Core Values

Rob displays his incredible ability to balance on a ball, teach and play catch at the same time. Talk about "Hard Core"!

The word “core” has become quite a buzz-word in the fitness world and bleeding out into the rest of mainstream culture. Not that it is a new word just that it currently enjoys quite a bit of cultural popularity at the moment. Some people (including certain GroveTribers) use the word but may not truly know what that term means. You can look the word up and get something like:  

“In anatomy, the core refers, in its most general of definitions, to the body minus the legs and arms. Functional movements are highly dependent on the core, and lack of core development can result in a predisposition to injury. The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid and lower back (not the shoulders), and peripherally include the hips, the shoulders and the neck.” (Thank you, Wiki, I’m sure we will be visiting you again soon.)

But reading a few sentences on a computer screen cannot come close to bringing you a true understanding of what your “core” is and how it affects your performance.  Once again, a visit to one of the Body Concepts classes for cyclists opens up a whole new world of understanding on a bit of a murky topic.

Linda also displays her core strength and control.

Last Thursday Rob Kopitzke -with an assist from his partner in crime/business partner/spouse Linda Bailey- brought a whole new level of understanding to the world of cycling and performance by presenting a “Core for Cyclists” class to an ever-growing crowd of students. At this class we noticed a marked increase in the number of folks taking advantage of these classes. Maybe the increased attendance was due in part to their finishing first in their category of the KCRA “A-List” or maybe the word is finally getting out about what gold can be mined at these sessions; either way we resolved to get there a little before seven so we can get front row seats next time. Kind of like a Gallagher show, these classes are the most fun viewed from the front row. (Rain slickers optional.)

Class opened with some basic anatomy of the core and with us realizing that we didn’t know nearly as much about the core as we thought. Rob went over some of the most important core muscles for cyclists (Abdominals, Multifidus, diaphragm, pelvic floor, etc.) and explained to us how these muscles make up the basic shape of a cylinder or “can” in shape, with the diaphragm as the top of the core “can”, the pelvic floor as it’s bottom and the abdominal and back muscles making up the round body of the “can” itself.  He explained how each of these muscles worked, specifically how they were essential in providing a strong foundation for cyclists and their “engines”  (the power and forward thrust provided by hips, glutes and thighs). The third part of the class discussed the various types of training and equipment that involved the core and making it as strong and as stable as possible to add to performance and prevent pain and injury.

Rob demonstrates more core exercises.

Again, we had pages and pages of notes and we won’t even try to impart to you all of the cool stuff we learned in the hour and a half of the class. I will say that finally having a good explanation for my back pain on rides was well worth the entire class and I have some more modifications to make to my training routine. Not to mention that my wife was very excited to be able to sneak in a couple of body mechanics questions to improve her Tai Chi workout sessions after class ended.  Linda announced that as a thank you to the community for voting them #1 on the KCRA A-List they will be hosting a free question and answer day coming in about a month or two. We will be sure to post and let you know when that will be.

This series of classes continue to impress and with the growing numbers of folks taking advantage it sounds like they will be hosting the series again in the fall. It was announced that the next class will be all about bike fitting and I know that one is going to be of particular interest to cyclists. After finding the “Core” class to be of such value, I will be sure to catch the next one. See you at BC!