FITNESS & NUTRITION
CORE TRAINING
and Pickleball
BY DR. ALAN H. BRAGMAN
Trying to be a serious pickleballer without a strong core is like building a house on a foundation of sand. The player will generally hold up until the level of competition or training overwhelms the unfit or unstable core. Adequate core strength greatly assists the player in maintaining the proper ready position: knees bent while back on the heels. A complete and balanced training program for serious pickleballers must include adequate core training, in addition to flexibility, strength and cross training. The core muscles are critical for maintaining the dynamic stability of the entire body, and helps to prevent lower back pain. Playing pickleball relies on core strength, but unfortunately doesn’ t build it. No human movement can occur without the core muscles being engaged. When most people refer to the core, they mistakenly only consider the groups of muscles making up the abdominal wall. While the abdominal muscles are critical and do make up a significant portion of the core, other muscles include the deeper stabilizing muscles around the hip, pelvis and lumbar vertebrae. The abdominal wall is made up of a number of muscles including:
• External obliques
• Internal obliques
• Tranversus abdominis
• Rectus abdominis
THE EXTERNAL ABDOMINAL MUSCLES
The center line of the abdominals, the aponeurosis runs in front going down from the sternum to the pubic bone. At the bottom of the abdomen, the aponeurosis forms the inguinal ligament
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