IDEA
Press Release - Core
Training Takes Center Stage
 Back to 2003 Press Releases
San
Diego
– With the most recent IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey
showing that 72% of the fitness facilities polled are offering core
conditioning classes – up from 61% in 2001 – this form of exercise is
beginning to join yoga and Pilates as the fitness program of choice
for many consumers.
“One reason
core conditioning is increasing in popularity is that it is a component
of a larger movement toward ‘functional fitness’,” say Kathie Davis,
executive director of IDEA Health & Fitness Association. With its
emphasis on strengthening and stretching the muscles of the abdominal,
pelvic and lower-back regions, core training is helpful in sustaining
the ability to perform the activities of daily life.
“Many consumers
attend core classes to improve their physical form, not their ability
to function. The challenge for fitness professionals is explaining to
their clients that the benefits of core conditioning go well beyond
achieving washboard abs,” Davis adds.
In promoting
core conditioning to their clients, many fitness facilities and personal
trainers are stressing the less obvious benefits such as improved athletic
performance, injury prevention and better functional ability. In addition,
says Jeffrey Scott – a Reebok University master trainer who teaches
at Body Smart in El Segundo, California and at the Sprectrum Club in
nearby Manhattan Beach – “core conditioning appeals to everyone from
highly skilled athletes to the average class participant. Core training
is the foundation of all human movement. It isn’t choreography-driven
so it attracts people who normally wouldn’t take a group exercise class.”
In both
group fitness settings and personal training sessions, the goal for
many fitness professionals is to teach clients how to train the body
to improve function. “Traditional abdominal work only works the abs
through a series of crunches and maybe some oblique twists; the rest
of body is usually neglected. Core conditioning classes use the abs
throughout the workout, not just for 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the
class,” says Yumi Lee, an instructor who teaches core training at CRUNCH
Fitness in Los Angeles and the Sports Club/LA in Santa Monica.of body
is usually neglected. Core conditioning classes use the abs throughout
the workout, not just for 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the class,”
says Yumi Lee, an instructor who teaches core training at CRUNCH Fitness
in Los Angeles and the Sports Club/LA in Santa Monica.
Many fitness
professionals also attest to the value of using specialized equipment
such as the Reebok Core Board and the BOSU Balance Trainer. “The core
board improves balance and functional strength through a variety of static
and dynamic movements done on its reactive surface,” says Lee. Adds Kymberly
Willaims-Evans, a group fitness coordinator at the University of California
at Santa Barbara, “although you can certainly offer successful core conditioning
classes with only mats, our best success has come with using additional
equipment, such as special abs mats balls and boards.”
The comments
of Jeffrey Scott, Yumi Lee and Kymberly Williams-Evans are contained in
the article “Focus on Core Training” found in the March 2003 issue of
IDEA Health & Fitness Source.
IDEA is
the world's leading membership organization of health and fitness professionals
with more than 23,000 members in over 80 countries. Since 1982, IDEA
has provided health and fitness professionals with pertinent information,
educational opportunities, career development programs and industry
leadership while helping them enhance the quality of life worldwide
through safe, effective fitness and healthy lifestyle programs. For
more information on IDEA events, publications, educational products,
member services or other activities, visit the IDEA website at: www.IDEAfit.com.
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