How to Increase Core Stability(1)

Core stability is not stressed enough in sports. Most athletes lift weights all day, run miles at a time, but can perform well when it comes to game time. Wonder why? Their core stability is nothing! You can have a four-hundred bench, six-hundred squat, and three-hundred clean, but if you can use it--WHAT’S THE POINT. I’m sure the athletes reading want to know how to use their hard earned strength and speed. It’s all about your core. It is the abdominals, lower back, and oblique muscles that make up a sizable portion of your core. This area is not brought up to par with sit-up and hyperextensions--it will help but it does not do much.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Planks are a very well known stabilization technique used to help manifest your core into a canon of explosion. You do not need any weights or even a partner; just self-determination. Lay on the floor face down.
2. From this position, prop yourself up on your toes--similar to a push-up. The difference from a push-up is you will lay your forearms flush on the ground with your back straight as possible from your ankles to your shoulders.
3. By being in this position only for a few seconds, you should feel your core tighten up--that’s a good thing. Remember to keep your back and legs straight. Stay in the Plank for at least thirty seconds. If you can stay in it longer than do so. Building endurance is not about going for a designated time, but holding for as long as you possibly can. Do this for three sets. In about two weeks, all your lifts will increase in weight, and you will be a step closer to having the desired explosion an athlete needs.