Programming Core Workouts - Part 4: Isometric Stability

Isometric Stability Exercises for the Core

This is part 4 of the continuing series on Core workouts. If you haven't seen them, or just need a refresher here's Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Our basic pattern continues here with a three part approach - front, back and side. However, these exercises are using various devices to create instability, such as a BOSU, medicine ball or stability ball. 

Instability creates two additional kinds of demand relative to simpler exercises. First, the need to stabilize engages more of the muscles, thereby increasing the intensity of the exercise without having to increase weight. Second, our trunk muscles have a significant role in stabilizing the torso and our body (of course), so a stability demanding exercises is going to help develop that capability. This demonstrates the application of a basic principle: overload. An unstable surface is overload in comparison to regular life, where we don't have to deal with unstable surfaces. Overload is necessary to make regular tasks easy.

Their are four exercises shown above:

1. Medicine Ball Plank - this engages the entire body for stabilization, especially the upper body. Emphasis should be on good posture - as always, a good plank looks just like good standing posture except rotated 90 degrees. This means a neutral spine, instead of letting the hips drop or sticking your butt up in the air.

2. Stability Ball Curl Up - with the small of the back on the stability ball this exercise focuses the demand on the abdominal muscles, unlike the previous exercise. The objective is to hold the shoulders up against gravity while simultaneously stabilizing on the ball to maintain a neutral posture.

3. Stability Ball  Hip Bridge - with the shoulders and neck on the stability ball this exercise places it's demand on the back extensors, glutes and hamstrings. Once again, the objective is to maintain a straight back posture. There is a tendency for people to cheat by letting the hips sag. However, there is no real downside to a bit of over-extension with the back. So I advise people to err on the side of elevating the hips higher than they think they need to.

4. BOSU Side Plank - by elevating the feet on the flat side of a BOSU the side plank gets an added stability requirement. As with the regular side plank the emphasis should be on good posture (which I'm sure you've noticed is the pattern), avoiding the errors illustrated in the video.

Task Complexity

These exercises illustrate another principle for progression, that of task complexity. Task complexity allows us to progress an exercise without increasing weight, by adding additional layers of difficulty in other domains. This does not improve strength but it will improve the cross-over between different exercises. 

It can also provide a way of progressing an exercise in group training when there is a mix of levels. Since not everyone can necessarily do a harder or more intense version of an exercise it can be easier to have some folks do a more complex version of the exercise.

Programming

These are supplementary exercises that work best in conjunction with the more basic exercises described in the previous parts of the series. They can be done on the off days since they are less intense than the standard weighted core exercises.

As with the other isometric exercises, aim for a duration of at least 30 seconds and build up to a minute. Much past a minute and it becomes necessary to change the exercise to continue to make meaningful improvement.

Conclusion

These basic exercise variants can improve an already solid core development and strengthening program by adding task complexity through instability.

(Conclusion about programming)

Programming Core Workouts - Part 3

Dynamic Core Work

Dynamic exercises to train moving your body around a stationary torso for good structure in the fight.

Sorry it took so long to get the next blog post up. Grad school has been intense and I needed to shoot a video for it.

In case you missed them here are Part 1 and Part 2.

Here's the video


The key point of this series of exercises is moving the limbs around a stationary torso. This is what we do when we fight, as I discussed in part 1. As such this is a natural progression for the core training.

Plank Walkout - the two most common errors I see with this exercise involve the end points of the motion.

• Too Far Back - Only come back to a push-up position, don't bring your hands any closer to your feet and don't let your backside pop-up.
• Too Far Out - Don't reach as far forward as you can. Instead you should only walk forward as far as you are able to do well. And well here means maintaining a neutral spine (as it pretty much always does). If you can't get very far at first then don't worry about - just go a little bit farther each week.

Side Plank Reach - a common error here is a short range of motion. Do not try to do this exercise quickly, take the time to reach as far as you can in each direction.

1-leg Hip Bridge - be sure to get the hips all the way up to full extension. This version of the exercise helps to engage the glute med muscles of the hip because of the need to stabilize with one side.

Programming

For all three of these exercises 8-12 reps for three sets, done as a circuit is a good program, easily included at the beginning of a strength training session. If the objective is simple activation before technical training, such as part of a pre-class warm-up, then half as many reps is sufficient.

Conclusion

Overall these exercises develop movement quality and the focus is not on difficulty or intensity. Progression is therefore less of a concern than with other exercises. However, advanced exercises will be discussed in coming blog posts.

(Parts IV and conclusion about programming)

Anti-motion and Isometric Exercises

I've been at my internship for six weeks now. I'd been planning to post each week on some topic within my internship, but I've been kind of swamped (with Iron Gate Exhibition, grad school applications, marathon training, 6am shifts at my internship etc.)

In this post I'd like to expand on the idea proper training for the trunk muscles AKA the "core". Researchers like Stuart McGill emphasize that the primary role of the trunk muscles is to stiffen the torso to prevent motion. This stiffening will transmit force from the lower body to the upper body more efficiently - obviously useful for both striking and grappling. Stiffening the torso will also reduce the stresses on the spine and therefore contribute to a healthy spine and back.

In addition to the trunk exercises that I've discussed before I'd like to add anti-motion exercises to the set of trunk exercises that should be done. And I'd reduce the role of conventional exercises like the weighted crunch.

Unlike McGill I am not convinced that exercises like the crunch need to be eliminated entirely. Firstly, I'll reiterate that I do not recommend a high volume of such training and instead focus on force production with a small volume of weighted exercises. Secondly, there are some limitations to the research that McGill has done which I have not seen addressed. Thirdly, I think McGill generalizes from the physical therapy to the sport training setting in ways that may not be valid.

Specifically, while a relatively sedentary office worker or cashier should focus on excellent posture and limiting spinal motion an athlete definitely needs to move their torso. Just look at the spinal motion, in three planes, of this pitcher. This is good pitching mechanics.

Source: http://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2013/08/16/disconnected-pitching-mechanics-a-good-thing/

So the martial artist will need to have strong spinal and core motion as well. To extend the torso with a lunge, to weave the head to avoid a strike, to cut through the target etc.

Overall a balance must be found in the program between these competing aspects of trunk training. And the balance will be different depending on the person. A new student may be hyper-mobile or have poor posture and so focusing on torso stiffening will benefit them most. Or they could be deconditioned such that the basic isometric exercises will be the most they can handle initially. But with a more advanced athlete the need will include more motion in the balance of exercises, as well as plyos and conditioning like the ropes or heavy bar.

Sample Exercises in the Anti-Motion category include:
Any of the planks and variants, though I will emphasize the value of adding weight or other difficulty to these exercises as building up endurance in these has diminishing returns.
Basic exercises also include the Pallof press and it's variation. An advanced version would be a Push-Pull exercise like this, except with the torso held motionless. Similarly, woodchoppers done with the torso still and reverse woodchoppers.
Anti-motion exercises can also include simpler core exercises like leg lowers, rollouts and deadbugs, when the emphasis is on keeping hips inline with the shoulders, spine neutral and hips stable.