The Core of Your Training

What exactly is Core Training? What is all the fuss about? You hear it everywhere these days: "I have to train my core now." "My core is too weak." "I need more core exercises!"

Your core is exactly what it sounds like -- it's made up of your central muscles. Just like the core of an apple, your core muscles are in the middle of you.

Your core holds your top and bottom half together. It protects your spine. It stabilizes all of your body's movements. Not just some of them. All of them. A strong core can even prevent injury. Let's repeat that: A strong core can even prevent injury. Of particular interest here is the ability of a well-trained core to allow you to lift weights without hurting your joints.

How many of you have had, or heard of, a rotator cuff injury? "Oh, I can't lift right now because I tore my rotator." And how many of you have had a limited range of motion? "I can't turn my head to the right." ....or.... "I can't reach my toes any more."

And here's the biggie: "My aching back!!!" Do you ever have a stiff lower back in the morning when you get up? Does it hurt when you sit too long? Do you ever get a pain like a toothache running down your leg?

All of these things, and more, might have been avoided if your core had been well-trained.

But wait, there's good news! There's still time to fix it! You can start training the core muscles right now and within a few weeks you'll be telling me how much better your joints feel! You want them to feel good again, don't you?

So, let's talk about that. Training your core muscles. The how? and the why? of it. Let's start with How?

You have Inner Core and Outer Core muscles. Let's think about your body as if it were a pirate ship for a minute. Yes, a pirate ship. The mast is your spinal column, and the crow's nest is your skull. There is a long guide wire in the front -- that one is your abs. And there's a long guide wire in the back -- that one is your back extensors (the muscles in your lower back and along your spine). These wires are holding the mast up straight, right? Well, what would happen if the one in the front (your abs) got really tight and the one in the back didn't? Your mast would hunch forward. Hmm. Look in the mirror. Is that what you see? Are you rounding forward a little?

Good core training is much more than just doing hundreds of ab crunches. Over time, doing hundreds of abs every day will give you a rounded or hunch back if that's all you're doing for your core. You need to train ALL of your core muscles in order to train your body to stand up straight. To balance the abs, you have to train the spinal muscles in your back just as hard. And your obliques -- those love handles, guys. You want your love handles to go away, don't you? Then you have to train your obliques as hard as you train your abs and lower back.

Whew.

But wait. There's more.

You know how the sails on a pirate ship have lots of rigging in them? What would happen if one of those lines broke loose? The ship would go off-course, wouldn't it? Well, those ropes are your inner core muscles. And if you don't train the inner core like you train the outer core, your body will go off-course. It will be misshapen in some way. And then it will hurt. In the shoulders. Or the neck. Maybe the lower back. Or the knees. Does any of this sound like you?

So the answer to How? to train the core is simple. Train all of it equally. On different days - not all at once. One day you do your upper abs (the six-pack, guys). The next day you do the lower abs (the pooch below your belt, ladies). Then your lower back. Then your obliques (those love handles). And finally, your inner core muscles (the tiny rigging muscles throughout your spinal column and rib cage).

Core stability is at the heart of whether your body hurts or not. And a strong core is the foundation for good form while lifting weights. That's the Why? Pure and simple. Read it again so it gets in there: Your core stabilizes all of your 600+ muscles. A strong core is the foundation for good form.

You want to train your core correctly, don't you? Wouldn't it be better if you could train your core muscles under the direct guidance of a Master Personal Fitness Trainer than to try to do it on your own? Well, guess what? You can! Very soon now, my web site will have Online Training Programs that are written BY ME, and are written just FOR YOU. No canned programs here. This is Personal training. It's personal to me. And to you. That's how I work. Check it out at www.hitektraining.com. Coming July 1st!

Next up: BREATH CONTROL. What in the world does breathing have to do with toning up?

The Secret to Toning Up Your Muscles!

Most people think that it's all about lifting heavy. That if you want your muscles to tone up and get stronger, you have to keep lifting more and more weight. Well, certainly the amount of weight that you lift is important. But it's only one of the components of weight training. Today I want to tell you about what may be the most important component of all: good form.

Without good form, you risk injuring yourself with those heavy weights. In fact, you can injure yourself with light weights, or even no weights at all! With good form, you can maximize the potential for gain with each and every repetition. With good form, you can tone up those muscles and make them stronger without taking a chance with your joints. Don't you want to protect your knees, your shoulders, your back?

So, what exactly is good form? It's being able to focus inward and pay attention to several elements of lifting all at one time. It's constantly scanning your body as it moves through each repetition, making subtle -- or even major -- corrections during your reps. It's all of these things:

• Posture
• Core Stability
• Breath Control
• Timing
• Proper Use of the Tool
• Engaging the Primary Mover First
• The Range of Motion for Each Repetition
• Working Through the Complete Muscle Mechanism

OK, so now you're asking yourself, What's all that trainer-babble mean?

Each time I post, I'm going to talk about one of these components. Today, let's take a good look at your POSTURE. Is your posture good, bad, or ugly? You want good posture, don't you? Here's how to get it:

• Stand up with your feet hip distance, both feet straight ahead.

• Pull your belly button in to your spine. This does not mean that you "suck it up." If you put a finger on your belly button in the front, and a finger on your spine directly behind it, when you pull your belly button in tight enough, the two fingers will come closer to one another. Nothing else in your body moves when you do this. Keep that muscle contracted as you lift. It protects your lower back just like a belt that's been cinched real tight.

Have you ever seen a power lifter using a weight belt? He is imitating the muscle within you that goes around your waistline. You have your very own weight belt built right into your body! All you have to do is remember to use it.

• Put your hands on the top of the pelvic crests (the highest point on each side of the front of the pelvis). Push the pubic bone forward by pressing into the pelvis with your thumbs. It should move forward 1-2". You'll notice that your knees break when you do this! This is how you protect them while you lift! Keep a soft bend at the knees -- never lock them out!

OK, now your lower body is in good form, but the upper body needs some work, doesn't it? Let's start with the shoulder bridge. Most people are kind of hunched forward, with rounded shoulders. Did you know that you look ten pounds lighter when your shoulder bridge is where it's supposed to be? Don't you want to look ten pounds lighter?

• Put your arms up like goal posts -- you know, Touchdown! That's right, arms sticking directly out from the shoulders, at shoulder height, then bending upward at the elbows -- like goal posts. Do you feel that contraction between your shoulder blades? Keep it. It's supposed to be there all the time. That means the muscles that are holding your shoulder blades in posture are now doing their job. Your shoulder blades should feel like they are straight up and down, not tilted in any way. Flat on your rib cage behind you.

• That probably leaves your head sticking out, huh? OK, so let's put it where it belongs. If you were to move your chin straight back in toward your Adam's Apple, your head would be sitting right on top of your rib cage. Remember, move it straight back in. Not up. And not down. In.

You'll feel all the muscles in the front of your neck working now. Your head will be centered directly over your rib cage. Your rib cage is centered directly over your pelvis. You have a soft bend at the knees. All of your joints are now protected and it is now safe to lift weights.

It feels kind of funny, doesn't it? Kind of stiff and not normal? Go look in the mirror. See for yourself how much better you look. If you practice this all day long, correcting it constantly as you go through your day, you may even notice that some of your muscles get sore! That's a sure sign that they're working! Imagine how much stronger they'll get just by correcting your posture all day!

Some of the best places to practice it are in the car (start looking at the other drivers and you'll see some of the worst posture around), while at the computer, while watching TV.... all of the places where you're thinking about something else. If you can monitor your posture while you type, you can do it while you train, too.

Come back soon for CORE STABILITY! You want strong abs, don't you?