

Wyoming\'s core strength training
by: Scott Bennett
Strength Coach, University of Wyoming
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Core strength, the new frontier ... what is core strength? Where is the core? Some people refer to core strength as abdominal strength, while others refer to it as the strength of the back. I think it is a little more than that. I refer to the core in its entirety as the area of the body from the middle of the sternum to just above the knees. Think of it as the bridge between the strengths of the lower and upper body.

How does this “core” function? Every way imaginable, in every plane imaginable. It can serve as the link between the leg drive of an offensive lineman and the upper body contact point where he engages a defender. It can act as the mechanism that supports upper body posture for a runner. It can be the personal protector for a wide receiver who goes across the middle to catch a pass as a defender has him in his crosshairs ready to deliver a crushing blow. In weight lifting it is the critical factor in keeping a lifters chest and shoulders tall when performing a squat or power clean. It can even be the spring that is coiled, loaded and released when a quarterback throws a ball, a pitcher delivers a pitch or a golfer swings a club.

How do we train the core? Again, the answer is every way imaginable. Should we do sit-ups? Absolutely! What about hyperextensions? You bet! Leg raises? Without a doubt. Should we use weights on these exercises? Only if you want to get stronger. A very wise strength coach once told me that in training the core, you are only limited by your imagination. Now let’s not get too carried away here. I don’t think it would be too wise to take a freshman and do a 1 rep max on weighted hypers, but on the other hand, I think we as a professional group are smarter than that. Point being, there are as many ways to train the core as you can possibly think of, and most of the ones I have seen are very effective.

As a collegiate strength coach, I have seen a rise in the number of back injuries not only in our freshmen, but also junior college transfers. I believe there are a number of factors that contribute to this. I think by virtue of today’s society, not as many young people work as much as they did years ago. Today’s society lends itself to video games, internet activities and things of this nature. Many of today’s youth are sitting in chairs, or riding in cars much more than they are playing or working. Good, bad or indifferent, that is the way it is. Now it is our job to overcome it.

How do we go about winning this battle? First and foremost, we as professionals need to make an evaluation. Some of our athletes have stronger cores than others. Some cores are nonexistent. Some are very strong indeed. How do we address this wide range of abilities and carry them to a common and acceptable level of performance? Let’s roll up our sleeves and go to work!


Thinker.

Thinker Leg Out.

Bridge.

Sidestabilizer.

Let’s divide things into four categories, or levels if you will. Let’s say level 1 is a very introductory level, with simple movements such as traditional sit-ups, crunches, side crunches, bent knee leg raises and the like. Not to signify that these movements are of little use or importance, but these can be done at higher volumes if the core of our athlete is initially very poor. We can use these movements as a great foundation builder.

Level 2 may consist of movements that add “leverage” to the equation. In other words, the ability to keep your trunk rigid and solid for an extended period of time, or a movement that does not curl the trunk in a significantly focused manner. These exercises may include, the Thinker, Straight-legged leg raises, a Bridge, V-Ups, or Big 40s. Also in this level we include twisting movements. Remember in twisting movements our back is very unstable, good posture and internal pressure is paramount. Some people may include this as a level 1 area of exercise, but I put it at a level 2, in an attempt to give an athlete at an extremely introductory level the chance to advance to a bigger and better level at an early time and to help with their feeling of achievement.

Start V-Up.

Top of V-Up.

Sidestabilizer with leg up.

Sidestabilizer with leg forward.

Moving on to level 3, business begins to pick up. At this level, we may use any of the level 1 or level 2 exercises, but add some weight to enhance the degree of difficulty. Now, in my opinion, it may be to our benefit to start with a significantly lighter weight, if the athlete has recently graduated to this level, in an attempt to avoid any back injuries that could occur.

Last and certainly not least, we come to level 4. This should be our most intricate, most difficult level. I like to reserve this level to “special feats.” For example, take a level 2 exercise such as the Thinker, and add some movement to it. On command, have the athlete abduct his or her leg, and hold it off the ground for five seconds then bring it back to center line, repeat on the other side. To take it up another notch, add an ankle weight. “Strongman” type exercises can be thrown into this area as well. Exercises such as a heavy bag carry, heavy water container lunges, or implement carrying.

I am sure we as strength and conditioning professionals have our own edition of a system to add and improve core strength. Keep in mind, I use this system as a “check” of our accomplishments. If an athlete incurs an injury, we kind of “hit the reset button” and start over at a lighter level to ensure we not only maintain our foundation of work, but also prevent any injuries to the back which could occur by overworking an instable area that has been weakened by lack of activity.

In my opinion, this article merely scratches the surface of an area of which we are all very aware. I am also certain we all have our “favorite” ab circuits and routines we like to do, because I have learned so much from so many different strength coaches in adding to my list of exercises. This area is always a work in progress. I like using the idea of an achievement progression, as is it adds to the confidence an athlete can gain by moving up to an higher level of performance, and serves as a “checks and balances” system for our program.





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