It's no secret that I'm not a fan of "abs" in a workout, but I'm not a fan of not having a strong midsection, either. Confused? Me too.
What do we consider "the core"?
The core musculature can, and should, include about anything that is attached to the hips.
We include:
- The rectus abdominis
- The transversus abdominis
- The internal and external obliques
- All hip extensors (glutes, hamstrings, etc.)
- The hip flexors
- The spine extensors (spinal erectors, quadratus lumborum)
- The hip adductors and abductors
- The latissimus dorsi
- The muscles of the pelvic floor
We use these muscles in almost every integrated movement, and it's easy to fall into the trap of "we use them in deadlift and squatting and those exercises are super hard so I don't need additional work there." But if you've ever experienced a ridiculous pump on a steep route, there's a pretty good chance some better core control would reduce it.
Here's the thing I see a lot of: Climber swings up the wall between jugs, shaking out at the biggest ones and breathing hard; finally gets to rest stance and the whole body goes slack. Hangs on arms to "rest" but is actually increasing the work the arms have to do because (I believe) he lacks core strength and breathing skills to maintain full body tension while he rests.
We all know the hips drive movement in almost every climbing situation, but the thing I feel you have to keep in mind is that the core muscles are what allow your super strong legs and your super strong arms to work together. The issue with most core training is that it is focused on the rectus abdominis, which is one of the smaller and less hard working groups on the team.
I'm obviously an advocate of doing big, integrative lifts, but we're coming to understand that midsection control in extended and imbalanced positions takes more than what we get from bracing during a heavy lift.
When we program core work, we want to look a few important categories:
- Lateral flexion / anti-lateral flexion
- Rotation / anti-rotation
- Dynamic stability
- Static stability
The thing with any of this core training is that you want to think in terms of control and stability at all times. We're not interested in more reps, not really interested in more load, and definitely not interested in chasing fatigue. How do we advance these things? Usually it involves extending the base of support or slowing the speed of repetition. Getting good at ankles-to-bar? Slow them down to a five-second-per-rep pace. Levers getting easy? Let's try them with hands six inches further apart.
The terms above can be confusing, so here they are, one at a time:
Lateral Flexion / Anti-Lateral Flexion
This is generally the ability to maintain tension when your core is loaded from the side. Most athletes are pretty weak here, especially if their training history involves a lot of linear work: cycling, running, or traditional weight training. When we start training athletes here, we begin with the following progressions:
- Side Plank on Elbow, On Knee
- Side Plank on Elbow, On Foot
- Side Plank On Hand, On Foot
- Copenhagen Plank
From here, there are lots of variations that aren't necessarily progressions:
- Side Plank + Band Row
- Side Plank With Leg Raise
- Side Plank With Hip Dip
- Suitcase Carry
Rotation / Anti-Rotation
Almost all of the movement on steep rock involves cross-body tension. We drive hard with the left foot, and pull with the right arm. We grab a left hand hold, then move the right leg, then up we go. Sure there are times that we are left-left or right-right, but the value of cross-body stability is not diminished.
A rotation or anti-rotation exercise is one in which we are twisting the hips one direction and the shoulders the other. The classic exercise here is the Russian Twist, but we've moved away from this one because of the compressive load on the lumbar spine while rotating the torso; basically the primary formula for creating a low back disk injury.
If we can avoid this particular loading scenario, I think we're able to see some great work done with the athletes. My progression for core rotational work starts with anti-rotation, and progresses once there is some stability. My thinking on these exercises is driven largely by Gray Cook's work, and, of course, Mike Boyle.
We start with a Core (or Pallof) Press. This can be done with an elastic band, but I prefer the smoother and more measurable cable column. Once we're there, I like to progress to a half-kneeling version of the same. Then:
- Standing rotational chop
- Standing rotational lift
- Half-kneeling inline chop
- Half-kneeling inline lift
- Dynamic Chop
- Dynamic Lift
Dynamic Stability
In static stability exercises, most exercises require your deep core muscles to generate low levels of force for increasing amounts of time. The focus is on slow-twitch muscle, developing endurance that is critical for the safe performance of everything from house chores to heavy lifting.
The Dynamic stabilization exercises, in which you're moving one or more limbs while keeping your spine in its neutral zone, bring more fast-twitch fibers into the mix. This category of core exercises are the most "real world" way to train the core. There should be one dynamic stability exercise in every training session you do.
Progressions
Athletes should master each movement to max range of motion and perfect form before adding a more complicated movement. A good example: If I can't do a full-range air squat, what value is there in adding weight to the movement?
- Bird Dog - dynamic
- T-spine opener
- Inchworm
- Plank with single-leg movement
- Plank elbow to knee
- Plank with weight transfer (vert or horizontal)
- Plank / Pull combo
- Stability Ball Jackknife
- Stability Ball Pike
Static Stability
This is where you hold your body in a tensioned, static position in which the muscles around the spine and pelvis must be held isometrically. The one that pops to mind for most people is the plank, but as you'll see below, you can do more than that.
The plank can be regressed or progressed as needed. We stick with a general rule of twenty seconds: if you can hold a given position for a 20 count, move on to the next level of difficulty.
In order of difficulty, the plank progressions look like this:
- Elbow Plank on the floor
- Plank with one limb raised
- Hardstyle Plank
- Extended Planks
You'll note I don't emphasize a bunch of hip and trunk flexion work in this list. Yes, there are good exercises, and I still do a lot of them. The point is that these are overemphasized. I'm not going to tell you not to train leg raises or use the ab wheel, it's just that the exercises in this article are probably more useful. If you're going to do just one thing for your core, it should be something that taxes the whole midsection and educates your body to integrate muscles.
The most critical part of this training is to consider that this is core work, and that technical correctness (even if it means using lighter loads) is essential. For my part, the rotational work I usually do is the inline chops and lifts. I use relatively light weights, because at the end ranges I lose stability if I load up the movement…and that is precisely where I need that stability.
ABOUT STEVE BECHTEL
Steve is the founder of Climb Strong, and is proud to be the worst coach on the Climb Strong team. A climber for nearly 40 years, he has traveled the globe bouldering, sport climbing, and doing first ascents of some of the world's biggest walls.
He lives in Lander, Wyoming, with his wife Ellen, and children Sam and Anabel.