Most sports
injuries occur in the standing position, usually because the participant has
limited balance, stability strength and power in an upright alignment. Injuries
such as ACL tears happen at oblique angles, partially because the athlete is
not used to training in a multi-planar movement environment. Approximately 80%
of the muscles of the body are rotational, but most machine exercises are
linear.
Why then, do many
people still consider seated weight training machines that usually operate in
singular planes of movement, the best method of sports conditioning? By eliminating the need to stabilize the
body, machine training makes the use of the core stabilizers unnecessary.
Choreography
The body’s core stabilizers are at the heart
of this trend toward a more functional mode of fitness. The concept of “all
movement stemming from one’s center” is the credo for any cutting edge fitness
instructor. So does this mean that you should start doing 200 crunches a
day? I think, not.
Consider this. Observe the alignment of
many skiers on the hill. You may be
aware of a hunched forward position in some of them, with the neck protruding.
Now, think about a classic, abdominal crunch, especially if performed with a
pelvic tilt. Note the rounding of the
spine, and the jutting forward of the neck. Is this a coincidence?
While crunches are adequate for strengthening
the rectus abdominals, the athlete needs to be infinitely more concerned with
the transverse abdominals. The
transverse are what Paul Chek refers to as the “inner unit”. Their role is to
support the internal organs, and
assist in both static and dynamic postural stability.
Chek even has a
theory about how a weak transverse abdominal muscle may eventually cause knee
problems. In healthy individuals,
anytime you take step, the transverse abdominal muscle should become activated.
If it does not, it will affect the stability of the sacroiliac joint. This may
cause a slight twisting action which in turn distorts the alignment of the femur,
thereby causing an injury.