Upcoming Events
We’re putting on an Education Event specifically for runners and is FREE to attend! Mark your calendars and share this event with anyone you know who runs! Who: Dr. Michael Cortese and…
Reading Time: 2mins
Last Updated: December 17th, 2024 at 2:51 pm
| A couple weekends ago I was at the Evanston Blink Fitness’s Member Appreciation Event During the festivities, there was a Longest Plank competition I wanted to see how long I could hold a plank for so I gave it a go 5 minutes and 14 seconds later, I had won the competition (see proud picture above) When talking to one of the Blink personal trainers I found myself talking to him about how runners have strong abs That competition and conversation got me thinking all about core training so I thought I’d share some basic fundamentals for everyone reading For simplicity’s sake, I use “the core” and “the abdominals” synonymously One of the true functions of the core is to resist spinal motion Meaning your abdominals act to stabilize your spine and prevent your trunk from moving A really great example of this is a plank In a plank, you hold a stationary position and fighting gravity’s pull to bend your spine Your core is actively working to resist spinal motion Making the plank one of the greatest ab exercises to train the true function of the abs I know you’re probably disappointed by my recommendation of planking, so I’ll do you one better Another one of the true functions of the core is rotational stability Rotational stability essentially means rotating your trunk with control Things like Russian Twists are great exercises to train rotational stability But what if I told you there was an ab exercise that combines BOTH of the two true functions I mentioned already?? Would that excite you? Behold! My all time favorite ab exercise: Thread the Needle Thread the Needle both trains the abs to resist spinal motion AND provide rotational stability to the movement AT THE SAME TIME I’ve gone ahead and recorded and posted YouTube videos of each of these exercises below: Plank Russian Twist Thread the Needle Incorporating these exercises or at least doing these particular ab exercises, are a great way to build a solid core for running Also, if you’re looking for an awesome, local, and affordable gym to join, check out Blink Fitness in Evanston They’ve got a clean gym with a friendly staff and all the equipment you could need for building a better body They also have a discount code for runners I’ve written belowBlink Fitness Promo Code = RUNEVANSTONIf you’d like to work with a physical therapist who understands the ins and outs of running, schedule a free discovery phone call with me to get the ball rolling on your recovery Over the phone we’ll talk about your specific issue, get you scheduled an initial evaluation, and establish a treatment plan for you to get you all patched up and enjoying running again Your best is yet to come |
| Dr. Michael Your Success Is My Success Seeing my patients successfully complete their training and accomplish race goals fills me with immense joy. In this section, I wanted to share one of my favorite 5-star Google Reviews Check out more reviews at the Valiant Physical Therapy Google Reviews page here! |
