Core stability is now a key term in modern sports jargon. It may be defined as stability in the “centre, heart or nucleus” of the body, but in the sports world it refers to a part of the body composed of two muscular systems: the stabilising system (local muscles) and movement system (global muscles) .
Very often the “core” is referred to as if it were just the abdominal muscles. In actual fact the core affects over 90% of any athlete’s movements, because, being the nucleus and link between the upper and lower parts of the body, it is constantly active and, hence, acts as a supporting column for most of the technical movements involved in all sports.
For your core to function properly, you must keep to two key rules:
1. Alternate isometric and dynamic exercises. Isometric exercises are all those that help develop muscular tension without the muscle needing to be extended or, in other words, static exercises (e.g. front plank). Dynamic exercises, on the other hand, are those that require movement to develop strength (e.g. 90° crunch).
2. Use the same movements involved in the sport you are training for. It is very important to train by performing the same technical movements involved in your own specific sport, in our case in the water….
