When people train in the gym, especially lifting weights (e.g. squats, deadlifts, cleans, rows) they tend to follow the same basic rules, such as “brace your core,” and “keep your spine straight or neutral.” This is the correct way to safely and effectively approach these exercises. However, in the real world you rarely, if ever, keep your spine (and core) neutral when you move.

If you’re an athlete, you don’t brace your core in neutral to run, swing, throw, punch, climb, swim, or cycle. The “brace your core tight” dogma found in the gym doesn’t allow for the dynamic nature of these athletic movements. If you want to move like an athlete and get “farm boy strong” so you can apply your strength to everything, including lifting heavier weights, you need to learn how to coil your core.

The Coiling Core and Athletic Power

Coiling is how your core actually moves and creates power in real life and in athletics. The spine can only rotate powerfully and safely when side-bending (frontal plane) and counter rotation (transverse plane) are combined. Isolate either of these actions without the other, and you have bending or twisting that are weak and overly stressful to the spine.

Try this: Stand up right now and perform an overhand throwing motion. Did you notice how your shoulders changed levels as you rotated your core? You naturally tilt your throwing shoulder down as you rotate back, and then reverse this action as you rotate forward and throw. Now, if you try a throwing motion without letting your shoulders tilt at all, you will realize instantly that you need to side bend in order to rotate with power.

While all of the muscles in your trunk come into play when you rotate your core, the focus of Coiling Core Training is exclusively on the lats. Focusing on one side of the body and then the other, also known as ipsilateral training (one side at a time), is the key to maximizing rotational power.

The lats are your largest core muscles. They physically bridge and connect the hips and shoulders unlike any other muscles in the body. Each lat has muscle fibers that run horizontally, vertically, and 45°.  They are connected and tied in from multiple origin points throughout your back, including the thoracolumbar fascia. This means the lats aren’t only for pull ups and rows; they are for everything the core does.

The basic formula for Coiling Core Training is to contract one lat at a time to bring your shoulder down and back, and the same side hip up and forward. The better you get at this simple strategy, the stronger you can rotate to perform any athletic movement, including bracing your core in neutral. This is because this approach creates the most biomechanically sound way to rotate the spine. The more intense the contraction, the deeper you are able to recruit the muscle fibers of the lat down into the thoracolumbar fascia. The result is increased force generation, range of motion, and coordination, which allows you to build rotational power and express maximum strength in movement.

How to Train Your Core to Coil

You’ll have to watch the video below to understand exactly how to perform coiling core with resistance exercise, but here are the main points:

The Stance: Stagger your stance so that the front foot is externally rotated 90° in relationship to your rear foot (at 45° if you cannot reach 90°).

The Shoulders: Rotate your shoulders to the side that your front foot is externally rotated to, so that your shoulders are parallel with the centerline of your rear foot.

The Squeeze: Drive your rear shoulder down, and pull the elastic band down toward your back pocket and up with your opposite hand.

Check out the video below for a deeper dive into the exercise:

Many strength coaches, including Chris Holder at Cal Poly and Chris White at LSU have implemented the WeckMethod Coiling Core exercise into their programming to improve athletic performance.

Knowledge is power. Stay tuned for more of the information you need to maximize your ability to develop greater degrees of functional strength and utilize it in totality for anything you want to do.

The post What the Coiling Core Can Do for Your Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In the previous article in this series, we focused on the importance of core strength for the push up and how critical core strength is for posture and framing in a sport setting. We’re going to continue the series with six progressive core strength exercises to perform a barbell squat with excellent form.

If you don’t strengthen your core, you’ll never squat as much as you’re capable of.

2 Ways a Weak Core Sabotages Your Squat

The barbell squat is a fantastic exercise that combines strength, mobility, balance, and explosive power. Squatting regularly with good form has excellent carryover into your sporting performance. However, if your legs are strong but your core is weak, you will not be able to execute a heavy squat safely and effectively.

There’s two ways a weak core can negatively affect your squat.

1. If your core is weak, your lower back muscles will take on this load instead, putting your back under serious strain. This can be seen in curving or rounding of the back at the bottom of a squat. A strong core maintains an upright posture in the eccentric portion of the squat to support the increasing load on the spine.
2. Having a strong core ensures you remain balanced throughout the entire movement of the squat, and keep an upright posture throughout. If your core is weak, the likelihood is that you’ll fall backwards or fold forward as your abdominal muscles come under more pressure in the descent of your squat.

In these progressive exercises, we’re going to focus on the transverse abdominis muscle group. The transverse abs are the primary core muscles you use during the squat. These muscles wrap around your waist like a corset, and are heavily involved in your posture and the support of your spine. The carryover into your squatting ability will be substantial, particularly if you’re a woman returning to training from pregnancy or injury.

6 Core Exercises to Strengthen the Squat for Female Athletes

When performing all of these movements, remember to breathe. These exercises put a lot of pressure on your diaphragm, which can make it difficult to draw breath at times. This is because your transverse abs contract in the middle of the muscle, and expand at the top and bottom of the muscle. Make sure you can perform each exercise with good form for the given number of repetitions and sets before progressing onto the next.

1. Supine Single Leg Extensions

This is a safe abdominal exercise to start these progressions with, as you create the tension yourself by choosing how much to extend your leg and to what degree you press your lower back into the floor. It’s critical to press the middle of your back into the floor to ensure your transverse abs are activated in this exercise.

• Lower your leg down to the count of three.
• Raise your leg for the count of two.
• Aim to do 20 repetitions on each leg.

2. Single Leg and Arm Extension with Crunch

This is another safe abdominal exercise for those new to core work. The movement engages your transverse abdominis whilst balancing your rectus abdominals as you bring your elbow to your knee and perform the crunch. The arm and leg extension is great for strengthening your rear delts and upper back muscles as well as your hamstrings and glutes.

• Round your back and squeeze your abs as much as possible during the crunch.

• Aim to do 3 sets of 20 repetitions on each side.

3. Plank Hold On Knees

The plank hold is one of the best transverse abdominis exercises you can do. But for women who are new to training or returning from pregnancy or injury, starting on your knees is definitely a better option. Your transverse abdominis still engages, but with less pressure as the abdominals support your spine from your head to your knees instead of your feet.

• Keep your head in line with your knees. It is very important to maintain a straight line with your body to ensure the core is switched on.
• Remember to breathe.
• Aim to hold the plank for 30 seconds for 3 sets.

Continue to Page 2 for More Core Exercises to Strengthen Your Squat >>

4. Supine Leg Extension with Legs Together

This variation of the supine leg extension keeps the legs together, which is a lot more challenging. If you feel the load is too intense, bend your legs. For those who are ready for the challenge, perform the extension with your legs completely straight. Again, it is very important that this exercise is performed with the middle of your back pressed into the floor to avoiding straining your lower back.

• Lower your legs down for the count of three.
• Raise your leg for the count of two.
• Aim to do 20 repetitions.

5. Full Plank Hold

The classic plank hold is an unbelievably beneficial exercise for your core and other parts of your body such as the hips, shoulders, and chest. Make sure to keep a straight line from head to toes. If you raise or drop your hips in the plank, you get a “banana back”, removing the pressure from your core and placing undue stress on your lower back.

• Remember to breathe.
• Aim to hold the plank for 30 seconds for 3 sets.

6. Plank Hold with Single Leg Raise

This is a twist on the classic plank hold with added alternating leg raises. The shift in weight as you take your leg off the floor makes your abdominal muscles work extra hard. It also places a lot of force on your supporting leg by putting a heavy load on your quadriceps to keep your supporting knee straight, with your gluteus medius and minimus coming into play to keep the hips straight as well.

• Keep your hips square as you raise your leg.
• Aim to do 3 sets of 15 repetitions on each leg.

Make Steady Progress for the Best Results

Remember, all movement patterns originate at the core or move through it, and core strength is vital for a full-body exercise such as the barbell squat. After a serious injury or pregnancy, many women are eager to get straight back into the gym and start squatting straight away, but it’s a bad idea. Training too much, too soon compounds any existing muscle imbalances and instabilities with those sustained during pregnancy or injury, and this will often lead to increased weakness and lower back, hip, and pelvic pain.

As with the push-up progressions, start slow and work your way up to the more challenging exercises. Continue along the progression to challenge your core and build the ideal posture and balance to squat heavy and squat often.

More Like This:

• 7 Core-Strengthening Push Up Progressions for Female Athletes
• 5 Cutting-Edge Core Training Progressions
• Build a Resilient Spine: Lock Down Core Stability
• New on Breaking Muscle

Photo courtesy of Rx’d Photography.

The post 6 Core Exercises to Strengthen the Squat for Female Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Many women participate in sport, but not all have had an active childhood that has given them the fundamental strength and stability necessary to support their adult training. I have found this to be especially true for women starting Brazilian Jiu JItsu. So many women who take up the sport don’t have the strength in their core and upper body to frame and brace, and so end up getting hurt. Women who take a lot of time off with pregnancies or are recovering from a serious injury also find they have to go back to the basics to redevelop their strength in this area.

Many female athletes don’t have the strength in their core and upper body to frame and brace as they need to.

Movement Starts at the Core

To begin building this strength, you have to start at the core. Your core muscles connect your upper body and lower body, and all movement patterns originate at the core or move through it. The core dictates how well your arms and legs function and is essential for the balance and stability that prevents falls and injuries. I believe it is essential for all female athletes to incorporate some fundamental strengthening exercises for the core into their training program.

This article is the first in a series will give you progressive exercises for each muscle group to do just that. We’ll begin with a focus on the push up. Core-focused pushing movements are essential to create a strong frame. This strong pushing frame is needed in every sport, from grappling in BJJ, to effective bracing in weight training, or ball sports such as volleyball or tennis. For example, a forehand swing requires an enormous amount of stability. This involves framing through the core while you hit the ball with maximum force using the pushing muscles we are working here.

The seven exercises that follow are a step-by-step guide to increase your pushing strength by working the chest, deltoids, and triceps whilst keeping the core engaged and active. The more advanced exercises incorporate the lats and the rhomboids as well.

7 Core-Strengthening Push Up Progressions

For each exercise, aim to do a total of 20 full repetitions with correct posture, keeping the body straight from head to toe (or head to knees). Remember to activate the abdominals and glutes to keep your spine supported. Perform each push up to the full range of motion, with the chest near to the floor, before progressing to the next exercise.

1. Push Up On Knees

Provided there is a straight line from the head to the knees and the core is activated, this is a great place to start developing upper body strength. The pushing motion activates the pectoralis major, minor, triceps, and anterior deltoids. Your transverse abdominis and erector spinae also stabilise your body weight.

• Lower yourself down so your chest nearly touches the floor and push back up again.
• Once you can perform 20 smooth, steady repetitions from your knees, you can safely progress onto the next exercise.

2. Push Up on Bench/Chair with Single Leg Raise

This movement can be progressed by lowering the level on the bench or chair you are using. As the level lowers, more weight is shifted to the upper body, making the movement more difficult. Raising one leg forces the core to work harder to stabilise and keep symmetrical. The quadriceps, the iliopsoas, erector spinae, and transverse abs also switch on to stabilise the spine. By bending the raised leg at the knee, we also engage the gluteus maximus.

• Aim to do 10 repetitions with one leg raised and 10 with the other raised.
• Ensure that you lower your chest to the chair or bench before pushing back up.
• Engage your abs and glutes to make sure your spine is supported.

3. Standard Push Up

A sign of a weak core is a ‘banana back’, where the back arches and the shoulders sag. This means that the abdominal muscles are not being engaged and the spine is not sufficiently supported. Keep the core activated and strong by ensuring there is a straight line from the head to the feet.

• Make sure you can do at least 20 push ups with good form and a straight shape before progressing to the push up movements on unstable surfaces.

Continue to Page 2 for Advanced Push-Up Progressions >>

4. Push Up on Medicine Ball with One Hand

Push ups with one hand on a medicine ball load your arm unilaterally and force the whole shoulder girdle to stabilise. The uneven surface also forces your core to work overtime to keep your body in a plank position.

• Aim to do 10 repetitions each side while keeping your hips square and level on the medicine ball.
• Once you have mastered this exercise, you are ready to progress to push ups on a physio ball.

5. Push Up on Physio Ball with Single Leg Raise

Performing push ups on a physio ball forces your stabiliser muscles into action. As with the chair or bench push up, raising one leg forces the core to work harder to keep the body symmetrical.

• Aim to do 10 repetitions with one leg raised and 10 repetitions with the other leg raised.
• It’s important to lower your chest to the floor with your shoulders in line with your wrists. There is an inclination to drift backward in this variation, which takes the load off the shoulders. Counter this by engaging the lats to ensure the shoulders remain in line.

6. Push Up on Physio Ball with Crunch

This exercise incorporates the rectus abdominus and the hip flexors.

• Aim to do 20 repetitions.
• Keep your shoulders in line with your wrists and use your pecs, delts, triceps, and lats to stabilise and brace as you bring your knees to your chest.
• Keep your hips low to ensure that you are activating your core. Raising your butt disengages your core and means your hip flexors end up doing all the work.

7. Push Up with Single Arm Dumbbell Rows

This challenging variation incorporates the rhomboids, lats, rear delts, and even the biceps. The supporting arm and core have to work super hard to stabilise as the weight is lifted unilaterally.

• Aim to do 20 repetitions, alternating arms for the rows.
• Lower your chest almost to the floor to ensure maximum range of movement when lowering down for the push up.
• The aim is to perform the single arm row while keeping the plank shape and the hips square.

Be Realistic and Build a Foundation

For some women, expecting to pump out 20 plyometric push ups on a medicine ball might be a little unrealistic at first. Start slow and work your way up to the more challenging exercises. Perform the push up with with a full range of motion, which means chest almost to the floor or to the object you are using to push against. When you can perform 3 sets of 20 repetitions with the right posture and controlled breathing, move onto the following exercise.

Work your way through these pushing movement progressions to build a strong and stable upper body, along with a core that supports it.

More Like This:

• 5 Cutting-Edge Core Training Progressions
• Build a Resilient Spine: Lock Down Core Stability
• How to Restore Strength for Sport Post-Pregnancy
• New on Breaking Muscle AU

Photo courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

The post 7 Core-Strengthening Push Up Progressions for Female Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Instead, I started looking at what doing those exercises proved. A good squat shows me that you have the ability to flex and extend the hips bilaterally while maintaining a braced spine under load.

A while back I stopped looking at what body parts were used during specific exercises. I got away from thinking that pressing was for shoulders and squats were for quads.

Instead, I started looking at what doing those exercises proved. A good squat shows me that you have the ability to flex and extend the hips bilaterally while maintaining a braced spine under load.

While bigger quads might be on your wish list, the end goal of athletically good flexion and extension of the hips might be far more important. That’s running, jumping, kicking, and all manner of lifts like the clean and snatch. So squatting is important because if you do it well I know you’ve got the basic wiring in place to do all those other things well, too.

Squatting involves much more than stimulating quad growth.

Assessing New Clients

New clients at my gym are usually surprised at how technique driven the training staff is.

That’s not because I enjoy saying the same thing over and over just to hear the sound of my voice, believe me. Twenty years of repeating the same few sentences wears on you eventually.

We are technique driven because I want to help people develop the qualities necessary for their body to perform tasks outside the gym – you know, in a real-life situation where they are forced to use their “functional fitness.”

If you can’t display these qualities well in isolation inside the gym, then you have little chance to do so outside in the big, wide, chaotic world.

Everything Is a Plank

When I boil down what is needed for most lifts I get to a single core principle – the spine needs to remain stable.

I’m going to refrain from saying that the spine needs to be neutral, because many great lifters perform with bent spines. However, those bent spines are still braced and locked in position. Once the lift has begun, there is no movement of the spine. But semantics aside, let’s just start with a neural braced spine position for most.

The best way to figure out if someone can hold this is with the simple plank.

The plank is an important test for a variety of reasons. The most important of which is that because there is no movement involved, the trainee is able to feel exactly what it is you are trying to get him or her to understand. In my experience, the more moving parts there are, the more likely someone is to misunderstand what you’re trying to get across.

The plank is one of the most basic exercises you can perform, but also one of the most important.

Here’s how to plank, from my article Everything Is a Plank:

1. Find where a neutral pelvis position is. I find the simplest way to do this is rock your pelvis back and forth until you find the spot where you can tense your glutes the hardest. When you find that spot where you can create maximal tension you’ll have found the spot where you are most likely neutral.
2. Lock the ribs and pelvis together. Remember that the purpose of this exercise is to teach us to create a stiff link between upper and lower body. Letting your ribs and pelvis disassociate is a few steps away for us right now.
3. Tighten the abs and breathe out. You’ll find that as you breathe out you can shrink-wrap your abs to create an even tighter brace. Don’t let it all go when you breathe in, only take short little sips of air, just enough to replenish what you breathe out. We call this breathing behind the shield – stay tight and protected. The main mechanism of spine injury is running out of work capacity or strength endurance, not of having not enough maximal strength to withstand a flexion incident.

But let’s not stop there. I want you to see just how important the plank is as a movement diagnosis. Literally everything you do athletically stems from this one position.

How to Assess Yourself

I want you to stand up and jump up and down lightly five or six times. Take note of how your feet land and whether or not they’re turned out at all. If you’re like most people, your feet will now be slightly pointed out.

You may even walk like that. And if you walk like that, there is a large chance you run like that. This turned-out position is a disaster from a core stability point of view, as you’re about to see.

Go back to your plank position, using a push up plank (on your hands, not your elbows).

Instead of just assuming the position, try to make yourself as stiff as you can. Screw your hands into the ground. Tense the glutes. Wedge yourself between your hands and feet. Get a feeling for how tight you can make yourself. You won’t last long in this position – twenty seconds will feel like an eternity.

 “Go back to absolute basics and see if you can actually hold it all together in the plank properly. Then slowly add movement back in once alignment and stiffness are properly learned.”

Now that you have a feeling for how stiff and braced you can be, we’re going to demonstrate how bad having your feet externally rotated is from a stability perspective:

1. Return to your plank.
2. Turn your feet out ninety degrees so they are pointing directly out to the sides and you are resting on the inside edge of your feet.
3. From this position try to brace yourself as much as you did before. See if you can make yourself as stiff as you did the last time.
4. If you really want to see how bad this can get, try pointing your fingers back toward your feet at the same time.

If the plank is our basic building block for core stability – a skill we need when doing all other athletic activities – how important is alignment?

In the plank, our feet are straight and we can achieve maximal stiffness. Once you start changing the alignment of the limbs, then you start to lose stiffness and open yourself up to injuries.

Running and Core Stability

Running is a particularly vivid example of this. Have you ever watched someone run duck footed?

The only way this can be accomplished is by dumping the pelvis, losing all core stability, and relying on the spine itself to hold the body together. Is it any wonder why these people complain about running hurting their backs?

Proper running involves having good core stability.

You’ll see this as you go up the chain of exercises, too. The client who has the turned-out feet will struggle with push ups (an example of a core-stability exercise with one set of limbs moving – the equivalent of half of running).

You’ll see it in crawling (midline stability while both sets of limbs move contralaterally – running, but more gentle). As you go from the ground to standing, you’ll see this same compensation over and over again.

The fix isn’t anywhere near as complicated as most running coaches would have you believe. Fix the core stability element at its simplest point – the plank – and you’ll fix it higher up the chain, too, once some relearning has taken place.

If you’re not getting the performance result you want, don’t try to attack the aspect with many moving parts first.

Go back to absolute basics and see if you can actually hold it all together in the plank properly. Then slowly add movement back in once alignment and stiffness are properly learned.

Check out these related articles:

• Everything Is a Plank
• A Simple Plan for Stronger Running
• Forget Crunches – How to Actually Strengthen Your Core

Photos courtesy of Breaking Muscle.

The post Back to Basics: How to Assess Movement With the Plank appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In grappling sports, such as wrestling, Brazilian jiu jitsu, and judo, a strong core is needed to improve performance and prevent injuries. But don’t just start doing crunches to make your core stronger. You must gain an understanding of your core – the muscles involved, the function, and the proper training progressions.

I’m going to share all of that with you, as well as the best three core exercises you should be doing.

RELATED: Forget Crunches: How to Actually Strengthen Your Core

The Core: What It Is and What It Does

The term core must be defined before you can understand how to properly train it. According to Dr. Stuart McGill, the core is made up of the lumbar spine, the muscles of the abdominal wall, the back extensors, and quadratus lumborum. In addition, the lattisimus dorsi and psoas pass through the core and provide a link between the pelvis, legs, shoulders, and arms.

“The core is not just a group of muscles. It is a group of muscles that work together as a unit. A weakness in any of the core muscles will affect its ability to function properly.”

For the core to function optimally, the gluteal muscles need to be the primary power generators and must work synergistically with the pelvis. The core is not just a group of muscles. It is a group of muscles that work together as a unit. A weakness in any of the core muscles will affect its ability to function properly.

Many trainers feel the core functions to initiate movement. But according to Dr. McGill, the core functions to prevent motion rather than initiate it. This definition is important for grapplers who must change directions multiple times during a match or training session (more on that in a moment).

RELATED: The Biomechanics of Changing Direction

Another important function of the core is its ability to function as a transfer mechanism. When power is generated in the hips, it is transmitted through the stiffness of the core. Every technique in Brazilian jiu jitsu requires the movement of the hips and the stability of the core.

The Core and Grappling

During a match or even in practice, grapplers need to change directions frequently and at various speeds. Often grapplers need to change directions against resistance. A BJJ looking to pass the guard has to be able to change directions while maintaining his or her balance. If the core is unable to stabilize and act as a transfer mechanism for the power being generated by the lower body, the athlete will have a difficult time changing directions and maintaining that posture. The end result is a failed guard pass and possibly getting swept.

“The end result is evidence that a strong core makes the rest of the body stronger. Improving the strength of the core will improve the overall strength of the grappler.”

Grapplers need to maintain a high strength-to-weight ratio. Improving the strength of the core is one way to improve relative strength. According to Dr. McGill, a study done on strongman athletes showed that the core assisted the hips during tasks allowing the strongman to accomplish tasks they would not have been able to using only their hip strength. The end result is evidence that a strong core makes the rest of the body stronger. Improving the strength of the core will improve the overall strength of the grappler.

A strong core is also needed for injury prevention. The physical demands of grappling increase the risk for injury. One study followed pre-season collegiate gymnasts and had them perform core exercises for ten weeks. Their results showed the exercises prevented any new back pain incidents and controlled pain in those with a history of pain.

Training the Core

Training the core requires proper exercise selection that causes the core to be stiff. Another way to look at it is that you want an ability to maintain contraction. People are quick to jump on a stability ball and do balancing movements to strengthen their core. But these movements are not effective in training the core to be stiff.

RELATED: Stability for BJJ: Why You Need It and How to Get It 

Step 1: Eliminate Pain

As with any exercise program, proper progressions and programing are essential. If there is pain associated with a specific movement, then the first step is to eliminate that exercise. For example if a grappler feels pain in their back every time they shoot a double leg, the first step for this grappler is to temporarily eliminate double legs from their training.

Step 2: Practice the Big Three

After that, you add in corrective exercises that focus on developing a stiff core. Dr. McGill recommends starting with what he calls the “big three”:

1. Curl up
2. Side planks
3. Birddogs

All of the big three exercises require an isometric contraction at the end range of the movement. Hold that isometric for no longer than ten seconds.

Curl up

Side plank

Birddog

Step 3: Motor Control and Movement

Grapplers need to be able to maintain the strength of the core while in motion. In order to do this, the body must maintain stability in certain areas of the body and provide motion in others. An easy way to picture this is that during a squat the lumbar spine and core need to remain stable, while the hips must move. Good exercises to include in a core-training program are weighted carries such as farmer’s walks where the core must be stiff while the lower body moves.

“Grapplers need to be able to maintain the strength of the core while in motion. In order to do this, the body must maintain stability in certain areas of the body and provide motion in others”

Another way to categorize motor-control movements is by foot position. According to Gray Cook, you can group exercises based on foot position. An example of a group of exercises organized around foot position could be squatting, stepping and lunging. Each foot position places a different stress on the core. And in any of the grappling sports, the participants are going to find themselves in all three of those foot positions.

RELATED: Strongman Series: The Farmer’s Walk

Conclusion

Core training is more than doing crunches. To properly train the core, you need to understand its function first. Grapplers require a strong core to help prevent motion and to transfer power from the hips. Having a strong core allows grapplers to perform tasks they do not have the strength to perform. A proper core-training program may be the missing element to many grappler’s strength and conditioning programs.

References:

1. McGill, S. “Core Training: Evidence Translating To Better Performance And Injury Prevention.” Strength and Conditioning Journal.

2. Cook, G “Advanced Core Training Notes.” Retrieved November 13, 2014.

Photos courtesy of Ana Nieves.

The post 3 Fundamental Core Exercises You Need in Your BJJ Strength Program appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But now, after recovering from two c-sections and diastasis recti, I’ve come to realize the importance of safe, effective core strengthening for everyone, from hardcore athletes to deconditioned clients.

What Is the Core?

Although the abdominal muscles are one important muscle group, the core musculature extends far beyond the abs. Coach Jeff Kuhland explained what the core is and how it functions in his article Do You Know What Your Core Really Is and What It Does?

Our core has three-dimensional depth and functional movement in all three planes of motion. Many of the muscles are hidden beneath the exterior musculature people typically train. The deeper muscles include the transverse abdominals, multifidus, diaphragm, pelvic floor, and many other deeper muscles.

Your core most often acts as a stabilizer and force transfer center rather than a prime mover. Yet consistently people focus on training their core as a prime mover and in isolation. This would be doing crunches or back extensions versus functional movements like deadlifts, overhead squats, and pushups, among many other functional closed chain exercises. By training that way, not only are you missing out on a major function of the core, but also better strength gains, more efficient movement, and longevity of health.

So if the 1,000 crunches-a-day challenges aren’t going to help, what is? In his article, At the Core of It: Creating Strength and Tension in the Body, coach Andrew Read recommended four exercises to build core strength:

1. Isometric Holds
2. Crawling
3. Levers and Single-Sided Exercises
4. Throwing

Here are some videos and articles from our archives to get you started with these four out-of-the-box core exercises:

1. Isometric Holds

You’re probably familiar with the most common isometric core exercise: the plank. If you were to boil many gym exercises down into one lowest common denominator, it would be the plank. But if you’re able to hold a plank for a long time and it’s just boring at this point, here are some dynamic plank exercises from parkour expert Ben Musholt to mix it up a bit:

READ: Everything Is a Plank (If You’re Doing It Right, That Is)

2. Crawling

If you’ve ever tried crawling for a considerable distance, you know how much it can work your core. It’s surprisingly brutal. In the video below, Al Kavadlo demonstrates three different crawling variations to add to your routine:

1. Bear Crawl
2. Spider Crawl
3. Grok Crawl

READ: 3 Bodyweight Crawling Exercises

3. Levers and Single-Sided Exercises

The front lever is a cool party trick and an amazing core exercise. If you’re protesting that you’re too tall to do a front lever, check out gymnastics and physical culture expert Logan Christopher‘s article,How to Build Up to the Front Lever. Logan is 6’2″ and 185lb – not exactly the typical gymnast body type. Here are the six progressions he recommends for mastering the front lever:

Left: Tuck Front Lever; Right: Advanced Tuck Front Lever

Left: One Bent Leg Front Lever; Right: One Leg Front Lever

Left: Advanced One Leg Front Lever; Right: Front Lever

In the article cited above Andrew Read suggested combining levers with single-sided exercises. And if you’re looking for tips in that department, look no further than strength and conditioning coach Ian King‘s comprehensive series on unilateral training:

• Unilateral Leg Training, Part 1: Historical Perspectives
• Unilateral Leg Training, Part 2: Challenging the Overreaction
• Unilateral Leg Training, Part 3: 7 Key Practical Strategies
• Unilateral Leg Training, Part 4: Correcting the Imbalances

4. Throwing

Featured coach and MovNat Master Instructor Vic Verdier explained the important role of throwing in increasing stability and explosive power in his article, The Big Bang: Explosiveness Is at the Root of It All. He also explained the link between throwing and one of my favorite core exercises, the kettlebell swing:

You can use a slam ball, a medicine ball, a stone, a small log, or even a kettlebell if you feel like a daredevil. Ideally, you have a partner who will catch and throw the object back at you, but you can also do this by yourself and just throw the object as far as you can each time.

The throws will be at chest level, using your legs as the main source of power, your arms being mainly used to direct the object. The progression will also feature the swing throw (and catch) where the object is swung between your legs, relying more on the power generated by your hips (think kettlebell swing).

DO THE WORKOUTS: Strength & Conditioning Workouts: Vic Verdier

Building a Foundation

The exercises listed above might be too advanced for some people. If you’re just starting to rebuild core strength, Coach Jeff Kuhland outlined a stability program using the following screens to gauge where your core strength and stability need work:

• Trunk Stability Pushup – Perform a pushup keeping a stable spine demonstrating reactive core stability. See previous article for specific guidelines.
• Core Strength Tests – Perform a plank for 90 seconds and a side plank for 60 seconds with strict form.
• Knees to Chest/Toes to Bar – Complete 5 strict knees to chest for a passing score and 5 toes to bar for an optimal score.
• Deadlift – Complete a single deadlift meeting the Novice weight listed in the strength table. For optimal results complete a single deadlift meeting or exceeding the intermediate level weight.

GET THE PROGRAM: 10 Day Core Strength Program: Screening, Testing, and Training

Working on core stability and strength might not produce the same kind of measurable gains as doing a deadlift cycle or similar program, but I guarantee you will notice how increased core strength carries over to other areas of training, not to mention everyday life. Give these exercises a shot and let us know how it goes!

Photo 1 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post 4 Out-of-the-Box Ways to Train Your Core appeared first on Breaking Muscle.