Let me start off by clearing my throat. The word “core” sends my blood pressure through the roof. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have any problem with intelligent people using the word, but what really drives me crazy are the folks in the gym who use the term “core” so loosely. These are the people who always claim they train their “core” yet always seem to be doing abdominal work. You know—500 reps four days a week.
Are you kidding me? Oh yeah, that’s great “core” training! That’s why they collapse when they get under the bar to bench, squat, or friggin’ walk! Whew… hold on a second while I do a depth jump off my soapbox…OK.
So I’ve done a little brainstorming to help those intellectual folks who might share the same frustrations take a sharp left from the common lingo that’s gotten out of hand in the fitness community and leave those other folks still training their “core.” Here’s my attempt at a global reprogramming of the word “core” for the intelligent community that visits EliteFTS for their training knowledge fix.
Strike zone (the more you say it, the better it sounds!)
Let’s look at what makes up the strike zone in softball and baseball.
All the important structures—anterior and posterior—that hold the body erect can be found in this strike zone—the vertebral column and all the muscles that attach to stabilize and support it; the hips, which are crucial for generating power, rotation, and change of direction; and last but not least, the shoulders and knees.
The intent to train the core is so much more than just the abs. It’s the powerhouse of the body. It’s where a majority of all movement originates. The last time I checked, most sports are done standing up, not doing sit-ups. If your strike zone is weak and unstable, the distal extremities will be weak and unstable as well. It doesn’t matter how much you can bench or curl. By the way, those of you who don’t think the bench press is a total body exercise, just try to explain that to Dave Tate and then duck. There is a tremendous amount of strike zone tension when the bench press is performed correctly. It truly is a total body lift.
In order to develop a strong, stable, strike zone, proper exercise selection is crucial. In part two of this article, I’ll show you some ways that the strike zone can be trained through movements that don’t require you to lie on your back doing crunches.
Leave those other folks to train their “core.” If you train your strike zone, you can’t “strike out!”
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Justin Melanson, MS, ATC, CSCS, is an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach at North Raleigh Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. For information on sports medicine, injury rehabilitation, and human performance, visit him on Facebook and YouTube. 
Thank you for this article! I’ve been trying to convey this info to people at the school where I work, and yet there is no one in the squat rack outside of my wrestlers and the kids who like to lift with me. The rest of the people working on their ‘core’ ask me if I have a swiss ball to do crunches off of
Awesome article and i look forward to the next installment.
I’m a personal trainer and the amount of my clients when i first get them that is ask me the same thing. “I want to work on my core. I do crunches but its not doing alot”
After some rotational work STANDING and some ball throws they are soon feeling there “core”
On the subject of squatting i took one of my clients to the squat rack the other day (60 year old windsurfer) to do some box squats and had to throw two kids off of there as they were doing curls in the rack!!! There should be a rule against it.
O.K. ,so I’m a relative novice to the weight lifting culture. At the place and the time that I work out there is no one within an hour or more on both sides of my workout in the racks. So what part of the Ironhead macho mentality does curling in a rack offend?
When is part 2 going to be posted?
part two should be out soon!
@Dick, If there is no one waiting, no one cares if you are curling in the squat rack (or what you are doing for that matter), but if you are that much of a novice how many barbell curls do you really need to do?