I would rather be chilling on the couch, sleeping, comfortable, but I just gotta self-discipline man. It's easy to give up and not go but when I'm tired it really makes me realise like oh shit, you know, sometimes you gotta do some shit you don't wanna do.
– Brandon Biebel
the right way to train your core for skateboarding | part 2.
So your core should be getting stronger and your skating should already be improving as you've been practising the exercises in part 1 of the core training for skateboarding series, right?! In part 1 I went over what the core is, how a proper functioning core is something that’s fundamental for you to skate good and generate power, and I showed you some exercises that will teach you how to get proper control over your core, so if you haven't checked that one already or you're not used to training your core then go there first.
In this second article I'm going to be going over some more skate specific core exercises that will give you that extra stability, improve your pop, power, balance, your skating in general, and reduce injury risk.
how should you train your core?
We've all done a sit up in the past right? Exercises where you're moving your core with things like sit ups, twisting movements, etc. is the classic way people have always trained their core and continue to do so. The thing is, most of the time when you move about your day or skate, your core isn't moving; it stiffens to provide stability, forms a block to stabilise your spine, and acts as a platform for your limbs to generate force from. So why would you train something that's supposed to be still, with movement? In reality if you're after stability it's much more effective to train your core to resist movement like we did in the first core exercises for skateboarding along with the one's I'm going to show you here. If you want to learn more about the core check out that first article.
what you need.
So for these exercises I’m going to be using some bands that you can pick up super cheap from Amazon - they cost me about $15 altogether. You can use any bands but if you want to support me and The Daily Push then you can buy the bands from the links below and I’ll make a few cents for each purchase. I'm also going to be using them in future videos, and bands in general are a really useful tool to have for a lot of different exercises so they'll serve you well.
the tripod foot.
Your foot massively influences the alignment and stability of the rest of your body so you've got to consider what your foots up to when you're training stability. We're missions away from the ab only/sit-up approach to the core now.
To stabilise your foot you want to maintain a "tripod" with three points of your foot throughout these exercises, meaning equal pressure distributed between your 1st and 5th toes and the heel of your foot. Sorry for making you look at my toes but the picture below shows you the tripod. You also want to try and maintain the natural arch in your foot which I talk about in the video above.
the exercises.
Alright, on to the exercises. So during all the exercises you want to make sure you maintain a neutral spine, which is something we talked about in part 1, along with a solid tripod foot.
reps and sets:
Do the exercises circuit training style, meaning you do each exercise once per circuit. Leave 20-30 secs break in between each exercise and a minute between each circuit. Do 3 circuits.
0. The Big 3 warm-up: 1 round.
1. Side kicker: 10-15 reps each side
2. 3 Level Squats: 1-3 reps, 5-15 secs each side
3. Sw Back Tail El Toro: 1-3 reps, 5-15 secs each side
4. Banded Pop-Ups: 5-10 reps each side
Listen to your body and start off slow, leaning on the lower end of the reps/hold spectrum. To increase the intensity add more sets and reps, or after some time doing the exercises you can increase the holds up to about 30 seconds.
Do these exercises at least 3 times a week.
the exercises.
0. the big 3 warm up
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To start off, warm up with one round of the big 3 exercises from the core training for skateboarders series part 1.
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Either check the video on the side or go to the link above for photos of the exercises.
1. side kicker
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Put the lightest resistance green band around your feet.
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Bend forwards moving mainly from the hips. Maintain a neutral spine the whole time.
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Keep your foot, knee, and hip in line on your stance leg and your pelvis level. Kick out to the side moving only from your leg.
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Repeat for 10-15 reps on both sides.
2. three level squat
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Put the medium resistance red band just above your knees and tie the long red band to something that doesn't move.
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Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and hold the band pressed against your body with both hands.
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For this exercise we're going to do the same thing at 3 different levels of the squat (like you see in the picture).
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For level one bend your knees slightly and push both hands out in front of your chest. Stay completely still resisting the bands pull to one side.
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Maintain tension in the band around your knees for the whole exercise, and keep your upper body and shins parallel to each other whilst maintaining a neutral spine.
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Rest a couple of seconds in the starting position with your hands and band against your body.
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Do 1-3 reps with 5-15 second holds at each level, and rest 20-30 seconds in between each level. Repeat for both sides.
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If it's really easy take a step to the side so there's more tension in the long band.
3. SW back tail El Toro
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Put the medium resistance red band around your ankles and tie the long red band to something that doesn't move with the green band tied to that one.
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Stand on a box or step on foot and hold the band pressed against your body with both hands.
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Push both hands out in front of your chest and stay completely still resisting the bands pull to one side.
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Maintain tension in the band around your ankles for the whole exercise.
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Rest in the starting position with your hands and band against your body.
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Do 1-3 reps with 5-15 second holds. Repeat for both sides.
4. banded pop-ups
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Put the medium resistance red band around your knees and stand with your feet about hip-width apart.
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This one is essentially just a fast one footed jump squat where you land on one foot; like when you're popping a trick.
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Maintain tension in the red band throughout the whole exercise, your knees inline with your toes, and a neutral spine.
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Jump down into a partial squat and pop straight back up jumping off one foot.
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Land on your jumping foot, hold the position for a few seconds without moving, and don't forget to maintain tension in the band.
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Repeat for 5-10 reps on both sides.
