With all the focus lately on strength work and speed exercises, I have been neglecting one of the most important aspects of any physical training program; core work. Those who have followed this column for some time know that a strong core is important for maintaining correct posture, preventing injuries and improving power transfer from the lower body to the upper body.
This week we are focusing on a fairly demanding circuit which hits all the muscles of the core (abdominals, obliques, low back and glutes) while simultaneously focusing on balance in a variety of positions. Here are the exercises:
SIDE PLANK WITH ROTATION
Muscles involved: Obliques.
Performance:
1. Begin by lying on your right side with your weight supported by your ankles and your right forearm and extend your left arm straight upward
2. Keeping your legs and torso straight, contract your core and twist laterally while reaching underneath your body with your left hand.
3. Perform the desired number of repetitions before switching sides.
AROUND THE WORLD PLANK
Muscles involved: Abdominals, glutes and low back.
Performance:
1. Begin in the plank position with the weight of the body balanced on the toes and the forearms.
2. Begin with the right arm extending it fully and holding this position momentarily.
3. Return the plank position.
4. Fully extend the right leg and hold momentarily.
5. Return to the plank position.
6. Repeat on the left side of the body starting with the left leg followed by the left arm.
Points:
1. One trip around the body (extending and holding each limb) constitutes 1 rep.
ALTERNATING SUPERMAN
Muscles involved: Low back and glutes.
Performance:
1. Lie facedown on the floor.
2. Simultaneously raise your right arm and left leg off the floor and hold briefly.
3. Return to the starting position.
4. Switch sides and repeat.
Use this circuit as a prelude to either your strength work in the weight room or your speed and agility work on the field. Start out by trying to get through three of these circuits with minimal rest between exercises and circuits and shoot for 6-8 reps per exercise. When that becomes easy, you need to increase the intensity by incorporating static contraction holds.
A static contraction hold is an isometric contraction, where the working muscle is being contracted as hard as possible but no movement of the muscle is occurring. For example, during a biceps curl, on the way up the bicep is contracting concentrically (shortening) and on the way down it is contracting eccentrically (lengthening) but if you were to pause midway through and resist gravity, the muscle is contracting without any movement occurring (an isometric contraction).
Start out by holding each rep for a full five seconds and contract the working muscles as hard as you can. You will probably have to reduce the number of reps you perform per exercise initially due to the increase in intensity but your core muscles will quickly become much stronger using this technique. Gradually work your way back up to 6-8 reps per exercise.
Matt is an ACE certified personal trainer and NESTA certified speed, agility & quickness specialist.
