NFL Combine Core Training- week 2

     I learned an interesting piece of information from the offensive linemen this week.  I was informed during their drill training they are taught to turn their feet out while squatting down.  I am not an O-Line coach and, therefore, am not here to change the mechanics needed for their job, but this does answer why consistently every year we find hip abduction (raising the leg out to the side) and hip external rotation (turning the knee out) weakness in just about all of the players we test.  This weakness leads to poor cutting and blocking positions which sets the player up for injury.  Nothing is more devestating than when a player tears an ACL or blows a disc in the back requiring months of rehabilitation and time away from play.


My job as the core coach is to teach these players how to turn on the muscles at the appropriate time to provide stability and increase their durability.  When exercises are performed quickly, it is easy for the body to "cheat" in order to accomplish the task.  To address the above stated hip weakness, NFL Combine Core training this week focused on hip abduction and external rotation strength.  By adding a miniband to the legs with various exercises (see photos below for example) we created a focus on hip stability and strength through various challenging positions. By slowing down the core exercises to a 3-5 count/hold, we further increased the control and contraction requirements of the muscles.  Remember, this training is in addition to all of the on field drills and weight training/ conditioning they do on a daily basis, so there is enough explosive training throughout the rest of the day to train the appropriate power system needed for play.  If I can provide the right neuromuscular control when a player gets hit and cut to protect a spine or a knee, I have done my job and exponentially increased the player's worth.

Diaphragmatic Breathing and Thoracic mobility

  

     This was the 1st week of the NFL Combine training and core training started from the beginning.  That means the main focus was diaphragmatic breathing with proper abdominal contraction and throacic mobility.  The diaphragm forms a pliable dome at the top of the core (see picture from last blog).  While the diaphragm's primary job is to help with respiration (ie the exchange of O2 for the body) it is also a powerful stabilizer.  Teaching athletes the art of proper breathing is imperative to creating maximal core stabilization. 
      Thoracic (midback) and rib mobility can also be improved by practicing diaphragmatic breathing.  Deep breathing increases rib expansion and thoracic flexion and extension.  Slumping forward from daily activities increases back stiffness and decreases the overall rib and throacic mobility.  This can lead to many problems such as back, shoulder and neck pain as well as headaches.  Breathing properly with stretching will reinforce low back stabilization and increase thoracic mobility.
     In order to assess your breathing, lie on your back placing one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly.  Take 4-5 deep long breaths.  Which hand moves more?  For proper breathing, breathe deeply down into the stomache moving that hand upward.  The hand on the chest should barely, if not, move at all. 
     Once you can breathe deeply into the stomache comfortably, try adding in breathing to abdominal exercises such as lower leg lowers or crunches or upper body exercises like bench and military presses.  To add breathing to abdominal exercises, the concentric part of the exercise should be performed on the exhale (breath out).  For instance, breathe deeply in and on a slow exhale lower the legs or crunch up.  Feel the abdominals and back tighten as more and more air is expelled out of the lungs.  This increases back stability via an abdominal brace without having to "flatten" the back.  As you breathe in the legs would raise back up or if crunching, the shoulders would lower.  Controlling the pace of the exercise with slow breathing improves the quality of the exercise and maximizes the strength gains.

CoreTraining: The Importance of Fundamentals

      Too often I have patients asking me what is the one exercise that will strengthen the core. Due to the complex nature and importance of the core in various activities and postions, it is impossible for me to answer that question with one exercise.  Every individual, whether they are an athlete or not, requires training of BOTH the postural stabilizers and the power producers.  Not only do we need to address both types of muslces, but in various positions and planes.  I look at many core training programs and am disappointed to find not enough physical therapists are challenging their patients with power exercises for fear of harming them and not enough personal trainers and strength coaches returning to the fundamentals and starting their athletes with the basics.    We need to be identifying weaknesses in all populations and building a solid program that teaches the fundamentals first and progress from there.

     The core is defined in various ways in the literature, but the basic premise is that it forms something close to a cylinder in the central part of the torso.  The bottom is the pelvic and hip muscles, the front are the abdominals, the back is the lumbar muscles and the top is the diaphragm.  Some of the researchers have categorized individual muscles as local versus global muscles, while others have described them as the stabilizers (postural muscles) versus the mobilizers (power muscles).    No matter how they are described, it is important that we train both.  One group cannot function to its full capability with weakness in the other.  Just as beginning with a white color belt in martial arts is required before training to test for another color, we should be doing the same with all our clients/ patients.  Breathing and proper abdominal contraction must be addressed and mastered before moving on to more advanced exercises.

     Screening the high level athletes that come through our doors at Breakthrough Physical Therapy in Irvine, CA, only reinforces the "return to basics" theory.  Too many times we see our patients/athletes not have the basic postural control to maintain a proper position during a single leg squat, raising an arm or a leg on all fours or even maintain a rigid torso during arm and leg movments on their back.  Athletes are the best compensators, and therefore, can often "get away with" amazing high level activity with poor movement patterns.   Imagine what untapped talent could be exposed with proper core contraction and movement patterns. We as practitioners and trainers need to worry less about the quantity of output from our patients/clients and spend some time on the quality of movement.

     Over the next few weeks I will be starting from scratch writing about the proper progression to a core program.  This program will focus on diaphragmatic breathing and core tightening techniques and then it will progress to more dynamic stabilization.  Follow along over the next 2-3 months and find out what some of the top athletes in the country I'll be working with are learning!