Did you know “core training” used to be HUUUGGGGEEE back in the late 1990s and 2000s?
It was ALL the rage.
DVDs.
Home study manuals.
Certifications for trainers.
Entire classes at fitness centers with names like “Core Boot Camp” dedicated a full hour session to endless “core exercises.”
Single leg stance, Wobble Boards, Airex Pads, and the Bosu Ball.
In fact, I remember having to teach an “Abs Class” back at the Executive Fitness Center, at the old pre-9/11 World Trade Center complex in 1997 and being interrogated by the Fitness Manager because I was actually teaching "lower back exercises” - you know - to strengthen the core.
Then, in the 2010s, it seemed like much of the market - at least my crowd - suddenly, and inexplicably, moved away from the “core training” thing and into “movement” and “functional movement” and “movement restoration.”
And now?
Well, I think it depends on what “crowd” you’re in and who you “follow.”
(I am seeing a resurgence of “ground-based movement” - a repackaged name for “developmental / animal movements” which were all the rage last decade...)
One thing I’m certain of:
There is still A LOT of confusion about what the core is, how you should train it, and even whether you should even train it at all.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my new training program, Systematic Core Training For Kettlebells.
And if I haven’t responded yet to a question you sent, I’ll get there. So thanks in advance for your patience. ;-]
So, back to the question at hand:
How is Systematic Core Training For Kettlebells DIFFERENT than what you’re currently doing?
Well, since I’m not clairvoyant, I can’t tell for sure what you’re doing. ;-]
Therefore, let’s give you a rundown of what you will be doing when you start the program, ok?
First, Systematic Core Training For Kettlebells is based on "The SSP Model."
It’s a proven model which I first learned back in 1998 and have experimented on and off with over the decades, finally embracing it around 2012-ish.
SSP = Stability - Strength - Power.
Stability - The body’s ability to stabilize the center of the body - the pelvis and spine - to create a solid base of support around which the rest of the body can move.
Our goal is to strengthen the Inner Unit - a group of muscles in the center of the body (which you cannot see) designed to produce IAP - Intra-Abdominal Pressure - the mechanism which produces spinal stability.
A lack of stability in your middle - called “reflexive core stability” - can not only hurt your spine and hips…
It can also “lock down” or restrict joint ranges of motion in areas of the body further away from your center. This is called “protective tension” and is responsible many times for chronic muscle tightness / joint stiffness & soreness.
Strength - The body’s ability to generate / produce and reduce / resist / decelerate / absorb force.
We train the muscles you generally can see: Rectus abdominis (your 6-pack), your glutes, your erector spinae (the “bread loaves” that run up either side of your spine), adductors, and hamstrings.
This is built on top of stability so you can access your joints full ranges of motion and do the things you want to do.
Sometimes, people actually have adequate core stability levels, they’re just lacking core strength. And that lack of strength is holding them back.
Furthermore, we’ll use a 3-phase process I used to rebuild myself from 2010-2012. I spent A LOT of time in Phases 1 and 2. (Because I was THAT weak!)
And the important thing to note here is that each phase builds upon the previous.
And each exercise in each phase becomes progressively harder - uhhh - ahem - I mean - “more challenging.”
Power - The body’s ability to express strength over a given period of time - also called work. Typically, we’ll add locomotion in this phase of training.
Upon reviewing the last 30+ years of professional training, I can see where people get these phases out of order.
Or they skip them altogether.
Or they misapply tactics from one phase (high-tension techniques found in some “strength” work) to other phases (like “stability”) where the goal is to get the body to stabilize the spine “automatically.”
Second, you’ll log in, and watch 3 videos to test your abdominal stability and strength. (Two videos are the tests, one is an explanation of what failing one of the tests looks like.)
(Inside your portal.)
I recommend actually taking the tests right then and there. They’re simple and take about 60 seconds total.
Third, you’ll download the Training Manual and Training Programs.
And fourth, you’ll review the exercise videos - first the Stability, then the Strength, then the Power.
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