Rotational Core Work

Rotational Core Work is the most important and also the most overlooked exercises done.
We all know that the majority movement if performed in an upright position , whether we are talking about sports or the everyday mom cleaning and carrying her child.  The majority of injuries to the back occur because of a twist or turn while lifting something improperly.
We've always been told to bend with the knees and lift with the legs, not the back.  This is of course correct but in reality there are always instances where this just does not happen.  We need to build our muscles to prepare for a strain and be strong enough so that we do not injure ourselves.  It should also be recognized that the midsection of the body is a dynamic moving segment of muscles that twist and turn every which way.  To simply do crunches or situps and think you are getting a complete well rounded workout for your core is ludicris.

When training the core for functional uses the main idea is to do exercises that do not require you to lay down.  Yea crunches and leg raises etc have their place for building muscle but at no point during a sport or functional activity are you laying down.  Unless your a car mechanic working off his back under a car but for the rest of us, get up!

I favor activities that involve all the muscles of the core to work synergistic-ally as they would in any upright movement a person would be performing.  For the sake of bodybuilding or strengthening a weak link we can always isolate certain muscles to strengthen or define them but they must be able to work as a whole.  This is the way to improve performance and to minimize injury.