strength and conditioning

In part 2 we start improving our core strength.

part 2: the core

INTRODUCTION

“You can tense your glutes now,” my strength coach said to me. “I am tensing my glutes” I informed him. There was no movement. I couldn’t believe it as an international athlete my core in some areas was non-existent. Embarrassing? Yes. But at least now I could explain the constant back and hamstring problem I had been experiencing for the past two months. Unbeknown to me I had missed out on the

core stability hype and after my humiliating experience and persistent injury I’m basically trying to save you from the same. One thing I can guarantee is that if you follow

the outline in this article and train your core properly, and most importantly consistently, you will reap the benefits: remain injury free, be stronger and more powerful than ever, and experience improvements in your athletic performance.

WHAT IS THE CORE?

‘The core’ refers to the muscles deep within the abdomen which connect to and stabilize the spine, pelvis and shoulders. These muscles are the foundation for all upper and lower body movement and therefore it makes sense that we should want this base to be strong. If these muscles are weak or you have poor

alignment even when you are just standing around in daily life, then think about how bad it is going to be, and the consequences, if you have to endure 70minutes in and out of the crouched hockey position time after time. Like every great athlete who uses their core

as a means to transfer energy and provide the link between hip and shoulder power, this could be the key to improving a hockey player’s performance. If we get these muscles stronger then not only are you better equipped to stabilize the spine but this efficiency can then be carried over to movements such as those you experience in a hockey game such as lunging into a tackle, squatting down when stopping a ball at a penalty corner and so on. Core stability training targets the deeper muscles in such a

multifidi

CORE MUSCLES

rectus abdominus internal obliques

with Sarah Thomas

Olympic hockey player Sarah Thomas continues her exclusive strength and conditioning programme for iMPROVe.

erector spinae

external obliques

way that not only do you become stronger, have improved posture, become more efficient due to better recruitment patterns – more muscle fibres are activated giving a stronger muscle contraction and thus more power output – and you are also less likely to become injured.

OUR CORE MUSCLES

Many people have misinterpreted core stability as solely

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