In this week’s article, we are bringing you four basic exercises as a starting point to get your core in shape. These four exercises provide the foundation for core stability and are essential to master so that you can build into better strength later. Even the strongest wall will collapse if it’s built on sand, so let’s be sure your core strength has the best footing possible! These deep core activation exercises will lay that solid foundation for the core you need to reach your true potential.
This week’s article comes to you in conjunction with a long-time friend of LSO, Mike Gerometta. Mike has Master’s Degree in Athletic Training and runs Red Bearded Viking Human Performance and Rehabilitation. He programs the accessory work for some top-ranked international weightlifters and we’ve talked him into showing you some of his favorite exercises for core stability!
Why Your Core Matters
Core stability is a topic that hit home for me. I’ve herniated a couple of lumbar discs, the first when I was just 19. After the second herniation, I went to a physical therapist that really focused on my core strength and stability. She used an ultrasound to show me how many of my core muscles were simply not even contracting when I tried to squeeze my core!
I was astounded. We exercised often during my training. In fact, the gym on the top floor of the hospital was referred to as “The Orthopedic Library” by most of the other doctors!
After a few weeks of therapy, I was able to begin getting my deep core muscles activating with some very basic exercises. As I had gone through my surgical training, I learned how to operate on a lot of different injuries. But I suddenly saw how important proper bodily function was for both prevention and treatment of injuries. That’s why I want to share these deep core activation exercises with you; so you can start with a solid foundation for health and fitness.
The Core is More Than Just Your Abs
Many athletes and coaches think about The Core too narrowly. Having a 6 pack of visible abs does not mean you have good core strength or stability. There is so much more!
Your core is best thought of as a cylinder, like a soda can. The top is your diaphragm and the bottom is made up of your pelvic floor muscles. The walls are made up of many other muscles that attach your pelvis to the rest of your body and include the oblique abdominal muscles, the muscles of the lower back, and the muscles around your hips.
So don’t fall into the trap of thinking that situps are the only core work you need to do. Crunches and situps don’t even begin to work your entire core! For more on this topic, check out our previous post on how core strength prevents injuries.
The Difference between Core Strength and Core Stability
You may be able to do sit-ups for days. You may have a washboard set of abs. That may mean you have good core strength. But it doesn’t mean you have great core stability.
Because core stability also requires your core to respond rapidly to changes in position and load. Just think about all the minor and major shifts in core position that an Olympic weightlifter has to do during a snatch, or clean and jerk. If they don’t make those corrections, an injury is not only likely but possibly devastating.
Core strength is the dependent on your primary movers, the big muscles like your rectus abdominis. But core stability is the ability to keep the spine and pelvis in balance during disturbances experienced during sporting activities. To do that, you need your smaller deep core muscles to be firing, not just your primary movers.
Subtle Signs of a Weak Core
Many people that are generally active and healthy can still have a weak core. There are professional athletes that excel at their sport but do so DESPITE a weak core. So what are some signs you may benefit from the exercises in this post?
- You can do heavy back squats but can’t do an overhead squat
- Even though you work out regularly, you still have chronic back pain
- You have difficulty keeping your balance during lunges
- Frequent minor extremity injuries like muscle strains
All of these can be signs that your deep core is not participating in your daily exercise routine. If you experience these problems, you should try putting some effort into the exercises in this post. They can help you solve many of these problems!
See our related post for more signs of a weak core here.
The Major Core Stability Systems
Your core consists of many muscles as we noted above. They all work together and in a certain pattern to keep your core steady. But that is just one of the bodily systems in the core.
The second system includes the bones of the spine, pelvis, and hips. These structures are important for resisting the forces at the extremes of motion. But they can’t support themselves. Without the muscles of the core, the spinal column can only support 20lbs before buckling!
The third system is the nervous component. This system is responsible for both conscious and reflex control of the muscles. As we noted in a previous column, the neurologic system is the one that experiences the most rapid response to exercise. Those rapid changes are what causes most of the strength gains when you start exercising after for the first time in a while.
Training Your Core Starts With The Neurologic System
One of the first ways Mike Gerometta likes to start training the core is with baseline neurologic training. “I aim to get a basic neural response from the body to stabilize major joints in difficult positions.” In these exercises, he intentionally provokes reflex responses by putting the body in positions that are difficult to maintain.
These four exercises train the smaller stabilizing muscles in your core. These muscles often cross a single joint and are deep, usually right next to the bones and joints. But they are the primary stabilizing muscles.
This week’s Four For The Core exercises prime your body for the next phase of core training. “These moves are important for proper motor patterning. They teach you to activate your deep stabilizing muscles,” says Mike. “Deep Core Activation is often forgotten in boxes and gyms. It’s where we start during seminars on Gymnastics. People can finally feel their core activate right, and they love it.”
Many times these deep stabilizing muscles have forgotten when to fire, or stopped firing entirely. Because your body wants to do a deadlift just like high school students do a group project. You have the back muscles want to help but are just doing it wrong, hamstrings that don’t do much but at least show up, and your glutes say “You know what, I’m just going to do this myself and the rest of you can put your name on it.” And your transversus abdominus is the pothead that nobody realized was even part of the group until after it was over!
Motor Patterning For Core Stability
But, firing the primary stabilizing muscles before your main movers is very important. One of the main stabilizing muscles in the core is the transversus abdominis. These oblique muscles make up the deepest layer of the abs on your sides and function like your internal pair of Spanx.
And that is an important job. Several studies have shown that poor control of the transversus abdominus results in low back pain, especially in lifters. (for more info on injury prevention through better core control, check out our previous post “How Core Strength Prevents Injuries”)
So the goal of this set of four core exercises is to train your small stabilizing muscles including the transversus abdominis. We want to teach them to activate and do so quickly. You should feel your entire abdomen shrink in on itself.
The goal of any sporting practice is to make complex movements so ingrained in your neural pathways that they become automatic. And this core work is the most basic pathway that you want to train. If you start with this solid foundation of stabilizing control, everything else will come more easily.
Deep Core Activation Exercises
Modified Side Plank
Lateral stabilizing muscles are probably the most neglected muscles when it comes to thinking about core stability. Instead of just working on strength and endurance of these muscles, we are targeting their reflex reactions here. By placing the body in an awkward side position, Mike Gerometta uses this modified side plank to train the gluteus medius and quadratus lumborum to react quickly and keep the core stable.
Beast Hold
This tight and compact position is one that really focuses your deep core activation. Many coaches try to get their clients to draw in their stomach to achieve core activation. This exercise gives you little option but to do so. The first time Mike had me do this position, I felt like my belly button was trying to hold my entire body in the air! This may feel like a progression of a standard plank, but it isn’t. It really helps to activate the transverse and oblique abdominal muscles: your own set of internal Spanx!
Half Kneeling Wall Press and Lift
This exercise uses the half kneeling or lunge position to challenge the hip stabilizers. But the main reason Mike likes this exercise is that you learn to properly align the pelvis so it can be the stable floor for your core. Keeping the pelvis properly oriented is the first step in keeping a neutral spine position. Lifting your foot once again teaches the body to use its deep core stabilizers to maintain stability during motion.
Quarter Turkish Get-Up
This video shows one of Mike Gerometta’s recommended core activation exercises. This Quarter Turkish Get-Up forces your upper and lower body to communicate during rotation to maintain stability. It’s excellent for neurologic training of core communication. The weight held in the air is vital to provide a “wobble” factor that makes your core adjust to maintain stability and train your core muscle reflexes.