Core fitness

30 September, 2008 | 17:09

If Monday was all about hard running on a treadmill, then Tuesday was all about the 'core.'

In performance sport circles, core stability is seen as key to peak performance and injury avoidance. In a nutshell, it's about the strength and conditioning of the deep, underlying muscle groups that ordinary folk often neglect.

Andy's core programme sits neatly, and somewhat painfully alongside the running work. Unlike the traditional 'hard fitness', core exercises demand a high level of concentration and attention to detail: to get the most of it, you need to nail the poses.

Imagine balancing on a Swiss ball like this for any length of time and you get a good idea of how hard it can be...

Andy's programme has developed considerably since it became a cornerstone of his physical regime. By his own admission, poses like this 'Superman' would have tested him a great deal a year ago, but they're no problem to him now.

Sadly, the same can't be said of other people, including his physio Andy Ireland...

'AI' had a few problems with that exercise, and he won't be the last.

Next on the agenda, a pose more of you might be familiar with - the 'plank.'

Great for strengthening the muscle groups around the midriff, these are held for a minute. Each set completed, there's a set recovery period before he does another repetition....

New for 2008/9: what we would broadly describe as the 'roll and hold.' Starting by lying on his back on the Swiss ball, Andy rocks onto one side, then holds the pose...

The balance required to hold the pose is making all those deep muscle groups do plenty of work.

Here's one not for the faint of heart: the Swiss ball press up...

Once again, it's an exercise that's asking far more of the body than a standard press up. All the way through each motion, the body has to make hundreds of tiny adjustments to keep it stable...

Resistance work is another mark of the core fitness sessions. That could be strengthening the wrists...

Or it might be working the shoulders. You'll see a lot of the players using this routine as part of their warm-ups.

As we mentioned, the form of each routine is key. Here's AI making sure Andy's working through the right plane of movement...

It's not the longest physical session in the world, but it takes a good hour or so. In between some of the more strenuous exercises, he might distract his mind for a moment or two...