A Better Approach to Training your Core
People are motivated to train core for many reasons: aesthetics, to lift heavier weight safely, to avoid low back pain, to improve balance, the list goes on. Core training is important, but it’s also frustrating. That’s because it’s poorly defined and, as a result, it’s often hard to know whether you’re doing it right.
I’d argue there are a few reasons for this:
Progress is harder to measure. We aren’t always moving a progressively heavier weight from point A to point B like we are in the case of a chest press or squat..
Ab exercises are not how we get defined abs. Having a super strong core might not mean you have a 6-pack. Defined abs mostly just mean you have pretty low body fat.
It’s hard to know what to prioritize. Core work is such a broad category. We only have so much time to commit to exercise, so we need to cut the fluff and focus on the most important stuff.
My aim with this post is to equip you with a better understanding of why it’s important to strengthen your core, what it means to train it functionally, and to set you up with a solid list of good exercises you can start incorporating today.
Let’s start by (re-)defining what it means to train your core. Core training is just as much about the prevention of unwanted and inefficient motion as it is about the creation of motion. In fact, the core functions most often to stabilize and prevent excessive movement, not to create it. Core movements — the ones that effectively improve our performance in athletic goals and in daily life — are different from many of the other strength training exercises we do for this reason. Properly executing a functional core exercise often means successfully preventing movement from happening.
Taking a deeper look at what it means to stabilize with the core
In any strength exercise, we are trying to efficiently transfer force from the ground to the moving joint. Inefficiencies happen when we are unable to stabilize a joint that’s somewhere between the ground and joint(s) working in an exercise.
We can define core stability as the ability to move the legs and arms without compensatory movement in the spine and pelvis. We want to be able to move force from the ground through the hips, spine and shoulders with as little instability and inefficiency as possible. Thats the basic role of our core in strength training.
Example: standing dumbbell shoulder press
Let’s take the basic overhead press (youtube video demo). When standing, force is transferred from the ground starting from the feet. If we are unable to maintain proper core engagement as we press the weight, the pelvis will tilt and the lumbar spine (the lower back) will bend. Force will still be transferred from the ground and the weight will still move, but it will follow a much less efficient path. We also risk overexerting the lower back and hips while underusing the glutes and deep stabilizing abdominal muscles.
This is a simple example that illustrates how core function is just as much about what you aren’t doing as what you are doing. In the above example, our core is working effectively when we see no movement at all in the spinal and pelvic region. Or, more simply, we don’t see the spine bending or the lower back arching and we have the core muscles to thank for that.
Stabilizing core movements
There are two important types of functional core exercises that focus on the absence of movement: anti-extension and anti-rotational movements. You should include both in your program.
Anti-extension exercises
Anti-extension exercises focus on training core to resist the urge to extend the abdominal region and arch the lumbar spine (low back) under a load (either bodyweight load alone, or added external weight). A lot of great anti-extension exercises are plank modifications and progressions.
Here are some examples of anti extension plank exercises that I incorporate regularly in client programming. They’re the type of dynamic exercises that we should strive to include in our programs long term.
During a plank, glutes and core work to prevent the lower back from arching.
Anti-Extension Plank Suggestions
All links are to youtube form demos.
Planks (to modify further, incline plank, wall plank)
Ball rollouts (to modify, use larger ball, weighted ball to create extra stability)
Ab wheel and barbell rollouts
Body saw plank or plank rocks
More isolated anti extension exercises performed in a supine position (lying down on the back) can also be useful, especially if you haven’t mastered form on your basic plank just yet.
Full hollow body hold
Isolated Anti Extension Suggestions
Lying leg drops and extensions, and their progressions
Hollow body and v-sit holds/boat pose, and their progressions
Anti-rotational Exercises
Anti-rotational exercises are core exercises that emphasize using the core to stabilize by minimizing movement as a weight (your bodyweight and/or an external load) shifts in relation to your body.
Anti Rotational Exercise Suggestions
Shoulder tap plank: core and glutes engage to prevent shoulders and hips from rotating as weight shifts side to side.
Shoulder tap plank
Cable anti-rotational exercises (such as the Paloff press)
Single leg deadlifts and bridges (the core works here to prevent the hips and shoulders from rotating during the movement).
Glute training is core training
Disengaged glutes often lead to pelvic tilt, resulting in tight low back, hips, and disengaged abdominal wall.
Glute strength is an essential component of functional core strength. We can consider glute training a component of both core and lower body strength.
Here are a few examples of how poor glute engagement leads to bigger problems in surrounding areas:
Poor glute function —> lower back/lumbar spine compensation —> lower back pain and trouble activating abdominal muscles
Poor glute function —> hamstrings compensating —> hamstring overuse + strain. If the glutes aren’t working enough, the hamstrings will be overexerted.
Overexerted hamstrings —> knee and hip pain. Essentially, hamstrings can step in and extend the hips when glutes aren’t doing their job, but they aren’t as good at it. They function poorly and pull on hips and knees at a bad angle, often resulting in hip and knee pain.
Banded glute bridge for glute activation
Glute Activation Exercise Suggestions
Try incorporating one of these glute activation exercises into your warmup or core work sequence:
Revisiting the standing shoulder press example
Let’s revisit the shoulder press again to illustrate the importance of glute engagement during a variety of exercises. Next time you shoulder press, think about the role your glutes play. Squeeze your butt to prevent the low back from arching and the pelvis from tilting forward as you press a challenging load overhead. You’ll notice the glutes play a huge part in keeping your torso stable and upright.
Applying your new knowledge
How to start including functional core training in your program
Incorporate both anti-extension and anti-rotational exercises into your training regularly.
Short on time? Movements like single leg deadlifts (an anti-rotational exercise) and push ups (an anti-extension core exercise) can double as core movements for a time efficient workout.
Choose appropriate intensity. It should feel challenging to maintain good form during these exercises! During anti-extension exercises, it should feel challenging to keep the back from arching. During anti-rotational exercises, your core and glutes should really be working to prevent movement in the shoulders and hips.
Incorporate isolated glute activation and isolated core work into your active warmup. Incorporate more advanced, demanding work like challenging planks and heavy single leg work into the body of your workout as you would other strength exercises
Example Core Supersets
Sample core workout - Day 1
Perform the following exercises as a superset 3x at the end of your strength routine or as a warmup. Rest 45-60 seconds between sets.
8-12x shoulder tap plank
20-45 second bent hollow hold
Sample core workout - Day 2
Perform the following exercises as a superset 3x at the end of your strength routine or as a warmup. Rest 45-60 seconds between sets.
6-10x swiss ball (beginner) or barbell (advanced) plank rollout
10-12x deadbug with swiss ball
Sample core workout - Day 3
Perform the following exercises as a superset 3x at the end of your strength routine or as a warmup. Rest 45-60 seconds between sets.
30-60s (weighted) forearm plank hold
8-10x plank row
Single Leg Strength Exercises
Our core helps us maintain good posture, alignment and balance during single leg work. Single leg exercises also effectively engage important glute and hip musculature, which we now know is key to functional core strength.
I suggest incorporating single leg exercises multiple times per week. Personally, I perform unilateral work in every one of my workouts. Choose a balanced mix of hip and knee dominant exercises.
Hip dominant exercises
Single leg deadlift
Single leg bridge
Single leg hip thrust
Knee dominant exercises
Lunge
Step up
Bulgarian split squat
Front foot elevated split squat
Pistol Squat
Lateral single leg exercises
Lateral lunge
Side Step Up
Closing note: What to do if you don’t feel the burn in your abs?
Focus on the outcome, not the internal feeling. If your are successfully preventing inefficient movement in your torso during the movements you’ve decided to include in your workout, your core is doing its part. You don’t need to feel the burn for it to be effective.
Take a look at this recent metanalysis. It’s currently looking like its just as effective to focus on the outcome of a movement as it is to focus on feeling it.
“In summary, our findings indicate an acute increase in muscular strength when utilizing an external focus of attention. When applied over the long-term, using an external focus of attention may also enhance resistance training-induced gains in lower-body muscular strength.”
Not sure where to start with your core training, book a free consult call with me and we can chat! A one time drop in session might also help you to get more out of your core workouts moving forward.