core training: simple considerations
By Alan Chan, Registered Physiotherapist
Core training has been a hot topic in health and wellness circles for as long as anyone can remember. At this point, almost everyone can appreciate why training your mid section is important. However, with the abundance of information available online, it can be difficult to know where to begin.
It is important to remember that “core” is not just your abdominals! All muscles that stabilize the axial skeleton (your head, spine and pelvis) are considered part of the core muscle group. Here are a few items to consider when adding core training to your workout routine:
1: Are you training all parts of your core?
Perhaps one of the simplest ways to ensure your core training routine encompasses all of the muscles in your trunk is to make sure you have an exercise that works each movement of the core. In other words, be sure to include at least one movement for each of the following directions: bending forward, bending backwards, side bending to the left and right, and rotating clockwise and counterclockwise.
2: Are you training the core muscles frequently enough?
Resistance training a muscle group a minimum of twice a week is advisable and the muscles of the core are no different! If you're itching to train more frequently, remember that you only make progress when you can recover from the exercise being done. Be on the lookout for signs to rest, such as: sore muscles, increases in caffeine intake, difficulty sleeping, increased/decreased appetite, decreased desire to exercise, etc.
3: Does your core training fit well with your goal?
This one can be tricky! Having a physical therapist with a keen eye for movement is useful in helping you personalize your core training so that it targets your particular needs. After all, training your core for a marathon is rather different from training your core for a full summer of gardening. Should you want to take a stab at it yourself, look for core exercises that move similarly to the activity in which you want to excel. This is a common strategy used within strength and conditioning circles, known as specificity.
4: Is your core training sustainable for the long term?
It's rare that core training is just a means to an end, so making it sustainable is also important. There are many evidence-based strategies to help with exercise adherence (e.g., make exercise double as a social opportunity, exercise earlier in the day when you have more energy, periodically change exercises to create novelty, etc.) and those definitely apply here as well. A lesser known strategy is to simply adjust the relative intensity of the exercise so that it is challenging, but not so unpleasant that you don't want to do it again. To do this, I'll often suggest that my patients perform as many repetitions as possible for a given set, but stop two repetitions shy of failure. This tends to keep the exercise challenging and exciting, while not making it overwhelming.
Alan Chan, Physiotherapist and Power Lifting Coach
Alan Chan graduated from the University of Toronto with a Master of Science in Physical Therapy after completing his Master of Science in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Using his extensive biomechanics education as well as his background in competitive Tae Kwon Do and Powerlifting, Alan also loves to help his clients fine tune their bodies for high performance sports. In his spare time, Alan trains for Powerlifting meets, enjoys E-sports, or hanging out with his corgi, Monster!
