How does core training improve your explosiveness?

If you want to improve your explosiveness, you need to train your core. Your core is not just your abs, but the entire network of muscles that stabilize and move your spine, pelvis, and hips. A strong and stable core can help you generate more power, speed, and agility in your movements, whether you are sprinting, jumping, throwing, or lifting. In this article, you will learn how core training can boost your explosiveness and how to incorporate it into your functional training routine.

1 What is explosiveness?

Explosiveness is the ability to produce a high amount of force in a short time. It is a key component of athletic performance, as it allows you to react quickly, change direction, and overcome resistance. Explosiveness depends on several factors, such as your muscle strength, muscle fiber type, nervous system, and coordination. However, one of the most important factors is your core strength and stability.

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2 How does core strength affect explosiveness?

Your core is the foundation of your movement. It connects your upper and lower body and transfers force from one to the other. When you perform an explosive movement, such as a sprint, a jump, or a throw, you need to engage your core to stabilize your spine and pelvis, and to transmit the force from your legs or arms to the rest of your body. A weak or unstable core can reduce your explosiveness by leaking energy, causing inefficient movement patterns, and increasing the risk of injury.

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AnnMarie Grohs

Founder and Owner of BOHO Studios
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We need to think of our core muscles as The Powerhouse of muscles. These are muscles that connect your body from head to toe; they work together to ensure stability, strength, and power for us to functionally move in a day. By strengthening these muscles, we are improving our normal day-to-day movements. If we want to bring in explosive movements into our workouts, we are asking these muscles to do more. A lot more. We must have our base strength built with The Powerhouse of muscles to then find the next level of explosiveness.

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3 How does core stability affect explosiveness?

Core stability is the ability to maintain a neutral spine position and resist external forces that try to disrupt it. It is essential for explosiveness, as it allows you to maintain optimal alignment and posture during your movements. A stable core can also enhance your proprioception, which is the sense of where your body is in space. This can improve your balance, coordination, and timing, which are all crucial for explosiveness. A unstable core can impair your explosiveness by compromising your form, reducing your range of motion, and exposing you to injuries.

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4 What are some core exercises for explosiveness?

To train your core for explosiveness, incorporate exercises that challenge your core strength and stability in different planes of motion and under different loads and speeds. Plank variations are a great way to build core strength and stability in a static position, while medicine ball throws are a great way to train your core for power and speed in a dynamic way. Kettlebell swings can help you train your core for explosiveness and endurance in a full-body movement, while sprinting is a great way to train your core for explosiveness and coordination in a sport-specific movement. All of these exercises require you to engage your core to stabilize your spine and pelvis, as well as synchronize your arms and legs.

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John Kelly

Former firefighter who learned the hard way that the job takes more than it gives. Years of stress, sleep deprivation, and toxic exposure forced me to rebuild my health from the ground up. Now, I help others do the same.
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Core work is fundamental to a well-balanced strength and conditioning program. I work with a lot of fighters and due to the explosive nature of combat, core work is something we focus on every workout. My favorite to use is the Turkish Get Up. It requires the core to maintain stability in multiple planes of motion. The Turkish get-up involves moving from a prone position to a standing position while holding a weight overhead. This requires the core to stabilize the spine and pelvis in all three planes of motion: sagittal, frontal, and transverse. It challenges the core to maintain stability while moving under load. This not only challenges the core but also targets the shoulders and legs, making it a super-powered core exercise.

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5 How to incorporate core training into your functional training routine?

Core training should be a fundamental part of your functional training routine, as it can boost performance, prevent injuries, and improve overall health. To incorporate core training into your routine, you should start with a warm-up for your core muscles. This can be done with light exercises like planks, bridges, or bird dogs. Then, you should include core exercises in your main workout. You can either do them as a separate circuit or mix them with other exercises like squats, lunges, or push-ups. Additionally, you can use core exercises as a finisher to fatigue your core muscles at the end of the workout. To maximize the effectiveness of your core training, you should vary your exercises according to your goals and needs. You can also modify them to suit specific sports or activities. Finally, you should recover your core after the workout with stretching, foam rolling, massage, and breathing exercises like diaphragmatic breathing.

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John Kelly

Former firefighter who learned the hard way that the job takes more than it gives. Years of stress, sleep deprivation, and toxic exposure forced me to rebuild my health from the ground up. Now, I help others do the same.
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I love to work in supersets so I will add a core movement to the end of every set. This allows my athletes to constantly build core strength while still improving their work capacity. Try throwing in a hollow body or bus driver at the end of each set and watch your performance sore on the mats.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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John Kelly

Former firefighter who learned the hard way that the job takes more than it gives. Years of stress, sleep deprivation, and toxic exposure forced me to rebuild my health from the ground up. Now, I help others do the same.
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One thing to remember is that compound exercises like squats and deadlifts require a very engaged core and you don't want to tire your core out before performing these movements, so make sure you add in the core after you do your compound lifts to avoid injury.

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How does core training improve your explosiveness?

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1 What is explosiveness?

2 How does core strength affect explosiveness?

3 How does core stability affect explosiveness?

4 What are some core exercises for explosiveness?

5 How to incorporate core training into your functional training routine?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Functional Training

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How does core training improve your explosiveness?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What is explosiveness?

2 How does core strength affect explosiveness?

3 How does core stability affect explosiveness?

4 What are some core exercises for explosiveness?

5 How to incorporate core training into your functional training routine?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Functional Training

Rate this article

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