The other day I was going through some old pictures from my college hockey days and this one caught my attention.
Core training continues to be a topic of discussion and debate, for good reason. Despite most strength and conditioning coaches seeing the light and moving to a greater focus on training the core for stability than movement, most athletic coaches and the general public still haven’t caught on. Take a look at my midsection (ignore the jock strap…) in this picture. This is a great snapshot to illustrate an important point-my upper body is moving horizontally in a counterclockwise direction. My lower body is moving horizontally in a clockwise (the opposite) direction. Stuck in between is the core, which will function to STOP or decelerate these opposing movements. In other words, the core didn’t cause these rotations, but it will function to stop them. The take home? The core primarily functions to PREVENT or RESIST movement/rotation, NOT to cause it. In the next few days I’ll discuss some great exercises to train the core more effectively for this purpose.<>