Primal Core Strength for Distal Joint Strength

By Miguel J. Ortiz

When looking to strengthen your core, do not just seek the easy six-pack or flat image. A six-pack is just the result of having a strong core. Your core deserves much more attention because it is the foundation for all other movements. You wouldn’t buy a house if it had a severely cracked foundation so why would you build on a house or add to it if it had the same problem. The reason is because before you add to it you need to reinforce or strengthen it. Also, primal core strength will yield distal joint strength. Since your core is the foundation for all movements, let’s start strengthening it with these three moves. We will start with a beginner movement and work up to an advanced movement.

This first movement is known as a Bi-Lateral Raise or Bird Dog. This move will start to strengthen your core because, as simple as it looks, it’s a fantastic progression movement to many other patterns, like crawling, and more advanced planks. This exercise will help expose imbalances in your hips and shoulders because to raise the opposite arm and leg requires greater core stabilization in order to move those joints and muscles. I focus on more control than doing faster reps as you want to be as smooth as possible to get the most control as possible.

The second exercise is very similar – the Active Quadruped Shoulder Taps. The difference, however, is that you must be able to place more weight on your hands and shoulders as your knees need to be lifted off the floor enough to keep a neutral spine. Taking your knees off the floor increases core activation and makes knee and shoulder stability more difficult. You have to shift your weight without rotating out of position and losing control.

The last exercise is a side Copenhagen Plank with A Knee Drive. There are regressions to this movement, but when mastered it is sure to challenge your core and add to hip and shoulder strength. This can be done without the knee drive, but when be prepared to hold that knee up for at least 1 second to show control at the top of the motion with quality posture.

I would like to point out that each of these movements has some level of shoulder and hip mobility and/or strength. The point is that with core strength you are helping other joints. Your core is the strength in which your joints can build upon, so train them wisely.

– Miguel J. Ortiz is a personal trainer in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a Master Trainer for Pain-Free Performance and a Certified Nutritional Consultant with more than a decade of professional experience. He can be found on Instagram at @migueljortiz. You can find videos of the exercises mentioned in this column on his YouTube channel at tinyurl.com/ ORTfitness.