Why stabilize before training

If you look at the first few days that someone steps into a gym, you will notice how it seems like they lack time to test their skill and strength in a bench press. If this is not the case, nothing happens. On many occasions, the room monitor or instructor is already there to solve this anomaly. While we’re here, try to remember the movement they perform. Regardless of the weight used, in almost all cases the bar describes a zigzag. That, in the best of cases, makes those of us who are observing tremble or run to avoid greater evils. This is where the importance of stabilizing before training comes in.

Athletes

If you look at the movement performed by trained strength athletes, especially power-lifters, whether in bench presses, pull-ups, squats, or any other exercise, no matter how much weight they use, no matter how high the intensity, they never alter the plane and each repetition is practically identical to the previous one. This technique evidently acquired with experience that facilitates the passage of time would not be possible without correct conditioning of the stabilizing muscles of the joint. In this sense I love Poliquin’s phrase. “You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe.”

Gyms

The work of this muscle is usually very precarious among those who like to work with weights. Especially among those who abuse the so-called bodybuilding machines. Reducing in most cases to the stimulus they receive during the complex exercises performed with free weight. Because they are not specifically worked on, their evolution is slow. Slower at least than the main muscles involved in said exercises. Consequently increasing the risk of injury as we progress and use more weight. Obviously, this new type of gym where practically all the machinery is of this type, relegating dumbbells and bars to a corner at best, does not help. This is solved if we start working on them specifically in situations where their involvement is greater. Such as unstable surfaces. Or specific exercises for the conditioning of each of these muscles. However, this type of analytical training requires knowledge of biomechanics that few practitioners have. As for training with unstable platforms or surfaces, I’m personally not a big proponent. But only when they are used as the basis of training. As an accessory for stabilizing muscle work, it is a great idea. To this we must add the ability of these muscles to limit the nervous impulse received by the main muscles involved. When they will not be able to guarantee the integrity of the system. Something that would clearly hinder our evolution, causing the much-feared stagnation. As I have said many times before on this blog, the body is full of automatic mechanisms resulting from evolution that will try to avoid any type of damage. Whether caused by an external element or self-inflicted. Another reason to consider this type of work.

How to implement it

In case you start a new workout, especially if you have never worked at high intensity, my recommendation is that before touching weights that pose a challenge to your neuromuscular system, you start working in this way. You can do a squat with just your own weight, lunges, push-ups or presses on a Swiss ball. There is a wide variety of options. If, on the other hand, you are already used to this type of intensity, you consider that you could benefit from this type of work, or you want to maintain it, remember to always do it at the end of the training. Never before high-intensity work where you are going to need these muscles. Otherwise you would be tiring them before you need them to stabilize the joint, increasing the risk of injury instead of reducing it.