Core Stability in Athletes: A Critical Analysis of Current Guidelines

Over the last two decades, exercise of the core muscles has gained major interest in professional sports. Research has focused on injury prevention and increasing athletic performance. We analyzed the guidelines for so-called functional strength training for back pain prevention and found that progr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sports medicine (Auckland) 2017-03, Vol.47 (3), p.401-414
Main Authors: Wirth, Klaus, Hartmann, Hagen, Mickel, Christoph, Szilvas, Elena, Keiner, Michael, Sander, Andre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activation analysis
Adaptation
Athletes
Athletic Performance
Back pain
Central nervous system
Exercise
Guidelines
Humans
Injury analysis
Isometric exercise
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Morphology
Muscle function
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Muscles
Nervous system
Pain
Physical training
Professional sports
R&D
Rehabilitation
Research & development
Resistance Training
Review Article
Specifications
Sports Medicine
Sports training
Strength training
Structural stability
Surface chemistry
Trunk muscles
Walking
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Summary:Over the last two decades, exercise of the core muscles has gained major interest in professional sports. Research has focused on injury prevention and increasing athletic performance. We analyzed the guidelines for so-called functional strength training for back pain prevention and found that programs were similar to those for back pain rehabilitation; even the arguments were identical. Surprisingly, most exercise specifications have neither been tested for their effectiveness nor compared with the load specifications normally used for strength training. Analysis of the scientific literature on core stability exercises shows that adaptations in the central nervous system (voluntary activation of trunk muscles) have been used to justify exercise guidelines. Adaptations of morphological structures, important for the stability of the trunk and therefore the athlete’s health, have not been adequately addressed in experimental studies or in reviews. In this article, we explain why the guidelines created for back pain rehabilitation are insufficient for strength training in professional athletes. We critically analyze common concepts such as ‘selective activation’ and training on unstable surfaces.
ISSN:0112-1642
1179-2035
DOI:10.1007/s40279-016-0597-7