The future of 'core training'
Commodore Mann
I would like to thank those of you who have left comments on my two very long posts going over 'core training'. 1, 2. In a effort to continue the educational process, I will continue to answer some excellent comment box questions openly in ongoing posts so that all can benefit, though hopefully in not so long a post as those recently. What should recently pregnant women do who have a separation in tva. How long till core workout is advised-is it ever contraindicated? (Tri mama) Awesome question and important to women who exercise. A separation in the TVA would suggest a c-section delivery. To my knowledge, I asked our OB-GYN and other medical professionals during my wife's pregnancy along with my own research, there is absolutely no long-term damage to the TVA from this form of delivery. A c-section cuts through all layers of skin and muscle to remove the baby from the womb. Already your muscle fibers are stretched to an extreme limit. Post-partum, it is more important to heal fully and care for the new addition. Returning to exercise in general is not recommended for at least three weeks after c-section, which is still considered a big deal surgery. Long term their is no evidence the surgery causes any loss of function to activity's which your TVA would activate. I've heard that core training is a hit all kind of a workout program, as you inevitably must use other muscle groups not actually part of the core in order to do the core exercises. (Wil) Yes and no. 'Core' training doesn't necessarily work your entire body, like say a bicep curl works your entire bicep. Kinesylogiest can explain better than I, but essentially all your inherent and latent power come from your activation of TVA. The TVA is the key to a highly functioning kinetic chain, read #2 for refresher on kinectic chain. By becoming sensitive to your kinetic chain, through TVA activation and incorporating Functional Exercises, your entire body assists the movement and the exercise becomes easier to perform and your body can then load more stress upon it, through progressing to more unstable platforms or increasing weight . It is important to separate fact from gym myth and Wil allows me to bring up an important point. Just like you can't, "Turn fat into muscle", you can't create greater leg strength by laying back on a Swiss ball to do a dumbbell chest press. Core training, as a perjorative, will not make you stronger. The only thing that will make you empirically stronger is to overload the muscle group(s) with stimulus like a big heavy weight, or in specific functional training exercises, your own body weight. A GLIMPSE AT THE FUTURE OF CORE TRAINING
As more and more people become familiar and open to functional training, the progression will come not from personal trainers but from physical therapists and probably more specifically chiropractors. Scheduling a session with one of these professionals will become as standard as meeting with your trainer at the gym. Many gyms, mine included, have medical professionals qualified to do these sessions in them or nearby. Active Release Technique (ART)- I love this therapy, and so does the World Triathlon Organization as they endorse it at their events. The premise is that as people overtrain the body they create areas of scar tissue on the muscle and fascia. ART is a hands-on approach to detecting and then removing this build up of scaring so that the kinetic chain can work unimpeded. ART is basically an invigorating massage but so much more. Graston-very similar to ART, it detects scaring and trauma of the muscle and fascia and using specific stainless steel tools, (I call one of them the butter knife) the user massages the tissue and 'rubs' the blockages away. It is not a pleasant sensation, but very effective. I have this done on my hamstrings and sometimes upper back. Mineral Cocktails-Ever wonder how your body responds to exercise, such as how much sodium, potassium and other electrolytes exit your body in physical activity? Ever wonder how much and what types of vitamins, minerals and aminos your deficient and how to replace them? Wait no more my friends, you will soon be able to go to the corner 'lab' and after a thorough initial work up get your own personal replacement cocktail. Oh but you don't drink it, its either injected or given intravenously. You have heard of B12 shots right? Insulin injections? All preventives medicines to cure a condition. But...how do you feel after running a marathon or half-ironman? That's a condition too. If you could go leave a race and go get a 'rejuvenation I.V' that replaces all your electrolytes, sodium, cell fluids, add an anti-inflammatory or better to repair damaged tissue, plus replace all your vitamins, amino acids, maybe add a little jolt to it so you don't have to go home a sleep all day, would that interest you? Sure the hell does me! And I am doing it next time I have a big race. Maybe I will see if he can add a little prozac if its a bad race, haha. I have been praying for Wil to get better before her marathon, shes sick, and I wonder if she would be interested in a preventative cocktail that would be optimized for her body and recieved once per month. It would boost her immune system with pro-botics to defeat colds that enter her body when its run down by heavy training loads. I know I want one. The concept is no different than those that stand in a line for their flu injections at the local grocery store each winter. IV cocktails have been around for a long time as sort of a back alley thing and getting more and more acceptance, mostly because of peoples hook up with needles. Years ago, when I was in the military, my squad would get a pass and we would go get just hammered at the closest bar possible. We would crawl back into the barracks with only a few hours before a grueling run and workout in the morning. Well, the friendly neighborhood medic would hook us up to IV's while we where passed out in the bunks and we would wake up on time with no hangovers. Yippee. MediSpa's- I was watching the news the other night and a local doctor, whom I know and is a great guy, is opening a MediSpa at a local fashion square (aka mall). You can go in and without a lengthy process of paperwork you can get a botox treatment or have a microdermabrasion, permanent make up, spider vein removal, etc. Then go next door and get that new shirt at the Gap, or walk down to Sbarros for a slice of pizza. I call them McTreatments, after McMansions. Cosmetic service at mall hours. Functional training is the core of 'core' training. This glimpse into the near future is all happening now. Just like ten years ago, core training was called physical therapy, and the only way you saw a Swiss ball was at a hospital after a knee surgery. Then it was covered under medical insurance and now you pay for it at your local gym. Botox a few years ago was only heard of in NY or LA, now its competing for space at the local mall. Massage and Spa palors where only available at big hotels and resorts, now in Phoenix, theres massage stores popping up like tanning centers. Oxygen bars were just the begining, soon you will order a pre-mixed or self ordered solution, off a menu and injected into your body. (like ordering a smoothy-"Oh sir, can I get the BCAA, electrolyte mix, with a vitamin booster, pro-botic, I think I'm getting a cold, and um could you please add a B12 and Vitamin C kicker too it? Thanks I'll be sitting over there." )
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