My Take on Core Stability Training

I just finished reading an article in the NSCA’s December 2007 Strength and Conditioning Journal entitled “Core Stability Training for Healthy Athletes: A different Paradigm for Fitness Professionals”.

It struck a chord with me because not so much because of the material that was new to me, but because it confirmed things I knew or suspected but never really articulated. It’s always cool to learne some new stuff and get confirmation that I’m on the right track in my thinking as a trainer and my own exercise prescription (which is CrossFit).

Anyway, as you can tell from the title of the article — it’s about core stability training for healthy athletes and advocates a switch in the way fitness professionals approach core training for healthy athletes. The short of it is that while core exercises on unstable equipment (think bosu ball, swiss ball, wobble board) are good in physical therapy, they are not the best prescription for healthy athletes. Healthy athletes would be better served by performance of ground-based free weights which are somewhat unstable but allow high levels of force production.

The article also states, “No studies have demonstrated significant performance improvements in healthy athletes consequent to core training programs that emphasized resistance exercises performed on unstable equipment. Studies that have demonstrated performance improvements utilized untrained or recreationally active individuals who probably would have responded to any novel training in a positive way” (December 2007; NSCA Strength and Conditioning Journal, p44)

So that’s the gist of article in a very small nutshell. It got me thinking about a fitness center I used to go to that had a physical therapy clinic in it.

The clinic was never open when I came, but it had a small window and I occasionally stopped to peak at the equipment in there. There were lots of different machines and lots of swiss balls, wobble boards and other inflatable balance oriented bits. Rehab equipment. The main fitness area did not have any of that stuff. I don’t recall seeing a swiss ball or a band or a wobble board.

Years later (and many pounds more later) I was at another fitness club, going through the motions and using the classic, but not so effective, body builder split routines. I did notice that the balance / core development physical therapy equipment I’d seen in a clinical setting was now scattered throughout the gym and used extensively in classes with light weights or a resistance band. I thought it was weird, but I figured “the professionals” knew something I did not, shrugged it off and went about my three sets of ten of whatever that took at least an hour and a half to get through.

It’s years since that observation and the swiss balls and core training classes using unstable surfaces are still very much around. It’s mainstream. We’ve got healthy people doing rehab oriented exercises thinking that it’s going to benefit them under the guise of “core training” or “functional movement”. Now if you are just starting out or never put a lot of effort into your workout — it’s better than nothing and you will get some results. But is it really what’s best?

No.

To paraphrase the Talking Heads, I have to wonder, “Well, how did we get here?”

My guess is that it partially crept in from the “toning” and “sculpting” marketing machine targeted at women and others terrified of turning into bulging muscle monsters if they touch a free weight. Add in the misconception that weight lifting, particularly squats, are dangerous (they’re not when properly performed — your knees are more at risk on the knee extension machine), and you’ve got people, even athletes, exercising in a way that’s less beneficial to them — that assumes the benefits being sought are increases in: cardiovascular / respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.

Let’s back track and think about this. Core exercises executed on an unstable surface are not conducive to power production at all and of no use for strength increases in an otherwise healthy individual. The weights are light. The movements are slow. They are rehab oriented and better suited for muscular endurance. They are also great for balance and balance is one of the ten generally recognized physical skills but let’s face it — how often does real life require you to perform on such an uneven surface? You get better balance but the trade off is costly because the other physical skills are not being addressed as much as they could be.

The article acknowledges that these core exercises on a wobble board or the like have their place on occasion (off season, prehabilitiation, rehabilitation) but advocates that athletes would be better served by ground based free weight movements that are somewhat unstable (thereby exercising your core) but allow for greater force production and consequently better sport performance.

Of course, the article never really mentions what those ground based free weight movements are, so I’ll fill in the blanks with what I think they are talking about. In my opinion, those ground based free weight movements are:

• Squat, front squat, back squat, overhead squat
• deadlift
• overhead press,  push press, push jerk
• cleans
• snatches

These are multi-joint structural exercises that work you from your core to your extremities and pack the biggest neuroendocrine response. Athletes do these exercises all the time but the general public, mostly due to lack of proper information and training, does not do those exercises. This is why a university gym looks like this and a run of the mill fitness facility looks like this.

Big difference, no?

While the article focuses on athletes, I’ll take the CrossFit stance and say that even if you are just coming out of couch potato life, the best exercise for an athlete is the best exercise for you if properly scaled. If squats, cleans, clean and jerks, push presses, push jerks and the rest of the power and Olympic lifts are good for athletes, they are good for you. This, of course, assumes proper training, supervision and technique. They are not so impossible though. Don’t be intimidated. Chances are you’ve learned more difficult things to do in your life. Find a CrossFit affiliate or find a trainer with a weightlifting certification and background and have at it.

But maybe you like training on the wobble board or semi-inflated balance disks. If you enjoy it – hey I can’t argue with that. I spent a whole summer learning how to juggle. I’d just say think about how you’re using them. They do have their place — even in a performance focused fitness regimen. We use the balance disks for unweighted squats at my gym – but they are used as just one of many stations in a high intensity met-con workout that’s hitting the entire body hard. By the time you get to them, you’ve done high intensity rowing, a crapload of air squats, kettlebell swings and deadlift high pulls that have your legs all abuzz with excitement — so doing as many squats as you can on them in a minute after all of that is a bit different than three sets of ten with rest in between.

I guess it comes down to this:

Would you rather train for performance or train like you are in physical therapy?