Core Stability Training

By Dr. Michael Yessis

For www.EliteFTS.com

Core stability training is the latest rage in the fitness and athletic worlds. It has taken on many different forms. However, in essence, it is a strength exercise performed on an unstable surface so that you must overcome resistance while balancing yourself at the same time. The “experts” who are promoting this type of training believe that most people don’t have ample strength in their hips, abdominals, and lower back muscles (the muscles which make up the body’s core) to stabilize the body in its many activities.

Without a doubt, everyone needs strong midsection muscles for stability and for movement in many different actions. However, the problem is in how the muscles are being exercised for strengthening. In my experience, the methods being used are extremely dangerous. One of the foremost principles of weight training is to maintain a stable position in order to execute the movement with good form and safety. The more unstable your basic position, especially when you’re handling ample amounts of weight, the more dangerous the situation becomes. The slightest off balance movement can result in serious injury.

If you want to develop greater balance, you should train for greater balance. If you want to develop greater stability, you should perform exercises for greater stability. This entails greater strengthening of the muscles involved in maintaining the body in an erect, balanced position.  Combining the two is possible but only when you’re capable of executing the balance activity.  However, why bother doing this? You will use less weight, have a shorter range of motion, and increase the chances of injury.

It’s interesting to note that many of these same “experts” who are currently advocating this potentially dangerous type of training are the same ones who advocated the performance of maximum stability type exercises for safety several years ago. They recommended seated and support type exercises in which the body is held in place so that the exercise can be performed safely and effectively. For example, machine exercises were highly recommended because they didn’t involve balance. The body was literally locked in place so there would be little chance of injury due to a lack of balance. Instead of doing exercises such as the standing overhead press, they recommended the seated overhead press. They even suggested performing dumbbell curls in a seated rather than standing position. They recommended more and more of the maximum stability type exercises rather than promoting full balance with full strength.

However, instead of doing strength exercises on unbalanced surfaces, you can develop great stability and strength by performing most exercises in a standing position on a solid, flat surface.  When you do standing exercises such as front and lateral arm raises to an overhead position, overhead presses, biceps curls, or triceps extensions, you must constantly balance your body as you do the exercise. When coupled with full range of motion exercises for the midsection, you develop ample core strength as well as strength in the muscles being worked. There isn’t any need to do highly dangerous exercises in an unstable position.

Core stability training doesn’t prepare you for dynamic, full range movements. Athletes who do only core stability training experience problems when participating in sports that require considerable dynamic movement as well as strength and/or power. However, if you do full range of motion strength exercises for the lower back and abdomen, you don’t experience such problems.

By doing exercises such as the back raise, back raise with a twist, reverse trunk twist, Russian twist, reverse sit-up, and hip flexion, extension, and abduction, you can develop stability and strength in the entire midsection. At the same time, you won’t experience any problems. So beware of getting sucked into this latest trend because it won’t benefit you in your sport or in full range, everyday activities.

For more information on core training and some of the best full range of motion strength exercises, see Kinesiology of Exercise and Build a Better Athlete.

More about Dr. Yessis.

Dr. Michael Yessis is a professor emeritus in biomechanics and kinesiology and president of Sports Training Inc., a diversified company that does specialized work with athletes and develops specialized training equipment. He is considered the foremost U.S. expert on Russian training methods. He has traveled to Russia multiple times, has worked with Russian coaches including Yuri Verkhoshansky, and has translated and published Russian training articles in the Fitness and Sports Review International for over 29 years. Dr. Yessis also wrote the number one article read in Muscle and Fitness (Kinesiology—Training Notebook) for over 25 years. For more information, visit his website at www.dryessis.com.