Core Stability

Published: 16th May 2006

Author: Words by Alan Milway Photos by Paul Thomas

Body position is vital for riding technique and your core muscles are vital for body position...

It's back into the gym this month for a look at an area that's often overlooked by many riders.
When you're riding, your body position on the bike greatly affects your riding technique. With practice your body position improves but fatigue is a cruel mistress and ruins this technique as you start to run out of steam.
We need to aim our training at improving balance and posture - two areas that will deteriorate greatly with fatigue. This type of training translates very well to your riding so you are clear in the knowledge that it is directly helping your technique on the bike come the weekend.
The aim of training the 'core' muscles is to adapt your body to effectively recruit them and provide support to the trunk and lower back (lumbar spine) during dynamic movements. The lumbar spine is inherently unstable and relies on the surrounding muscles to provide support and stability. The lower back is very susceptible to injury so strengthening and stabilizing this area will help reduce the chance of injury and pain.
What are the muscles of the 'core'? The muscles targeted are the smaller and deeper lumbar spine and trunk (stomach) muscles. They are not always used during normal sit-ups and therefore are often neglected in favour of the search for the six pack! Many of the muscles are not visible but they play an important role so must not be overlooked.
The aim of the following exercises is to increase the endurance of the core muscles as it's not necessarily the ultimate strength of these muscles that's important but their effectiveness in working over a prolonged period of time without fatiguing.
If you think back to a riding situation, movements that are quick and simple at the beginning of the day before riding can become more of a challenge as the day wears on. It's this 'strength endurance' of the muscles that we are looking to improve, not the pure strength of the muscles.
The core muscles are essential in maintaining correct posture when challenged. For example, when your feet are shoulder width apart your knees should be directly above ankles and your pelvis should be parallel - easy to do at rest but when you stand on one leg it's suddenly a lot harder to keep your pelvis parallel or your knee above your ankle. Just try it!
The first position to try is the abdominal hollowing technique. This helps you learn to recruit the deep core muscles, not just the main abdominals.

• Lie on your back with your knees bent. You should lie in a 'neutral' position with a natural 'S' shape in your spine which leaves a small gap between your lower back and the floor.
• As you breathe in pull your belly button down as if you want it to touch the floor beneath you like you are zipping up a tight pair of trousers. Hold this for 10 seconds and repeat three times. I find that putting your hands either side in the hollow of your lower back and aiming to squeeze them as you do this helps focus on the correct technique (by squeeze I do not mean forcefully - you do not need to strain to perform this).
• Do not aim to contract your whole six pack as it is actually the transverse abdominus muscles we want to focus on. And don't hold your breath while doing this - try to relax but still focus on 'tightening' and holding this position.

The next position - leg raises - is a development of the first technique.

• Lie on your back with your knees bent, adopting the same position as for the abdominal hollowing technique. Pull your belly button down to the floor as before and as you are holding this slowly straighten your left leg and hover at about four to six inches. Hold for a moment and then return to the original bent position but still just hovering. Repeat 10 times for each leg.
• Remember that your spine and pelvis should NOT move at all, if they do then you have not achieved correct stability. Use a slow and controlled movement.

These two exercises should form the basis of your core stability training and are worth doing with every training session. However, as mentioned previously, the aim of this training is to allow improved performance when on the bike. So we should follow these exercises with ones that are dynamic and that will also challenge and therefore improve balance and the co-ordination of these muscles.
This is where those large beach balls come into play. Known as Swiss balls they were once shopping channel home exercise fodder but are actually a very useful way to train. One of their best assets is that they are a very versatile way to train and can improve core stability while training other muscles groups.
With practice you will be able do press-ups on them and even balance on top of them. All the while you are challenging your core muscles to keep your posture correct and stable.

• A very big thank you to Virgin Active Health Club for accommodating us. Virgin Active Health Clubs can be found nationwide - for more information go to www.virginactive.co.uk or call 0845 1304747.