Kratos - Core Training

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CORE TRAINING
In today’s athletic environment, core training is at the forefront of every coach and trainer’s minds; and with good reason. For athletes, a strong core is critical since these are the first muscles that fire in all athletic movements. If these muscles are weak, it makes no difference how strong the rest of the body is. A weak core becomes the weak link in an otherwise strong chain and prevents the athlete from realizing his/her potential. The muscles of the core consist of the internal and external obliques, rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis, quadratus lumborum and psoas major and minor. In addition to these, the gluteal and hamstring groups also come into play when stabilizing the mid-section. Because of the extent and diversity of the muscle groups that constitute the core, it is not uncommon for trainers to dedicate the majority of workouts to “core training”. The Kratos approach to core training differs. The job of a trainer is to make an athlete faster, stronger and more explosive. In order to achieve this, the majority of the training time must be spent on explosive lifts. When the bulk of the training time is spent on core, explosive training is sacrificed. Reducing the amount of time dedicated to core-specific training does NOT, however, mean that core strength will be sacrificed. This is due to the fact that the core is trained extensively during the execution of explosive movements. Therefore, the best workouts result from allocating just enough core time to allow the mid-section to be properly stretched and warmed in preparation for the more intense training it will receive during the explosive lifts. For this reason, at Kratos we begin and end our workouts with dynamic exercises that utilize medicine balls, swiss balls and stability exercises to warm-up and warm-down the core muscles used in explosive lifts. Any doubts as to the effectiveness of core training as it pertains to explosive lifts are alleviated by Mike Bergener, USA International Olympic Weight Lifting Coach who says, “Watch an athlete do a full snatch and hold the weight over their head. That takes core strength!”