Just got an e-mail blurb about the National Strength and Condioning Association’s latest Performance Training Journal. The focus this issue is core training. As in your midsection, fore and aft. (I’m old enough to remember the days before anyone spoke of the body’s "core." Instead, we discussed abdominals, the lower back, obliques, etc. Actually, wrapping it all up in a package makes sense.)
Online access to the journal is free, and if you subscribe to NSCA’s e-mail list, you’ll be notified when each new issue is published. As I’ve said before, this is research-based, solid information–unlike what you find in your average muscle magazine.
The list of articles for this issue is as follows:
VO2max: The Golden Calf of Exercise Physiology
What is VO2 max and is it the strongest predictor of athletic
performance? This article answers these questions, along with
discussing the elite level measurements and how you can improve your
own VO2 max.
A New Look at Core Training
While basic core training methods may prove beneficial and helpful for
certain training goals, competitive athletes can benefit from training
that is more closely related to the demands of their sport, involving
the whole body and subsequently the core. This article discusses how the
core is involved in three traditional training methodologies.
Developing Hip Joint Adduction and Abduction Strength
Hip adduction and abduction are important movements when working on
lateral movement. This column describes three exercises to help you
develop the hip joint area and improve adduction and abduction
strength.
FitnessFrontlines
The latest news from the field on stability balls, stability ball
exercises, abdominal training devices, and trunk extensor machines.
Advanced Lumbar Stabilization Exercises
If you have been performing basic spinal stabilization exercises to
decrease your risk of injury, try to update your program with these
advanced exercises. If have not been performing any stabilization
exercises, the basic exercises are included in this article as well.
The Healthy Vegetarian Athlete (Part I)
Despite the lengthy list of benefits attributed to following a
vegetarian diet, there are various myths that still persist with
regards to its appropriateness for athletes. This first part of a
two-part column on vegetarian athletes will discuss some common myths
surrounding vegetarian athletes.
Strategies to Manage Performance Pressure
In the last issue this column took a look at competitive pressure. This
follow-up article addresses strategies to help you manage competitive
pressure.
The Use of Unstable Training for Enhancing Sport Performance
Are you looking to add some core training exercises to your
conditioning program through instability training but not sure how to
create unstable environments? If so, take a look at this article, which describes five exercises that use various methods of
instability.
Core Flexibility: Static and Dynamic Stretches for the Core
Core training is one of the hottest training methods right now. But
before you begin to train those core muscles, you need to properly warm
up and stretch them. This article describes both dynamic and static
stretches you can use to stretch your core muscles.
