Hey all,
So, let me get a few administrative things out of the way first, before I delve into this post's main topic. First, I raced yesterday, at Grosse Ille in Michigan, at what could be considered one of the most competitive duathlons in the Midwest. It was a short race, but it draws all the regional big names, and yesterday did not disappoint. The winner, some leg burner I didn't know, led from gun to tape, and as an athlete and fan of the sport, it was pretty to watch. He put on a clinic, and as I watched him running the opposite direction towards the finish, I smiled, knowing the future of the sport is in good hands.
Personally, it wasn't my best day, I kept it close on the first run with the rest of the top 5 guys, but I couldn't get a groove on the bike, and that forced me to play catch up on the second run. I was able to run myself back into a top 7 placing, but the silver lining - numbers 3-7 were separated by less than a minute. As I have focused mainly on long course this year, that extra gear wasn't there, but I found myself wishing the second run was about 2 miles longer. It was a much needed kick in the ass, a great motivator to make some changes to my training to ensure success at the distances I've targeted. As I've said before, I hate, I mean hate losing, more than I love winning, so I won't be sitting idle with my current training plan. That means the mad red head will be hard at work making sure I'm ahead of the curve come my next race.
This weekend also marked the opening weekend of the Crossfit Regionals across the globe. Literally. This weekend Regionals are currently rocking in Europe, SoCal, South East, and the Northeast. Big names in Europe, like Samantha Briggs and Miko Salo are fighting for spots at the big show in July, along with American counterparts, Talya Fortunato, Noah Ohlsen, Kristen Clever, and others, in what has been called "The greatest experiment in sports" - the Crossfit Games. My phone has been blowing up with real time updates all weekend, with video clips, pictures, interviews, just a constant stream of something that cannot be marginalized, or treated as a "oddity". The Games, and Crossfit itself, against the odds, against constant criticism, has become mainstream, and the athletes who compete cannot be ignored as a true professional athletes, true warriors. And I cannot wait for the Central Regionals the weekend of May 31-June 2, at the Max in McCook, IL. I will be there, and hope to see many of you there too. Come see the evolution of sport. That's right, Crossfit is no longer the evolution of fitness, its the evolution of sport.
This leads me to the main topic for today - Midline stability. If this sounds like a foreign language to you, then rest assured you need to focus on it. As in right now. Short definition to midline stability - your core's ability to keep your posture or position when doing anything, and that includes sitting at a desk, standing in a check out line, running, cycling, swimming, box jumping, overhead squatting, doesn't matter, in place. Its the strength in your core to keep your trunk stable so you don't get hurt. So your shoulders don't slump, then roll inwards, leading to back, and shoulder issues. In the words of Brian MacKenzie in "Power, Speed, Endurance", creating a position of stability is critical.... In addition to preventing injury, strengthening and building your midline through functional exercise will increase your ability to maintain form while running, cycling or swimming for prolonged periods of time."
The notion of midline stability and its all to critical importance for sport, and for life, was nothing I discovered. I learned of its importance from Dr. MacKenzie, and did my own experiment on it, focusing heavily of creating more midline stability for myself, as well as any athlete or client I have. From core strength, they have witnessed the ability to do more work in terms of training, and lasting longer than they expected. More importantly, my clients who suffered from some physical ailments or imbalances have found that with the midline work, they have become more mobile, in significantly less pain, and in some cases, no longer in pain at all, and can do things they didn't think they could. One client, who is preparing to trek to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in a 24 hour period, is finally in a place where she is confident that this trip will prove successful, not to mention, done without the agony she feared. She credits her core strength to this end. This gives me a huge smile, because she is not some top athlete, she is a great woman, and a southsider, like myself, who was skeptical at first, like any good southsider is, when it came to working "on her abs" to help her prepare for the hike. Now, every time she sees me, she smiles that half-smile, half sneer, as if to say "yeah, yeah, you made your point. Shut up."
Personally, I found my midline stability to be most important during winter training runs when the snow kept falling well into March, making running outside more of an adventure and at times pretty dangerous. But midline stabilty kept me safe and helped me keep going. Same for the bike, where as my good friend and bike shop owner Rich Ducar will tell you, I had a "quasi-moto" hump in my back that was the least aero thing going. Stronger midline, less hump, flatter back, more aero. Crazy right? Well not really.
The key is you have to avoid the promises of these ridiculous magazines "6 pack abs in just 6 days!!! Get beach ready abs now!!!! Build your abs like Joe Schmo in just 6 simple moves!!!!" and recognize that true midline work isn't about simply looking good. Its not about "show abs". Its about "go abs". I hate to even use that word, but popular media uses it induce people to buy magazine that make outlandish promises. Is getting a great looking stomach a by-product of core work? Yes. But if you go with that as the goal, you can cheat yourself out of getting the really important benefit of a strong midline. Its not about doing a million crunches a day. Make the long term investment in your midline and see what happens. Suddenly sitting at your desk, running, biking, swimming, walking down the street, deadlifting, jumping rope, becomes, wait for it, enjoyable.Now how cool does that sound? You tell me.
PS. - I'm actually pissed I missed the podium yesterday. I can't deny it. I had to get that out.
Stay strong
Guy
