The core myth, and how good is gladiators!!

The core myth.

Firstly let's frame my beliefs so we can make sense of my argument.

A life changing mentor of mine once said we should be aiming to move with 'thoughtless, fearless movement'. In my role of rehabilitating injuries and helping people in their middle age, this quote is my North Star, my guiding principle.

Let's start with thoughtless movement. Most human movement is reflexive or completely subconscious. We walk down the road and our nervous system sends messages up and down from the spinal cord to correct for bumps in the road and adjust our body position to the terrain. We do not think about it, it just happens. It is the same when we run, and largely the same when we play sport. You have probably been in a situation where you are playing sport, make a few mistakes, and then start thinking about it. This inevitably makes things worse. Your movements become less fluid, less natural, and your game starts to fall apart. If you play golf, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Now let's look at fearless movement. When you are injured, you tend to brace your body in certain positions. For those who have experienced back pain, you will know exactly what I mean. I have had a very serious back condition myself, so I get it. The reason you do this is because your body is protecting you from positions that have previously caused pain.

The goal is to get back to thoughtless, fearless movement. Movement where you are not bracing or overthinking.

Why then are we constantly telling people to tighten their core, suck their belly button in, or brace their abs? If we do that, we are producing thoughtful, fearful movement. The complete opposite of what we want. Literally the opposite.

This is especially common when it comes to back pain. People are consistently told to brace their abs. Back pain is complex, and I will cover it more in another post, but to me this practice seems like madness.

Now the next part may sound a bit strange, but bear with me.

Imagine you are from a tribe deep in the jungle. You hunt for food and water every day and run vast distances. Imagine you came to the UK to learn about Western medicine. You walk into a physio clinic and see people being told to suck their belly button in while lying on the floor doing deep core work. You would be confused. Then you would be straight back to your tribe laughing and telling stories about it around the fire. It would become a story of folklore.

That image weirdly helps me keep perspective. Sometimes you just need to zoom out and ask, is this really a good solution? In all the years we have evolved to move, why are we now deciding to suck in our belly buttons? Why do cheetahs not squeeze their glutes when chasing a gazelle? Are monkeys setting their shoulders when they swing through trees?

There is a difference between this type of bracing and the kind of bracing used for a big squat or deadlift. That is a subject for another post. There is certainly a place for the latter, but today I am talking about the former.

So how do we train our core?

If we define the core as the midriff, it will work hard during any of the compound lifts or full body lifts. It also needs to flex, side bend and rotate, and it must be able to resist all of these movements.

To achieve this I would use exercises where your core actually needs to move, like the ones linked below. You should also breathe through these movements. It should feel natural to breathe out during the effort part and in during the recovery. For example, during a crunch the effort is on the way up, and the recovery on the way down.

Here are a few ideas to get you going. Try them and let me know what you think.

Split leg side bends

Cable wood chops

Ab rollouts

How good is gladiators!!

Every Saturday night I look forward to sitting down in front of the TV with my three kids and watching Gladiators. They know all of their names, all of their signature moves, and have their favourites. When the show starts they stand in front of the TV, imitate these strong men and women, and cheer for the brave contenders taking them on.

Every time my son eats his dinner, he flexes his guns to see if they are filling up with food. When we say not quite, he eats a bit more.

In a world of Adolescence on Netflix and lots of less than positive role models, the Gladiators are a massive thumbs up. Dynamite is an unbelievable role model for young girls. Strong and fearsome, as well as young and respectful. A great mix, and my daughter loves her.

Then you have Legend, my guilty pleasure. If you have ever been in a rugby environment, then you will know that this type of banter or shanter is what you experience daily. When he mocks the other Gladiators for their performances, it takes me back. When I played rugby this shanter was relentless and mostly below the belt. The most fun part was trying to get other players to react, because if you did, you were in trouble and you might never live it down.

Great show, great message, great family time, great.

And Jamie Laing deserves a mention. Absolutely heroic effort.

In summary, I think it is brilliant that we have these role models in the spotlight. I see it as a huge positive for my kids. I also love the show because we all watch it as a family. It promotes strength, healthy competition, and having a laugh throughout.

Want to chat about your training?

What's been happening at Razor Performance.

My coaching programme is mostly made up of executives, founders and people in high pressure roles who want to return from injury and achieve something big. The one outlier is my young rugby playing prodigy, who I have helped come back from shoulder surgery after a dislocation. He is now back scoring tries for fun, smashing personal bests and last week earned man of the match in his first mens rugby game. There is a lot in the press about young men who are struggling or unmotivated. If you met this kid, he would change your mind in a flash. The commitment is fantastic and I think there are big things to come from him.

I asked one of my clients to pick up a nine kilogram weight yesterday. That is how much he has lost in the past six months. He also hit a front squat personal best and is lifting pain free. Just awesome news.

It is the lead up to the marathon, and I have three people taking part. The biggest mistake I see in marathon training is getting nutrition wrong in the week before the race. This is something I will be focusing on for these athletes.

I have a couple of people we are trying to help with knee pain. Rehab is a journey and currently I am winning, but there have been some bumps in the road. Anyone who tells you rehab is easy is not being honest, but that is what makes it rewarding. It is also nice to have someone alongside you while you are recovering. Someone who can support you, adjust your training, and keep you on the straight and narrow. I am excited for them to be back fit and firing.

I have one space opening up for coaching at the end of this week. If you need help with old injuries, rebuilding your athleticism, strength or planning events, there is a link below to have a chat.

It needs to fit for both of us, so if you are ready to get started, visit the link and we can see if it is a good fit.

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