Core stability exercises are currently very popular and many sports therapists use them. Yet there are a number of top sports scientists who remain sceptical of their claims. One of the worlds most renowned is the late Dr Mel Siff who wrote:-

"How can one prescribe specific set ways of recruiting muscles in any complex natural movement if research now shows that these highly deterministic patterns of muscle action are not characteristic of human movement?" ....and...

"Research into motor control has never shown that training of individual muscle actions enhances skilled complex motor activities."

Could Core Stability Exercises
Keep You Out Of The Zone?

If the Zone experience represents total integration of the organism working as nature intended then all your training should work towards this. Do core stability techniques encourage this integration? Muscle isolation training, core strengthening and postural exercises are some of the main culprits that neglect to recognise the total coordinative nature of the human body.

Exercises such as these were originally devised for treating injuries, aiding rehabilitation or correction of perceived weaknesses. However, core stability exercise are now widely used by athletes with no such injuries with the view to avoid the sort of conditions they are meant to address – prevention not cure. Yet is it prevention to use the ‘cure’ for a condition that hasn’t yet happened?

Muscle isolation techniques involve adopting a position, with or without a machine, to perform a movement usually with resistance to work the specifically targeted muscles.

Sports specific exercises are devised for athletes to work on the muscles judged to be most important for their sport. This in itself is a pretty big assumption to make given the complexity of the human body and the subtle interplay between all of the body’s muscles even for the simplest of movements.

Sporting activity, or for that matter any activity, requires the whole body to function in a balance state to be able to perform the necessary movements.

If an athlete who has been playing their sport for some time has not got the strength in the targeted muscles then why not? If a muscle is not performing its function correctly for a given activity then it is a coordination problem, that is, the muscle is not getting the signal to activate it at the right time. Core stability exercises prescribed for working on the targeted muscle may get it responding to the activation signal and strengthen it, but only during that particular exercise.

But will it happen during their sporting activity performing a different movement with a completely different mindset?

Prevention involves looking at what may cause the ‘weakness’ that may lead to the injury. To strengthen a muscle with the belief it may cause a problem later will not change how that muscle is used in a sporting situation. If it’s weak, why is it weak? Is it not being used in an appropriate way? Rather than focus on the individual muscle and ‘shoot the messenger’, it would be more beneficial to look at any coordination difficulties and what the athlete is doing to interfere with their coordination reflexes. If it is a problem with coordination, what does that actually involve and how can it be improved?

Practise of your technique may help to some extent but if you are performing according to the rules of your habits the factor that caused the problem will most likely still be present. More practice means getting better at doing it in the way you have always done it therefore re-enforcing the habit that caused the problem. Worse still core stability exercises devised to improve coordination of the abdominal and back muscles generally require the athlete to focus on the timing of the action.

But is it possible to coordinate yourself without complicating the process further? Control of the timing of muscular action is surely best left to the reflexes and mechanisms evolved for that purpose. If it’s not presently performing that job efficiently then what is preventing that happening needs to be removed before any other action is taken. You can’t fix a faulty machine using faulty control systems that are giving you faulty readouts. The reported effortless feel of performing in The Zone is confirmation of an athlete whose individual parts are totally coordinated and therefore working together to aid movement.


Core stability exercises are used to strengthen the core muscles in addition to applying techniques during everyday and sporting activities such as ‘pulling in the abs’ when walking or lifting weights. As in other muscle isolation techniques I believe this approach is going to keep you out of The Zone for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it involves trying to coordinate yourself and therefore preventing integration and natural function.

Secondly, adding to the work you are already doing is not going to produce the effortless sensation associated with Zone performances. Lastly, consciously doing something with your core is not conducive to the feeling of 'just getting out of the way' as often described by athletes at their peak.

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What's the alternative to core stability?
I believe coordination is a vital element of performance. When you have good coordination your muscles will contract appropriately when you need them. Core stability exercises may be encouraging you to override you natural reflexes for coordination.

Back exercises: do they work for back pain?
Exercising will not ultimately address the habits that lead to poor coordination and movement that may be the cause of back pain. More and more research shows the limitations of exercise programs for backpain. An alternative to core stability exercises is to look at your concepts and habits of movement using everyday activities. Let's face it, exercise programs can be dull! Learn to use yourself well performing your sport is far more fun. If it's fun you will keep doing it and continue to get the benefit.


Improve posture without exercise
One of the claims of core stability exercises is that your posture will improve. But your posture is a result of your total body coordination and not of individual muscles. You do not improve your posture by working harder! My program looks at how you move, and more importantly, how you think your body should move and will help to correct poor habitual movement patterns. If the picture you hold of your body in your mind is inaccurate, your movement will be compromised - including whilst doing your exercises.

Poised for success
Poise is a skill many lose early as we sit for long hours behind a desk or steering wheel. We then take ourselves to the extreme and spend two hours working out. If you can learn to regain poise and coordination, your muscles will rebalance themselves and movement becomes far easier with less stress on your body.

Fitness programs with a difference
My programs contains no exercises with movements that have nothing in common with natural actions, ie, no core stability work. I will help you improve your total muscle coordination using methods to get you into The Zone by developing your skills of focus and self-awareness. Apply this to your sport and fitness routines and it will add a whole new perspective to your training.

Want to ask a question? My view of what fitness means and how it can be attained is different to the conventional approach. If there is anything on this page that you would like to follow up please feel free to contact me

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