WHAT'S YOUR "CORE" VALUE IN ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE?

We hear about strengthening the "core" to protect the athlete and help their ability to suddenly change direction, etc. The real question is, "how"?

First, let's understand which muscles in this group that are most affected, in relation to sports. The major players involved include: the rectus abdominis (spine flexion), internal and external obliques (trunk rotation), erector spinae (spine extension), transversus abdominis (aiding in thoracic and pelvic stability).

Now that we have recognized the first string guys and what they do, it's easier to understand what needs to get done in order to have optimum results. Of course, as in every program, you want to make sure the athlete is balanced structurally. Otherwise, special attention must be placed to obtain a solid foundation. If we decide to try to work these muscles using small amounts of resistance over a longer period of time to complete the exercise, we risk lowering the overall strength, and stability when high amounts of force are placed on the athlete (eg. throwing, moving opposing players, changing directions, etc). You can bet these types of exercises weren't used by our tackler in the photo. These lower level exercises include: various forms of plank positions, leg lifts in a held position, V-sit, bridges, and other low resistance, higher time under tension exercises. They may activate all of the core muscles, but only at low to moderate levels, which train the muscles for more endurance than to administer force.

So, what DO we do, in order to attain optimum athleticism? We want dense muscle for injury prevention (some may confuse "dense" with "thick"), strong muscles to handle high torque and to react to opposing forces, as well as healthy tissues to avoid energy draining scar tissue, adhesion, and nerve entrapment buildup.

Building dense muscle is a refining process. You need the right exercise programs to continuously help you gain strength while you diminish the need for intramuscular swelling during extreme exertion. This is why so many bodybuilders in their 30's fare better than their younger competitors. The difference in muscular shape is amazing.

Utilizing exercises like Barbell Squats and Deadlifts will help teach the body to work together to overcome the massive opposing force. For instance, in the Barbell Squat, the bar is pulling you backward as you move because it's placed high to make you top heavy. Another great exercise is pushing a sled. You activate your core after you've initiated the lower body. The resistance is high, and you have to drive one leg at a time.

Now that you've done the hard work, you want to keep your tissues healthy so you can recover quickly. Getting rid of scar tissue, adhesions, misaligned fascia, and nerve entrapments are easy and in most cases, painless. We use many techniques, including: PIMST, Total Body Balancing, Active Release Technique,Yuen Method, as well as many others, depending on the problem(s), rather than fixing the symptom(s).

However you decide to become beastly with your core strength, keep in mind that the core is designed to help TRANSFER power from upper to lower body (as in swimming), or lower to upper body (as in pitching), unless your sport starts movement from mid air, such as diving and trampoline.

When you would like more information on consulting and working with your athletes, please contact me at: www.bradvaillancourt.wix.com/coach

Thank you for reading

Sincerely,

Brad Vaillancourt