- Aug 5
- 3 min read
Core Training and Stability
These days, athletes are focusing more attention on core stabilization—during routine training and especially during rehabilitation after an injury.
Certain martial arts facilitate good core development; however, core stabilization is more commonly associated with Pilates and yoga. Depending on your training routine, you may experience the benefits of good core stability or the problems that stem from the lack thereof.
Core Stabilization
“Core” generally refers to the lumbar spine, pelvis, hips, shoulder girdle, or all of the above. An easy way to think of it is that your core is essentially the trunk of your body. Stabilizing your trunk means you have a stable platform to generate power when using your arms and legs. If your core is weak, excessive forces are transferred to your arms and legs, and that can result in injury. A strong core also enhances the transfer of torque from your trunk to your arms and legs, thereby maximizing the efficiency and power of strikes.
Core stabilization and core training involve a broad spectrum of exercises that strengthen the muscles of the trunk, abdomen, pelvis, and shoulder girdle. A crucial component is the superficial and deep muscles around the spine that exert control during bending and twisting motions. If your core spinal muscles are weak, repeated twisting and turning, when uncontrolled, can initiate a chain reaction of problems extending outward to your arms and legs.
A common problem for martial artists and non-martial artists alike is lower back pain. There are many causes for it, but in a situation in which the lower back is found to be relatively normal after medical investigation, segmental instability of the lumbar spine is a possible mechanism.
Segmental instability is hypothesized to occur when a lumbar vertebral body moves to a greater extent than normal. Muscular training around the spine can correct excessive vertebral motion and reduce pain. Restoring the coordination and control of trunk muscles will improve control of the lumbar spine and pelvis.
Injury Prevention and Performance
If you’re injured, numerous methods can help rapidly return you to activity, as well as improve performance by emphasizing neuromuscular efficiency in your trunk. Core stabilization requires elements of strength training, endurance training, coordination development and, most important, motor learning. Optimal trunk functionality is essential to precision and explosiveness in the extremities.
The number of exercises is many; confer with your trainer and/or physiotherapist to find out which ones are best suited to your situation. In general, core stabilization starts with postural positions and lumbopelvic motion, training the correct sequence of muscle contractions and doing this during simulated tasks. It progresses to more dynamic movements that often involve progressive-resistance loading of the trunk, hips, and shoulder girdle.
Most core training uses a balanced strengthening protocol involving spine and abdominal muscles. More sophisticated and advanced training relies on coordinated, synchronous activation of muscles in the core, as well as the extremities. No matter which art you practice, the most important principle to understand is that the trunk serves as a stable yet dynamic platform for extremity motion, which means attention to body posture and motion should be the focus of your core strengthening.
Core Exercises
Core exercises progress from simple to complex and from minimal weight-bearing postures to full weight-bearing dynamic movements, all while maintaining proper breathing. Studies have shown the benefits of such exercises in people with lower back pain.
Acute hamstring strain also has been studied, and it was found that core stabilization helps return people to activity sooner with a lower re-injury rate compared to people who do only static stretching and strengthening.
Why does it help with injury prevention? Inadequate neuromuscular control of the trunk may compromise dynamic stability of the lower extremities and result in increased torque at the knees. This tends to increase strain on knee ligaments, thereby leading to injury. The body’s ability to maintain or resume an equilibrium position of the trunk after perturbation is critical.
The position of the trunk over the legs during movement can change your center of balance and the force acting on your joints. The ability to dynamically orient the trunk over the lower extremities, especially while landing after a jump, may decrease the risk of leg injury.
Ongoing Research
Core stability is still being researched despite numerous advances in our understanding of the anatomy and biomechanics of the trunk. Similar efforts continue to provide knowledge of the neuromotor mechanisms, or the interaction between the nervous and musculoskeletal systems, of trunk control and dynamic movement. The challenge lies in using that knowledge to select specific exercises that will help you achieve the results you want.
