Core strength and athletes

JOHN CRONIN
A lot of sports and a lot of conditioners are introducing static strength of the core, in particular. It makes sense to have very good static strength for the core, to be able to hold our core nice and strong while we actually direct our movement somewhere.

JUSTIN KEOGH
In most activities be it throwing, kicking, running we generate initially force through our lower body. They then are transferred through our core section, through out trunk, and then if we are throwing an object, out through our arms to the ball.

The core stability needs to be really strong, to be high for the forces generated through our legs to be transferred through the upper extremity to the ball. So unless you've got high levels of core stability, the performance of people like throwers, tennis players, golfers, they will not be able to hit the ball as fast as those opponents who do have high levels of core stability.

JOHN CRONIN
A sprinter on the track they want that strong isometric core because they’ve got huge rotational forces happening at their limbs.

JAMES DOLPHIN
Yeah I mean, you can have the strongest legs in the world but if you don't have the core to keep your body in line with itself it’s going to wobble all over the show.

JOHN CRONIN
Same with a swimmer, if they haven’t got a very good strong core their legs will flop down or the head will come up, and as a result they’ll have more drag in the pool.

JUSTIN KEOGH
Because of the magnitude of the forces acting through that area of the body the potential for injury can be high as well. You can see this in weightlifting or power lifting for example, that the stresses imposed on the lower back are huge. So athletes in those sort of activities or props in rugby union have to have amazing degrees of core stability to do what they do and to do it repeatedly during the course of their season and their careers.

RICHARD PATTERSON
As you mature you get stronger through your core, the more that you back it up day after day you go from strength to strength through your core and it makes a massive difference, especially with your overhead stability. To have a strong core is massive in terms of gaining strength.

JUSTIN KEOGH
The term core stability while it seems to be an encompassing term is very specific. So every athlete who does different movements is going to require different types of core stability.

JOHN CRONIN
To have a nice strong core for posture and for any movement is very important, just to walk properly takes very good core strength.

JUSTIN KEOGH
The development of core stabilities is probably just as important as any of the other physical qualities like strength, aerobic fitness, flexibility that you should try and develop as a child and utilise those benefits during sport and the rest of your life.