FEATURE ARTICLE
LOW BACK SPARING TORSO TRAINING
TAI TRAN, MS, CSCS,*D, AND JEREMY SHEPPARD, PHD, CSCS,*D
considerable focus for strength and conditioning specialists is the training of “core” strength to prevent low back pain, or enhance athletic performance. With this in mind, core exercises targeting the abdominal musculature have been of great interest. For example, performing exercises on unstable devices such as physioballs, balance boards, or air discs have emerged as popular training methods to apparently strengthen the core, improve balance, increase coordination, enhance athletic performance, or prevent injury. While there is an increase in activation of the torso musculature with these unstable training methods in some cases, this is not synonymous with force
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