Don’t Be A Tree Trunk: How To Train Your Core Effectively
I want you to imagine the trunk of a tree.
It’s round-ish, covered in bark, with knobbly roots that descend underground. It’s home to cawing families of birds, and whole armies of insects.
It’s also stiff. I’d go as far as to say, immovable. Have you tried moving a tree?
That stiffness and rigidity is the kind of structure we encourage when we train for core stability.
Picture the anti-rotation or anti-flexion/extension exercises that are so prevalent today. Pallof presses, offset KB lifts, suitcase carries. These exercises help to create a core that is stiff and immovable. Remember the tree.
Is that the kind of core you want? Maybe it is. Maybe you want to be immovable.
I’m not saying that the isometric nature of ‘core stability’ training is entirely futile. But arguably, it’s more efficient to train your core through a fuller range of motion with eccentric and concentric contractions. If you’re strong over a large range of motion, you’re strong in an isometric position within that range.
Be less like the Tree. Be more like the Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man.
Or at least, be somewhere between the two.
Training variously through these larger ranges of motion also affords you more movement options. You become more mobile and stronger within those greater ranges. The bandwidth of your strength and mobility increases. You’re not just strong in one straight line from head to toe. You can move outside your base of support and express strength there. If you want to move athletically, training outside of isometric positions is a must.
Now, for the meatheads out there whose divine aim is to pack on beefy muscle…
If the goal is to increase the cross-sectional area of the ab muscles (ie. build more core muscle), I want to follow the same principles that I use to build any other muscle. I want to spend most of my training time using exercises that allow me to target the core muscles in their lengthened orientation, and place a lot of mechanical tension on them. If we follow the principles of hypertrophy, choosing purely isometric exercises to grow the core muscles is far from optimal.
Would we choose an isometric bicep hold to build bulging arms? It wouldn’t be the first choice.
One could argue that newbies don’t have the eccentric strength or control to train the lengthened positions of the core. This may be true, but my answer will always be the same: find a challenging but tolerable entry point and build from there. That might mean starting with an isometric core position, but the aim will always be to ‘advance’ to larger ranges of motion.
Again, because it bears repeating: follow the principles of hypertrophy if your goal is to build up your core.
Train with the primary goal of putting mechanical tension on the muscles: slow, controlled tempos, and strict movement
Train in a variety of muscle orientations, but spend most of your time training the lengthened position of the muscle
If your goals involve being mobile and athletic:
Train your body/core in a variety of positions: flexion, extension, side bending, rotation
Train outside of isometric/hold positions
When you’re ready, start to explore performing some of these movements at higher speeds
