Core Training – More Than Just Ab Workouts

What is core training?

Today, let's take a look at our midsection, the so-called "core". In core training, we primarily focus on training the muscles in the midsection, specifically the area between the diaphragm and hips. It is a key component of any functional training program. Instead of isolating individual muscles, entire muscle chains are engaged. The focus is on the muscles around the hips and pelvis, the lower abdominal and stomach muscles, the lower back muscles, and those along and between the ribs up to the muscles between the shoulder blades. All muscles that connect your midsection upward to the shoulder-arm-head area and downward to the glute-pelvis-leg area. The goal of core training is to improve the stability of your midsection—your core stability. What was known in the 80s and 90s as ab training is core training today. Yet core training encompasses far more than just strengthening the abs. It's about stability and strengthening the entire core musculature.

The benefits of core training

A strong core offers many benefits that are especially crucial for athletes. Good core stability ensures, among other things:

• a lower risk of injury,

• improved recovery and posture,

• great prerequisites for functional and powerful movements,

• stronger back muscles and thus greater stability along the spine,

• a slimmer waistline by training the oblique abdominal muscles,

• improved training of the pelvic floor muscles.

Overall, a well-trained core area not only supports you in everyday life and daily movement patterns, but a stable and strong trunk is also essential for sports and fitness. It provides increased coordination between the core and the external limbs; tendons and ligaments receive better support, and the spine is better protected. All of this prevents minor and major injuries – you could almost call it a type of preventive training. In sports like Pilates and yoga, the focus of most exercises is on improving core tension.

A stable core is king – popular core exercises

A good core workout can be performed without any equipment as well as with training aids. A well-trained core is the centerpiece of many functional exercises. You can perform core exercises using just your body weight or incorporate equipment like kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells, or various additional weights like weight plates and sandbags. Clean execution and an actively engaged core are crucial for all exercises. Core training is not primarily about improving strength, but rather about training local stabilizing and deep muscles. Therefore, isometric holding exercises without extra weight or movement are ideal for this type of training.

Core exercises with and without accessories

Some of the most effective and popular core exercises without equipment include:

• Various plank exercises (forearm plank)

• Bird dog (quadruped diagonal arm and leg lifts)

• Push-up starting position

• Various squat exercises

• Russian Twist

• Hold exercises such as the Superman Hold or the Hollow Hold

For core workouts using equipment, exercises with kettlebells and barbells are highly recommended. The following exercises provide targeted training for your core:

• Deadlifts with a barbell or kettlebell

• Russian twists with added weight ( such as a kettlebell, dumbbell, medicine ball, weight plate)

• Goblet squats (meaning squats with weight)

• Push-up position and pulling a sandbag under the center of your body

• Superman with an ab wheel or a barbell with medium-sized plates

Precise execution is essential for all core exercises. Core training is most effective when the large, externally visible muscle chains do not perform the hold exercise, but rather the deeper, smaller core muscles take on the (holding) work. This is best achieved through minimal movement, body weight only, and a neutral posture. Core training loves short but regular stimuli. This means it is better to complete your core exercises every day for just a few minutes than to do your core workout very rarely but too intensely. It is best to have an experienced trainer show you the exercises and correct your form at the beginning. A large mirror helps you perform the exercises cleanly in the beginning and slightly correct your posture if necessary to avoid incorrect strain or poor form. It really helps when someone shows you how to execute the exercise correctly and what to pay special attention to during execution.

Who is core training suitable for?

You could also rephrase the question and ask: Who needs core training? The answer to both questions is simple: Everyone. Every person benefits from a stable and strengthened core. Core training is not just beneficial for recreational and professional athletes.

Every man and woman benefits from regular core training in everyday life and daily activities.

Especially in our sedentary society, where almost everyone spends hours a day sitting in an office chair or on the couch, training the core muscles is extremely beneficial. After all, everyone performs everyday movements like bending, reaching, or turning. A strong core supports all of these. A strong midsection can prevent back pain, improves the coordination of limbs with the torso, and thereby prevents injuries. In professional athletes, you can see what well-trained core muscles are good for: sprinters must focus heavily on a strong core, as it gives them the required explosiveness at the start of a race. Soccer players, ballerinas, strength athletes: they all rely on optimal power transfer from a strong midsection to the muscle chains of the limbs.

This makes core training one of the most important training methods for amateur and professional athletes alike.