Core Training: More Than Just Abs

Proper training of the core is one of the most butchered things I see across social media.

This really is a shame, because not only does it add a lot to how a physique looks, but it adds a lot to your athleticism and performance on other lifts.

As such, the aim of this article is the following:

• Define what the “core” even is

• Break down the 2 biggest myths when it comes to core training

• Provide the 4 types of exercises you need for complete core development

What is the “core?”

Most commonly, the core is defined as the muscles involved in spinal movement or stabilization.

The joints within your spine are actually quite mobile. They’re capable of 4 distinct movement patterns:

• Flexion

  • Your spine bending forward

  • This movement is primarily driven by the rectus abdominus and transverse abdominus

• Extension

  • Your spine bending backward

  • This is primarily driven by the erector spinae muscles, multifidus muscles, and many others

• Lateral extension

  • Your spine bending sideways

  • This movement is primarily driven by the internal, external obliques, and transverse abdominus

• Rotation

  • Your spine twisting

  • This movement is primarily driven by the internal & external obliques, and transverse abdominus

Image source: 3D4Medical Muscle System Pro III

The functions of these muscles have significant overlap, and there are far more muscles that contribute to the listed movements than the ones I noted alone.

So, to try to “target” or “isolate” any one of these muscles is an unwise pursuit.

It’s much more worth your while to think about training these 4 movements, not the muscles that perform them. Doing so will insure that all muscles of the core are sufficiently trained.

The biggest core myths to discard

For some reason, people across social media tend to look at the muscles and joints of the care as if they are completely different to muscles & joints elsewhere.

As a general rule of thumb: the muscles of the core should be trained and developed just like any other muscle or joint:

• Using a full range of tolerable motion

• Using rep ranges that are appropriate for the exercise

• Aiming to do more work (more weight or more reps) over time

… and that’s about it.

Despite how simple this should be, there still prevails some ideas that these muscles & joints are somehow different.

Let’s breakdown these myths one by one:

Myth #1: The muscles of the core are meant to resist movement not produce it

This is true for things like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, etc.

In movements such as this, most people find the most efficient technique by stabilizing their core & mid section while they use their arms & legs to move through space.

However, just because your core aims to resist movement in these movements does not mean it’s meant to do the same thing everywhere else.

In life and in sport, movement around the spine is essential.

If you are in the driver’s seat of your car & want to grab something from the back seat or you want to swing a golf club, you will be practicing spinal rotation.

Another reason why people come to this belief is the idea that spinal movement will lead to back pain or injury; something that is just not supported by the evidence.

Although great evidence does not exist either way, the overall suggestion from the data is that there is not much relationship between spine angle during lifting and pain or injury. [1]

Bottom line: Training your spine to resist movement is a good idea. Training it to produce movement is also a good idea.

Myth #2: Ab circuits are best

We’ve all seen them before…

The “10-minute ab routine” that puts together 10 different exercises with no rest.

Yeah, doing this might “burn” but it’s not a very conducive path to good results.

One of the reasons this began is the idea that the muscles of the core are made up of type 1 muscle fibers; or “slow twitch” muscle fibers.

This sort of muscle fiber isn’t able to produce a lot of force quickly, but it can last longer in comparison to type 2 muscle fibers; or “fast twitch” muscle fibers.

With the discovery of this, it was thought that using high reps for type 1 muscle fibers would be better and low reps would be better for type 2 muscle fibers.

Mechanistically, this makes sense. When you look at the outcome data (ie what actually happens), though, a different picture is painted.

Growth of type 1 and type 2 muscle fibers occur whether you use 5 or 30 reps in a set; as long as you get near muscular failure. [2]

Exercises to train the core

As previously mentioned, the prime functions of the core flexion, extension, lateral extension, and rotation.

Flexion involves any exercise in which your spine is bending forward. In other words, your hips and your chest get closer.

Examples are as follows:

Extension involves any movement in which your spine is moving backward, the opposite direction of the above movements.

This movement usually gets plenty of volume from things like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, etc.

As a result, it’s rare that you need to add more volume on top of this.

Lateral extension involves any movement in which your spine is bending side ways.

Two exercises that train this are as follows:

Rotation involves twisting of your spine. This should be trained in both directions.

Examples of this movement are as follows:

There are plenty more for each option you can choose from depending upon what equipment you have available, fitness level, etc.

Nonetheless, hopefully these give you an idea of what the movements should look like and how to develop a complete core.