Core Training: What’s With All The Bouncy Balls?

One of the latest fads around the gym is the concept of core training. Well, maybe fad isn’t the right word. Core training is more of an advancement in the science of physical fitness that has been twisted and mutated into a variety of fad programs offered by health clubs and personal trainers.

These programs or routines usually involve performing resistance exercises while balancing on a rubber flat bottomed stability trainer or draped over an inflated rubber exercise ball. The theory behind the training is that performing resistance exercises while trying to maintain your balance forces you to use the “core” support muscles to keep from toppling over. And if you’re holding a dumbbell of any significant weight, you are definitely motivated not to topple over.

So, what are these core muscles?

The list of core muscles is fairly arbitrary and can differ from “expert” to “expert”. In general though, the core or support muscles are those that run the length of the trunk and torso. When these muscles contract, they stabilize the spine, pelvis, and shoulders thus creating a solid foundation of support for the extremities of the body.

This range of muscle includes (let’s read along in our Anatomy textbook together):

• Erector Spinae - A collection of three muscles running from your neck to the lower back.
• Rectus Abdominis - The muscle that runs down the front of your abdomen. Also known as the six-pack and typically sported by those who stay away from the other kind of six-pack
• External Obliques - These muscles lie on the front and sides of the abdomen. They are what’s hiding beneath those love handles.
• Internal Obliques - These lie under the external obliques.
• Transverse Abdominis - This is the deepest abdominal muscle and lies under the obliques. It wraps around your waist like a weight belt and provides stability and protection to the spine.

Other muscles often included in discussions around the core include the hip flexors, hip abductors, and the gluteus maximus.

Many of the core training programs you find offered in gyms focus on the strengthening of the abs. All those “Strengthen Your Core With Six Pack Abs” and “Core Crunch” programs concentrate on the abdominals when actually, the abdominals play a minimal role when it comes to core support.

Working the core is much more than just doing crunches and other ab work. It is a workout that focuses on all the muscles listed above that stabilize the connection between the lower back, hips, and pelvis.

The key to efficient core training is stabilization. It is training that strengthens the ability to stabilize the trunk and pelvis muscles. Everything from maintaining good posture, living life without back pain, and maintaining mobility depends on the strength of our core.

Pilates and yoga are both excellent forms of core training. They both focus on the use of body weight and movement to contract the various core muscles in strict isolated movements. They introduce the concept of strict, controlled movements that is so necessary to efficient core training.

Which is why I sometimes laugh when I see a guy trying to do dumbbell bicep curls while balancing precariously on a flat sided stabilization ball. He’s swaying back and forth while trying to lift the dumbbell. That’s not stabilization and it’s certainly not effectively training the core muscles.

The key to working with stabilization balls is to work up to trying to manage weights while balancing. First learn to balance and keep your core muscles stabilized (i.e. not moving). The goal is to be able to maintain strict controlled movements that keep the core muscles stable and contracted. Once you can do this using only your own body weight, then it might be time to introduce the dumbbells.

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