Archive for: July 1, 2008

July 1, 2008

Tuesday July 1 2008 CrossFit The Woodlands WOD

Filed under: CrossFit The Woodlands - 01 Jul 2008

CrossFit The Woodlands “CORE FITNESS”

This is an interesting subject because there are so many opinions out there about what the “CORE” is. For the record, I hate this word with a passion and try never to use it. I have seen people call themselves functional trainers yet they do the most un-functional things possible. Come on, when is someone ever doing a supine cable curl in life. I saw this so many times when I was working at a commercial gym and I could not help but to laugh and wonder how that is helping your “CORE” get stronger. All this was coming from trainers who supposedly had this “CORE” training background and claimed to have a super strong “CORE”. What puzzled me even more was when I saw these trainers train themselves. There were no squats of any variation, no pull ups, and no deadlifts. O.k. I saw a few of them do partial range of motion Romanian Deadlifts with 65lbs on a bosu ball but it was hardly effective. I know it’s not just me that thinks this but why is it all these trainers with this super strong “CORE” always have back problems. Here’s a wild guess, maybe it’s stability ball curls with five pound weights. Maybe it’s the single leg stabilization on the upside down bosu ball with a pirate patch on one eye, one finger up your ass, the other one in your nose all while whistling Dixie. Ohh I forgot you have to suck in the abs and this is where the “CORE” activation comes in because all the small muscles have to stabilize. GET REAL. This is the furthest thing from fitness there is. Many people think the core is the rectus abdominus “abs”, obliques, and erectors in the low back. This holds some truth but let me explain what I think the “CORE” is. The “CORE” radiates from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. Everything you do in life works on the so called “CORE”. If you pick up a box, you close a door, you exercise, everything. Let’s take a look at a bicep curl. The total movement in that exercise maybe two feet at the most. Now let’s look at the snatch. The bar is probably moving a total of seven plus feet depending on your height, plus you have to have many other requirements in order to do a snatch such as coordination, accuracy, agility, balance, power, strength. This example right here should make you understand that working the “CORE” is more than just standing on a bosu ball doing curls. If it doesn’t, then there might not be any hope for you after all. I’m not saying that you should go and start Olympic lifting but you should start doing more ground based, multiple joint movements. In my own training regimen I do overhead squats, pull ups, presses, agility work, trunk flexion/ extension, glute ham raises, Olympic lifts, odd implement training, running, and all the other true functional movements you see in everyday life. I can’t remember the last time I had back pain. I consider myself in very good shape and I feel great everyday I wake up. I work 15 hours a day and can get though it with more energy than most. Why is this? It’s because of the way I train. I CrossFit therefore I am constantly training my “CORE” It’s funny how many of us CrossFitters don’t train abs “strictly” at all yet we have a six pack from hell. If you drop something, you cannot pick it up with just one muscle group. So what would you train that way? I guess what I am trying to say is your “CORE”, is you functioning as one whole unit, therefore you must train as if you are one whole unit. So next time I tell all the so called functional trainers to kiss my ass, I’m not really saying “Kiss my Ass”, I’m saying “Kiss my CORE”