Never do another crunch
You may have noticed when you see one of the MFT personal trainers or attend one of our fitness classes that we often like to do things backwards. We like to load eccentrically by lengthening a muscle, or as we often refer to it, we create energy escape.
As discussed in a previous blog on the three planes of movement, this style of exercise leads to greater range for the muscle and creates less bulk in it too. You get long and lean and nowhere do we endorse this more than when training the ‘core’. As it’s summertime, and bodies are being unwrapped everywhere ready to be exposed on the beaches of the world, particular focus is drawn to the six pack abs.
We all have a six pack, a wall of muscle crossed by ligaments, but whether you can see it or not depends on your bodyfat mostly and genetics sometimes.
So why load the core eccentrically to create energy escape? Well, the core muscles (the muscles of the trunk that support the spine and connect the pelvis to the spine or ribcage) are mostly reactive. They support you when you move suddenly and prevent you from toppling over.
The muscles of the core co-contract to create stiffness in response to a stimulus. So, when we get you to move suddenly or we train you in tension they will brace against the movement to hold you steady. (1) This movement and reaction is controlled by your brain and your central nervous system. The more practice you get the better you get at it, specifically in relation to the task you are asking your body to perform (2). I.E. Practice in this case makes…better!
Although we have used the term ‘bracing’ here, a much beloved technique of the strength & conditioning (S&C) community, it is not the same as pre-bracing. Pre-bracing – whilst stiffening the core prior to performing an exercise in the gym may be of some benefit, it causes large intra cavity pressures (3) and there is some evidence that it alters the movement mechanics, and not necessarily for the better (4).
Training our way helps prepare the core for other exercises too. The angle at which you hold your upper body can have a huge impact when playing sport for instance, especially when it comes to your ability to change direction rapidly. The practices we use have a greater impact than focussing on leg strengthening too. (5) (6)
And what of the more traditional exercises? Well any form of sit up or crunch is a strong concentric contraction, and while it can add to a thickening of abdominus rectus to help with your six pack, the only other thing it might help you with is sitting up in bed in the morning.
Similarly, the plank and other static holds, while causing an immediate pain, and possibly useful for the beginner, lack any of the reactive element for which the core muscles were designed. Traditional exercises may make you feel the muscles but they don’t help their function.
So come and try a new way of working your core with an MFT Personal Trainer or outdoor fitness class. We’ll offer you reactive strength, lengthening and a more functional core workout.
Obvs if you like the sound of what we’re saying and want to learn it for yourself then you can join our growing number of MFT Personal Trainers.
Rich
Head of Research
MFT Global
1) Sports Med. 2008;38(11):893-916. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200838110-00002.
The importance of sensory-motor control in providing core stability: implications for measurement and training.
Borghuis J1, Hof AL, Lemmink KA.
Barbado D, Barbado LC, Elvira JL, Dieën JH, Vera-Garcia FJ.
Gait Posture. 2016 Jun 23;49:90-96. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.06.027. [Epub ahead of print]
3) The Valsalva maneuver: mechanisms and clinical implications.
Porth CJ, Bamrah VS, Tristani FE, Smith JJ.
Heart Lung. 1984 Sep;13(5):507-18
4) Abdominal Bracing Increases Ground Reaction Forces and Reduces Knee and Hip Flexion During Landing.
Campbell A, Kemp-Smith K, O’Sullivan P, Straker L.
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2016 Apr;46(4):286-92. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2016.5774. Epub 2016 Mar 8.
5) Specificity of movement
Specificity of sprint and agility training methods.
WB Young, MH McDOWELL… – The Journal of Strength …, 2001 – journals.lww.com
6) Muscles not related,
Is muscle power related to running speed with changed of direction?
WB Young, R James… – Journal of Sports Medicine …, 2002 – search.proquest.com
Eccentric. Stiffening
Core training: Evidence translating to better performance and injury prevention
S McGill – Strength & Conditioning Journal, 2010 – journals.lww.com