It’s that time of year, when core work becomes everyone’s focus, whether we want to admit it or not. Now, no matter if you do core work for the beach or you could care less about the aesthetic value of it, core work serves an incredibly important functional purpose for what we do here. You have probably heard the phrase “core to extremity” before. If not it is referring to the way we function in any athletic movement, or any movement in general. We literally move from our center (core: abs, low back, glutes, hips) to our extremities (arms, legs, etc.). Every movement we do we start from our middle. Sometimes our core is a lever, like in a deadlift (hips are part of the core). Other times it is a brace, like a press or other overhead movements. Either way our core is important to starting or continuing movements, either functionally or just from a safety standpoint.
Whether it is actually being used to help move you or an object, or it is just serving to brace against the movement you are performing, a strong core is integral to your functioning as an athlete or person in general. A lot of the movements we do involve your core and are good core strengtheners, like squatting for example, but doing work like we have today is good for focusing just on the core. When doing these movements you don’t have to worry about actually squatting a weight while building your ab muscles, you get to just work these muscles alone. We need these muscles to activate and start our body to move. It might be a millisecond delay but all movement starts from the core as our nerves originate from the spine outward. Getting these middle muscles strong helps just about everything.
Build those beach muscles AND improve your squats, jerks, presses, pulls, pull-ups, HSPUs, and everything else? Sign me up!
THURSDAY
1. Strength : Core/Stability Work
12m AMRAP
1 TGU (each side) 53/35, 70/53
2 Single Arm KB Thruster + Press (Each arm)
30 second hollow rock
4 Shoulder Touches (each side) on wall
5 V Outs (on rings) or barbell roll-outs
2. WOD: 15m AMRAP
3 Squat Snatch 135/95
5 Thrusters 135/95
55 Double Unders
Rest 1:00
S: 75/55, Power Snatch, 100 singles
L1: 115/75, 35 doubles or 100 singles
Rx+ : 185/135
The Program
1. Strength : Core/Stability Work
12m AMRAP
1 TGU (each side) 53/35, 70/53
2 Single Arm KB Thruster + Press (Each arm)
30 second hollow rock
4 Shoulder Touches (each side) on wall
5 V Outs (on rings) or barbell roll-outs
2. WOD: 15m AMRAP
3 Squat Snatch 135/95
5 Thrusters 135/95
55 Double Unders
Rest 1:00
3. Snatch Deadlift
5-5-5, hold at knee for 1 second
