Creating a Functional Core

Your core strength is important for functional activities as well as sports activities. Stabilization and power come from the trunk of the body. If you had a weak, hunched-over trunk, your arms and legs wouldn't be particularly strong either. Although most sports and daily life activities require you to bend and twist your trunk in a standing position, most people don't train their abdominal muscles that way. People typically do abdominal training lying on their backs on the floor with their knees bent. Are there any sports or daily activities that require you to be in that position and use your abdominal muscles? Functional training says to choose exercises that mimic sports or activities and to train for movements, not for muscles. So if you want to improve your golf swing, you can reproduce that movement with resistive tubing or weighted cables, doing a moderate number of sets and reps to increase strength, or doing a low number with faster speed to increase power. If you want to make it easier to bend down to pick up and hold your child or to pull weeds, train your abdominal muscles in that movement pattern. Because this type of training also tends to be metabolic, you may shed some unwanted body fat, leading to quite functional-looking abs.

Protecting the Back

Developing the Abs