Core exercises develop capacity and strength of the trunk muscles, which stabilise the spine and contribute to enhanced posture.
The core refers to the musculature of the trunk, that contributes to spinal stiffening, resists external forces and protects our spine from losing safe alignment.
When done properly, core exercises can have the following benefits:
1. Enhanced posture and technique
2. Reduced lower back pain and injury risk
3. Improved transfer of forces through the body when shooting/passing
Here are some great exercises that enable you to get stronger in your core and become a better athlete.
Side Plank Pulses
Single Leg Lowers
Bird Dog
Side Plank Rotations
Copenhagen Short Lever Holds
Dead Bugs
Aim to complete these in a circuit format. This enables a high density of work to be completed in a short period of time. The trunk musculature can tolerate very high volumes of training, but they often get under trained. For example, doing a couple of sets of planks at the end of a training session.
The reality is that you can easily build up to doing 250-300 rep circuits or over 10 minutes of work in one circuit.
These can be put together in a number of ways, for example:
1. 10 minutes continuous AMRAP*
2. 2 x 5 minutes circuits AMRAP
3. 300 reps of work completed for time
* as many reps as possible
Aim to complete trunk training 2-3 x per week, in order to start building the capacity of the these muscle groups. This will have a really positive impact on your posture, injury risk and performance.
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