With Coach Tim, Online Running Coach for We Run and the We Run Virtual Running Club
Core workouts, core stability, core strength, Andrea Corr; what is this ‘core’ people keep going on about and why should I listen to them? In this blog I’ll break down some of the terminology and explain why the core is so important to runners.
What Is The Core?
There are 29 core muscles in total. They are most easily defined as five groups of muscles:
- The abdominals – abs or six-pack – think Peter Andre (in the Mysterious Girl video, not the Iceland ad, that’s a different type of six-pack)
- The obliques – these are the muscles on the sides of your belly. Cricketers stretch, and sometimes sprain, these when they are bowling
- The lower back – that’s all of your back muscles below your rib cage and above your bum
- The glutes – your bum
- The hip flexors – these are the muscles that connect your hips to your upper leg
Why Have You Lumped All These Muscle Groups Together?
When you run your limbs work separately (if they worked as one, you’d be a kangaroo). However, your core muscles work in unison to allow you to breathe. They also perform the twisting motion to allow your legs to move – so we treat them as a team.
Why Is The Core Important To Running?
Having a strong core will help you avoid injuries. If you’ve got the inclination, you can research studies which have linked pretty much every common running injury to a weakness in the core. Have you ever improved your running, set some impressive PBs and then got injured? This may have been because your legs were running more quickly than your body was ready and able to deal with.
The core will also keep you balanced. If you’ve got any designs on trail running or cross country running then you will need to build up the core muscles to keep you upright on these surfaces. If you don’t improve the core, then your legs will usually do this job. However, asking your legs to perform this task will mean they stop doing the task of moving forward quickly and this will slow you down.
Right. I’m With You. So How Do I Strengthen My Core?
I’m very glad you asked. Lots of people make the mistake of thinking sit-ups will give them a strong core. This will only do part of the job. Remember how we talked about the core muscles being a team? Strengthening one part of the team will only get you so far; strengthening the whole team will bring you major success – just ask Pep Guardiola. Therefore, when you choose a core workout programme it should include the following movements:
- Trunk flexion – bending your trunk forwards. Sit-ups are ok for this one.
- Trunk rotation – rotating or twisting your trunk. If you do twist sit-ups you’ll tick off trunk rotation and trunk flexion too.
- Trunk extension – bending your trunk backwards by doing exercises like back raises.
- Hip extension – extending your leg backwards from the hip. Search ‘donkey kick hip extension’.
- Hip flexion – bringing your knee up to your chest. Google ‘plank mountain climber’, or ‘floor sliding mountain climbers’ if you fancy something more fun and have access to laminate flooring.
By performing each of the five movements outlined above you’ll work each of the five muscle groups I outlined earlier and strengthen the whole core team. When we’re working on Core Strength as part of the We Run Virtual Running Club, the workouts prescribed by our Strength & Conditioning Coach will address all elements of core strength, helping you build a solid base. If you work 1-2-1 with a We Run Coach, they will also be able to help you come up with a routine to help improve your core strength.
In Summary:
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The core is five groups of muscles – the abs, the obliques, the lower back, the glutes and the hip flexors
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They work as a team when you run but need to be strengthened separately
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Strengthening them will make you less prone to injury and less reliant on your legs for balance, meaning your legs can get on with the important matter of moving you forwards
Quick Tips:
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Include the following movements in your core workout: bending your trunk forwards, backwards and to the side, extending your leg backwards from the hip and also up towards your chest
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Join the We Run Virtual Running Club, where Core Strength is one of our monthly improvement themes, with prescribed workouts to help you improve
