Why is Foundation Training Different?

The New Core of Movement
The abdominal muscles have been the subject of nearly all fitness and exercise publicity the past several years. Our goal is to change that. While sitting patiently in the shadow of the abs, the backs of America have grown tired and weak. Foundation training is here and our goal is to bring back the back.

Exercise has become focused on the idea that our core, the muscles responsible for basic movement and stability, is composed of the abdominal complex. In an effort not to step on any toes here, let's simply call that idea; incomplete. The abdominal muscles are important without question; they are responsible for folding the body forward, pulling the knees to the chest, protecting many vital organs, and looking great in a bathing suit among other things, but what about the back?

The most common injuries among athletes and non-athletes alike involve the spine. Low back injuries, neck injuries and anywhere in between all involve the spine. If all of the abdominal strength we are creating is sufficient, these injuries would decrease quickly and dramatically, but they have not. In fact, in conjunction with the increasing obesity epidemic, spine issues are on the rise.

The principle behind Foundation training is creating powerful, flexible movement from the real "core" of the body, the deep postural spine muscles. Foundation training brings people back to a primitive movement pattern, the way our bodies are designed to move. In re-establishing these movement patterns injuries very frequently decrease and all too often disappear. All of this begins with a slightly different understanding of what our movement core is composed of.

We define the core as being bi-layered
The primary layer is that of the deep structural muscles of the spine, pelvis, and pelvic floor. These muscles are responsible for our stability while standing, sitting, and even laying down. They connect individual vertebrae and are involved in nearly every movement we make.

The secondary layer is composed of the larger muscles of the spine, hips and of course the abdomen. These muscles are very important in our larger movements, but without the structural integrity of those small supporting muscles, there is no real strength. Think of a car with every safety feature available riding on 4 tires ready to burst, it just won't take you where you need to go before failing.



Here we have Lance finishing a workout with a "Founder" an isometric extension exercise. This is part of a long Foundation series based on heavily strengthening the spinal extensors.

Check out www.FoundationRoots.com for more information.